Yifat Susskind explains why, if the MDGs are to be a tool for advancing women’s human rights, they will have to adopt a rights-based approach that goes beyond improving statistical indicators to addressing the root causes of human rights violations.

In 2000, world leaders representing all 191 countries that belong to the United Nations pledged to achieve the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015. Since then, the goals have become the main framework for development policy worldwide. They have even been adopted by many of the international agencies and banks that control the budgets of most poor countries, giving the MDGs real currency in the political economy of UN declarations. The MDGs create opportunities for advancing women's human rights, but only if we are able to participate effectively in the process of realizing the goals.

Governments' commitments to the MDGs appear to be an extraordinary step forward, but when we scratch the surface of the goals, we find that their progress is measured by a set of technocratic "targets" and "indicators" that are limited in scope, contradictory in approach, and more concerned with statistical change than with creating the structural change that is crucial to improving the lives of women and their families worldwide.

Take Goal 3, for example (promoting gender equality and empowering women): its "target" is to eliminate gender disparity in education. Yet it will take much more than girls' education to combat the deeply entrenched violence, discrimination, stereotypes, laws, and customs that generate grave violations of women's human rights in every country of the world. The indicators intended to measure progress towards this goal are equally problematic.They include:
They include:
1. the ratio of girls to boys at all levels of schooling (with no regard for the quality or content of education and without addressing the social forces that keep girls out of school);
2. the proportion of seats held by women in national parliament (without regard for the more crucial question of whether these women respect human rights);
3. the share of women in non-agricultural sectors of the workforce (without recognition of the need for decent wages, working conditions, and public services such as day care, health care, clean water, and transportation that ease the time burden of women who are expected to work outside the home and fulfill their responsibilities within the family).

As we can see, the MDGs call for change, but not for creating the conditions to make real change possible. To address the root causes of the problems that the goals are supposed to rectify, we need to grapple with precisely those phenomena that the MDGs take for granted. These include policies that have increased poverty and inequality around the world (such as free-trade agreements, wage freezes, and hostility to worker organizing) and subordinated human rights to "national security" as defined by the Bush Administration. In fact, at a moment when the rights of both women and men have been badly eroded by such policies, we can see clearly the limitations of pursuing gender "equality." To whom should women be equal? Should women in Colombia demand "equality" with male co-workers who are being killed for union organizing? Should Rwandan women who are HIV-positive seek "equality" with Rwandan men who are denied high-priced AIDS medications? The real goal is not equality, but justice; and one of the best ways we have of ensuring justice is the fulfillment of human rights.

But the MDGs fail to even mention sexual and reproductive rights, women's labor and property rights, or one of the most fundamental obstacles to ensuring these rights, namely, violence against women. The glaring absence of these issues from the MDGs reflects the powerful role played by right-wing and fundamentalist governments such as the United States in their negotiation.

Reproductive rights, in particular, have been under fire by the US since 2000, when Bush took office and began defunding international family planning programs and revamping US reproductive health policy to placate his religious fundamentalist base. Women's human rights advocates have pointed out that sexual and reproductive rights are central to achieving at least four of the MDGs: women's equality and empowerment (Goal 3); reducing child mortality (Goal 4); improving maternal health (Goal 5); and combating HIV/AIDS (Goal 6). Moreover, since human rights are indivisible, empowering women is crucial to realizing all of the goals. Conversely, none of the goals can be realized without ensuring that goal.

One way to gain insight into any policy is to look at its authors. The MDGs are sponsored jointly by the United Nations, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). While the United Nations operates within a human rights framework, the missions of the World Bank and IMF are to advance a set of economic policies that are often at odds with human rights. In fact, the MDGs infuse neoliberal priorities into development policy using the language of human rights. They seek to "eradicate extreme poverty and hunger" (Goal 1), but rely on the discredited notion that economic growth at the national level (GNP) can eliminate poverty; and they assume that privatization of services is a strategy for rather than an obstacle to-economic development. At the heart of the MDGs beats a fundamental contradiction: poor countries are expected to meet the MDGs by implementing the very neoliberal economic policies that have, in large measure, caused the crises that the goals are intended to address. These policies include cutting government spending, privatizing basic services, liberalizing trade, and producing goods primarily for export.

As we have seen, the methodology and assumptions of neoliberal economics inform the MDGs, which rely heavily on the indicator of "absolute poverty" (which measures the proportion of the population surviving on less than a certain amount of income each day). The MDGs use the World Bank standard of an income of US $1 per day to indicate extreme poverty.

This income-based measurement of poverty obscures the experience of millions of people, for whom poverty is not primarily a function of income, but of their alienation from sustainable patterns of consumption and production. Indigenous women, for example, assert that their poverty and wealth are determined primarily by access to, and control of, their natural resources and traditional knowledge, which are the sources of indigenous culture and livelihoods. In indigenous communities, human rights (namely, governments' recognition of collective indigenous rights over land, natural resources, and traditional knowledge) are key to fighting poverty.

But the MDGs do not recognize that poverty is a function of human rights violations (such as the right to an adequate standard of living, the right to freedom from discrimination, and the right to development). Indeed, the MDGs posit housing, health care, and access to food and water not as non-negotiable and universal rights, but as "needs" to be met. By extension, the poor are not seen as autonomous subjects demanding that governments meet their legal obligations, but as a passive "target group" of policymaking. Sustainable development - which depends on broad civic participation, social justice, and a fundamental shift in the balance of power - is sidelined by this failure of the MDGs to operate within a human rights framework.

In fact, human rights standards are a useful yardstick for evaluating the MDGs. They reveal that the MDGs are not a spontaneous expression of governmental goodwill. Rather, the MDGs constitute pre-existing international obligations, some dating back more than 50 years.

Ultimately, for the goals to be a tool for advancing women's human rights, they must be treated not as a technical process, but as a political process. MADRE is working with our sister organizations and other women's organizations internationally to push for a rights-based approach to the MDGs that goes beyond improving statistical indicators to addressing root causes of human rights violations.

* Yifat Susskind is associate director of Madre. This article first appeared on Madre’s website at www.madre.org/articles/int/mdgcritique.html

* Please send comments to [email protected]

Meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) requires billions of dollars. The fix-all solution often mentioned is simply to increase aid flows. Demba Moussa Dembele critiques the foreign aid industry, explaining why aid is more of an enemy than a friend, how aid dependency has been augmented by IMF and World Bank conditions and what the hidden political and economic costs are for African countries.

The present focus on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) has reignited the debate on the need for more aid to developing countries to help them meet the MDGs by 2015. However, this has inevitably rekindled the parallel debate as to whether more aid is really the answer. Will extra money simply shore up inefficient governments and feed government corruption? One response to this is to say we must bypass government and make money available directly to NGOs and other organizations. At the same time, others claim that what is needed is not more aid, but a fundamental transformation of international power relationships, especially reform of international trade and finance rules to allow African and other developing countries to sell their goods and services at a fair price.

A number of ideas for raising more money to meet the MDGs have been floated recently. While the UN Millennium Project’s report, Investing in Development,[1] calls for an overall huge increase in aid, the Commission for Africa report calls for a doubling of aid to Africa.[2] The French government’s Landau Report suggests a number of innovative sources of financing,[3] while Gordon Brown’s International Finance Facility proposal envisages selling bonds issued by industrialized countries with a view to raising money in financial markets to finance development.

A central misconception about aid

But before going into the debate on whether aid does encourage dependency and inefficiency, we need to address a particular misconception: that aid to developing countries, known as official development assistance (ODA), is an act of simple generosity towards poor countries in dire need of capital to invest in education, health, infrastructure, and so forth, and that it comes with no strings attached. Development assistance is neither value-free nor benevolent. It has served and continues to serve the economic, political and strategic interests of ‘donor’ countries. This was particularly so during the Cold War period. It is even more evident today, especially from the USA.

The Millennium Challenge Account (MCA), for instance, the Bush Administration’s main tool for foreign ‘aid’, is laden with ideological, political and economic conditions. Eligible countries should support, or not oppose, US foreign policy; they should adopt ‘free market’ reforms, good governance practices, and so forth. It could also be added that so far, not a single dollar from the MCA has been delivered to African countries.

Furthermore, with the onset of the debt crisis in the late 1970s, Western governments and multilateral institutions under their control started imposing crippling conditions on aid to impoverished countries.

An instrument, not a gift

So aid is an instrument, not a gift. For many Western countries and institutions, it plays a key role in their overall strategy to maintain and even expand their influence in Africa. This is particularly true for former colonial powers such as France and Britain, which have used aid to maintain their influence in former colonies, in economic, financial, military and strategic areas. This type of aid does create dependency and it is intended to, since its primary objective is to shore up regimes that are ‘friendly’ to Western countries, regardless of the nature of those regimes. This explains, among other things, why a dictatorial and inept regime like Mobutu’s in the former Zaire was kept afloat despite the looting of his country’s resources and the rampant corruption that characterized his regime. Billions of dollars looted by Mobutu are still stashed in Western banks while the Congolese people continue to live in abject poverty.

Giving with one hand …

Another problem with aid is that it mostly benefits donor countries. Despite the formal end to the practice of ‘tied aid’, the money disbursed as aid goes mainly to foreign-controlled enterprises and aid flows are used to buy goods and services from donor countries. The prices of those goods are often higher than the market price of similar goods. Export credit agencies and banks in Western countries have played a key role in that area. A recent report by ActionAid pointed out that for every dollar disbursed by France and the US in the form of aid, 89 per cent and 86 per cent return home, respectively.[4]

More strings attached

Moreover, since the start of the debt crisis, aid dependency has been aggravated by conditions imposed by the IMF and World Bank. Since the 1980s, aid from Western countries has been conditional on recipient countries implementing policies dictated by these two institutions. Even aid from former colonial powers to their former colonies is now conditional on signing an agreement with the IMF. But it has become clear that these policies have done more harm than good. A recent report by Christian Aid indicates that over the last 20 years, the imposition of trade liberalization has cost African countries a staggering $272 billion, a sum that could have paid back the continent’s debt.[5] The report adds that the loss was roughly equivalent to the amount of foreign aid received by African countries during the same period.

The Christian Aid report corroborates findings by UNCTAD in 2001[6] which show that policy conditionalities imposed on African countries, especially trade liberalization and deregulation, have also cost the continent in deteriorating terms of trade and increased capital flight, which is higher than in any other region in the world. UNCTAD observed that, had Africa’s terms of trade remained at their 1980 level, the continent’s share in world trade would have been twice its current share; per capita income could have been 50 per cent higher; and annual growth would have increased by an additional 1.4 per cent. Worse still, this deterioration, combined with increased capital flight and debt repayments, led to a net transfer of real resources from Africa to the rich countries! Clearly, with stable terms of trade, African countries would have been much better off and would depend less on foreign aid.

Unfair trade and aid dependency

To give an illustration: in 2002, subsidies for cotton provided by the US caused a 25 per cent decrease in cotton prices, which translated into a loss of $300 million by African exporters, such as Mali, Benin and Burkina Faso, a higher sum than the entire ‘debt relief’ ($230 million) promised by the IMF and the World Bank to all African countries eligible for the HIPC Initiative.[7] Subsidies by OECD countries – which, according to UNDP, cost more than six times what they spend on aid to poor countries – have increased African countries’ food deficit and dependency.[8] By flooding African markets with cheap, subsidized food, industrialized countries destroy domestic food production and increase African countries’ dependency on food imports, which are paid for through new loans or ‘aid’ from the same industrialized countries.

The debt crisis and aid dependency

These things – the cost of complying with conditions imposed by donors and lenders and subsidies on domestic produce by OECD countries – help explain, among other things, the worsening of the debt crisis, which in turn has meant greater dependency on foreign aid. In the 1980s and 1990s, the average debt service was roughly equal or even higher than foreign aid to African countries. Part of that aid was even used to pay back old debts, including multilateral debts. All this reinforced dependency on external sources, especially the World Bank, the IMF and the African Development Bank. And, as a report by UNCTAD in 2004 indicates, Sub-Saharan Africa’s debt soared in the 1980s and 1990s, the peak years of structural adjustment.[9] According to the report, though African countries had reimbursed $550 billion to creditors against $540 billion in loans between 1970 and 2002, Africa is still saddled with a debt estimated at $300 billion. This is a vicious circle which, up to now, has shown no sign of being broken.

Internal factors

What about the question as to whether aid simply encourages corruption and inefficiency? According to a recent article in the Ugandan daily, The Monitor, the country depends on international donors for 50 per cent of its budget. But the Uganda Revenue Authority collects only about 57 per cent of taxes due because of institutional weaknesses in tax administration and because ‘the rich and politically powerful don’t pay taxes’. Meanwhile, Uganda spends $200 million on the military, where $70 million is enough for its security needs, and a Ministry of Finance study shows that public administration expenditure could be cut by 50 per cent. Uganda, therefore, does not need aid, says the article; what it needs is to improve its tax administration, clamp down on tax evaders, and abandon its corrupt and profligate military and public administration expenditure.

It is true that corruption is still rampant in many African countries and African civil society organizations have raised this problem time and again. In several countries anti-corruption NGOs are working tirelessly to raise public awareness and expose corrupt officials and practices. This is part of our struggle for more democratic, accountable and transparent governments. There is no doubt that the elimination of corruption would contribute to reducing dependency on foreign aid through improvement in public savings and more effective tax collection systems that would help raise significant amounts of money for the state.

But, once again, the problem of corruption has two sides: the corruptor and the corrupt. However, Western governments and multilateral agencies tend to focus exclusively on African governments and overlook the role of foreign companies and banks in maintaining corruption.

But here too Western countries have had a crucial influence. First, the imposition of structural adjustment programmes by the IMF and World Bank has considerably weakened African states and impaired their ability to fight corruption more effectively. In the 1990s, for instance, many countries lost some of their best civil servants as a result of ‘voluntary leaves’ recommended by these two institutions, more concerned by the wage bill than the quality of the civil service. In addition, they propose fighting corruption by a further financial squeeze of the state through the establishment of a myriad of ‘independent’ agencies that take away resources that should normally go to the state. But this is a mistake, since corruption may simply move from central government to local governments and so-called ‘independent’ agencies. The best way to fight corruption is through democratic scrutiny and accountability of elected officials.

African economies have inherited structural weaknesses from colonization, which have made them more vulnerable to external shocks, such as commodity price fluctuations and higher interest rates. In addition, these economies depend to a large extent on trade and financial flows with former colonial powers. This also tends to foster aid dependency: when exports fall, African countries rely on hard currencies for imports of equipment, foodstuffs and essential goods.

The costs of aid dependency

The dependency on foreign aid has political as well as economic costs. It is obvious that a country that depends on foreign assistance for up to 40 per cent of its budget cannot control its own policies. Instead, as the IMF and World Bank’s structural adjustment programmes show, donors dictate economic and financial policies, based on their own world view and interests. The structural adjustment programmes, imposed by the IMF and World Bank, are a reflection of that reality. As already indicated, this has worsened the economic crisis and deepened external dependency, while the conditions attached to such multilateral aid are the principal cause of the abject poverty affecting more than half of the African population.

In short, much of the so-called aid given by Western countries and the loans made by multilateral institutions are not based on developing countries’ real needs, nor on any performance criteria, but primarily on the interests of ‘donors’. It’s time, now, to consider some possible alternatives.

What is the alternative?

Obviously, there is no easy solution to the problem of aid dependency. There are no quick fixes nor a general policy applicable to all countries. However, we think that the following proposals should be explored by African and Western countries as a basis for a lasting solution to the problem.

- Cancel unconditionally the debt of all African countries. This is a precondition for any possibility of recovery. Once the burden of debt is lifted, aid will no longer be simply a means of perpetuating an instrument of domination.

- Repatriate stolen wealth. Even the Commission for Africa Report acknowledges that tens of billions of dollars in stolen wealth are kept in Western countries. Some estimates put that stolen wealth at 70 per cent of private wealth, excluding land. The repatriation of that would significantly limit African countries’ need for foreign aid.

- End IMF and World Bank policies. Trade liberalization, deregulation, fiscal austerity and privatization have been some of the leading factors behind the worsening of African countries’ financial crisis and their growing dependence on foreign aid. They have also increased capital flight, which reached unprecedented proportions during the 1980s and 1990s.

- Abolish unfair trade policies and promote fair trade. Africa needs fair trade (rather than ‘free’ trade, which has exacerbated African countries’ need for hard currencies and thus their dependence on foreign aid).

In a fair trade framework, one acknowledges the asymmetry between African and industrialized countries’ economies. Fair trade would therefore keep in place special preferences for African exports, especially agricultural exports. Subsidies in Western countries which make African imports prohibitively expensive would be abolished. It would stop the dumping of subsidized products in African markets to the detriment of local production. Finally, it would support proposals for international agreements, as often suggested by UNCTAD, aimed at stabilizing commodity prices so as to limit, if not eliminate, the decline in African terms of trade.

This set of policies is the opposite of ‘free’ trade, which pretends to establish a ‘level playing field’ between African and industrialized countries!

- Change internal policies. The above policies must be complemented by fundamental internal changes. They include eliminating wasteful spending and fighting corruption more effectively. They also include more transparent decision-making and more accountable governments and institutions. At the continental level, the African Union must pursue its efforts to hold member states to some common standards so that economic and financial policies can be improved for the benefit of their citizens.

Summing up

Does aid create dependency? The short answer is that, on the terms on which it has generally been given, it does, but it need not. Aid dependence is the result of both internal factors and deliberate external policies. Aid has been made to serve both the foreign policies of Western states and their wider economic interests. The terms of that aid, combined with Western protectionism, have been designed to keep Africa as a source of commodities and a consumer of manufactured goods from industrialized countries. This creates further aid dependence as the need for hard currencies is made more acute by the deterioration in the continent’s terms of trade.

On the other hand, aid which is consistent with African countries’ needs and priorities can certainly be a positive factor. The solution to aid dependence does not lie in a further privatization of that aid through corporations, like the MCA, or through Western NGOs. It lies rather in fundamental policy changes, both at the international and internal levels, which will rebalance many of the transactions, both economic and political, between Africa and the richer countries. More fundamentally still, Africa needs to put its own house in order and count first and foremost on its own resources. No amount of foreign aid alone will ever develop the continent.[10]

* Demba Moussa Dembele is Director, African Forum on Alternatives, Dakar (Senegal). He can be contacted at [email][email protected] or [email][email protected]

* Please send comments to [email protected]

* This article first appeared in the September issue of the Alliance Magazine and is gratefully reproduced here with permission. Alliance is the leading magazine on philanthropy and social investment across the world. Published quarterly by Allavida, it tracks the latest trends and developments providing expert analysis from northern and southern perspectives. Visit http://www.allavida.org/alliance/alliancehome.html

References:

1 See Aid Real Aid.pdf

5 Christian Aid (2005) The economics of failure: the real costs of ‘free’ trade. See www.christianaid.org

6 UNCTAD (2001) Economic Development in Africa. Performance, prospects and policy issues. New York & Geneva: United Nations.

7 UNCTAD (2003) Trade and Development Report 2003 New York & Geneva: United Nations.

8 UNDP (2003) Making Global Trade Work for the Poor London: Earthscan.

9 UNCTAD (2004) Economic Development in Africa. Debt Sustainability: Oasis or mirage? New York & Geneva: United Nations.

10 For further information on African positions that are critical of the whole set of relationships between Africa and Western countries, see Firoze Manji and Patrick Burnett (eds) (2005) African Voices on Development and Social Justice. Editorials from Pambazuka News 2004 Dar es Salaam: Mkuki Na Nyota Publishers. See also AFRODAD Reality Check on Development Aid Annual Reports. See

White Band Day 2 takes place on September 10 and events are taking place around Africa to mark the day. You can join the call to end poverty in Africa, by sending an SMS to the number +27 82 904 3425

SAY NO TO POVERTY

Support the Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP). Text ‘NO TO POVERTY’ and your comments with your name and surname to

+27 82 904 3425

Your message will be posted on the website www.gcapsms.org and used to demonstrate support for the GCAP movement.

Recent messages received (out of a total of 1749 messages)

1. NO TO POVERTY. We must do whatever we can! Toyin Omolola, Nigeria

2. No to debt .thumbs down 2 poverty. My name is Adjoa my surname Clarke, Ghana

3. NO TO POVERTY. Stop agricultural subsidies in EUROPE & USA for fair trade. Olive Wonekha, MP Uganda

4. No to poverty, Lesabane Audrey Mahlatsi, Bloemfontein, South Africa

5. What Africa truly needs is FAIR TRADE not AID. Poverty in Africa must end now! Ophelia Soliku, Ghana

6. hi my mane is kamara pabai a liberian liveing in ghana poverty can kill so no to poverty i love Africa, Ghana

7. we can chase poverty out if we act as one people with a single voice. FROM JASON ASEDEM

8. Africa is one, we are behind u in eradicating pvrty in Afrc.frm Kazohua famly ,Namibia

9. NO TO DEBT. Oumi COULIBALY, Tunisia

10. The African nations should just default debt payment because this is a form of neo-colonialism. We should revive the 1960s Pan-African movement. Ireri, N, Kenya

The Tanzanian GCAP/MDGs Campaign, "Ondoa Umaskini Tanzania" (Eradicate Poverty in Tanzania) will officially launch its campaign on September 10, 2005 simultaneously in Dar Es Salaam, Kigoma, Loliondo, Mwanza, Same and Singida. A press conference announcing the launch will be held on September 8th with banners and posters displayed at bus stops, along major roads and in front of key public buildings. At the Mnzani Mmoja Ground in Dar Es Salaam more than 2,000 people will come together to form a human chain wearing shirts with the campaign messages and white bands made by poor women living in rural villages in Ngorongoro.

Thousands of people packed into Ghana's Independence Square in Accra on Saturday 3 September 2005 for the marathon 15 hour Africa Standing Tall Against Poverty Concert featuring Africa's leading musicians, leading civil society personalities and anti poverty campaigners. The concert was telecast live on Metro TV, attracting a television audience of over 700,000 within Ghana alone. "This is a great unifying event," said Mac Tontoh, one of the headline acts. "Africa is speaking with one voice and our leaders and the world must listen." Kumi Naidoo, chair of the GCAP Facilitation Group, the main sponsors of the concert, received great applause from the crowd when he spoke powerfully about the growing mass movement against poverty in Africa and the responsibilities of the Millennium Summit assembly in New York.

Angela Khaminwa's article 'On the Margins: Indigenous as relevant' is very interesting indeed. Our organisation, Health Unlimited, has extensive programmes working with indigenous peoples in Africa, Asia and Latin America and the question on the relevance of the term indigenous in Africa is one that is being debated internally in the organisation next week. I intend to use her article as a reference, but would be interested in following up on some of the issues.

An annual report released by the United Nations Development Programme takes a critical look at the failure of the international community to make progress toward the 2015 Millennium Development Goals. The 2005 Human Development Report, "International Cooperation at a Crossroads: Aid, Trade and Security in an Unequal World," was launched this week prior to a UN summit on development this month in New York. By examining three pillars of international cooperation - aid, trade, and security - the report argues that none of the Millennium Goals will be achieved on time if the international community does not decide to make a serious effort towards overcoming social and income inequalities.

At least five people were killed and 16 others injured in Mozambique after supporters of the ruling Frelimo party and the main opposition Renamo clashed over disputed municipal elections, state radio said on Tuesday. The clashes in Mocimboa da Praia on Sunday and Monday followed May elections in the area won by Frelimo, Radio Mozambique said.

Liberia's presidential and legislative elections in October represent welcome progress but it would court disaster to consider them the end of the country's transformation, says the International Crisis Group (ICG). "The process can still easily fail if Liberians refuse to implement an intrusive economic governance mechanism or international partners pull out early. The UN, U.S., EU and World Bank need to stay the course."

On 1-2 September 2004, IUCN-SA assisted the Department of Environmental Affairs & Tourism with the facilitation of the Learning Centre, a parallel event at the Johannesburg+2 Conference on Sustainable Development. The Learning Centre had the overall theme of exploring how we are defining and implementing sustainable development in South Africa. The Learning Centre consisted of a mix of lectures, debates, keynote addresses and case study reflections. Key questions for each session were posed to speakers and panellists and a report on the Learning Centre was submitted to DEAT, which is available for download by following the link.

The chairperson of the Mahalapye Business Council, Galerobale Letsatle has stated that though many studies have shown that Botswana is the least corrupt country in Africa, corruption is still prevalent around the country. Addressing members of the Mahalapye business community during a one-day crime prevention workshop organised by the Mahalapye police recently, Letsatle said corrupt practices in the workplace makes it difficult to punish those who are promoting it.

In the first crackdown in 14 years, Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) has unearthed a racket by 70 commodity importers involved in a fraudulent practice leading to the loss of billions of shillings. The racket was uncovered after URA intercepted forged documents. Analysis of the documents shows that URA has been losing close to Shs2 billion in taxes every month.

DRC
10th of Sept
Popular March Of the People on the Bukavu’s main street. At the end of this march all the people would be gather in front of UN’s offices (OCHA).
Contact: .Jean Kamengele Omba, tel: +243 8131 82406; email: [email protected] (contact media)

Eritrea
10th Sept
On 10 September a music festival is taking place in the Cinema Roma, a beautiful old cinema in Asmara the capital. The programme includes workshops to give young talents in Asmara a chance to develop their skills and to be creative. The event is called: Feel One Vibe (Make Poverty History).

Kenya
10th Sept
An MDG Shadow Report is being launched on the 10th. This is due to be launched on the 10th in a national media launch and workshop. The slogan for the WB2 actions in Kenya is "A Platform for Citizens to Denounce Poverty".
At the event four actions are taking place:
1.On the 10th a giant petition signed by government ministers, civil society representatives as well as the general public will be presented.
2) A display of testimonies of people in poverty called 'People behind the figures' is being displayed.
3) A press call
4) A talent show of children, where children get the opportunity to express their hopes and visions for 2015 - because 2015 belongs to them, rather than to us.
Contact: Achim Chaiji Tel. 254-20-4440440/4 cell pnone. 254-722-331612,

Malawi
10th of Sept
Three events are planned:
1. A set of these postcards with the message " No Excuse, Make Poverty History in Malawi", will be delivered to the State President to remind him of his obligation to reduce poverty in Malawi.
2. A shadow report will be officially presented to the UN Resident Representative at a specially convened press conference/debate.
Contact: Emmanuel Ted Nandolo email [email protected]

Mali
10th Sept
1. Media campaign
There will be announcements on the activities for WBD II three days in advance (from 8th Sept onwards) on the radio and on the TV (private and national TV). Two short programmes have been made for the campaign with targeted messages.
2. A breakfast meal is planned with government representatives and delegates. It will be hosted by the hunting community, one of the most traditional communities – this will be followed by a breakfast press conference.
3. There will be a presentation of a petition to the Prime Minister in Bamako – the petition focuses on a campaign against the privatisation of the Malian Company for the Development of Textiles and the introduction of GM foods.
4. There will also be a conference and debates on the MDGs with a representative from CAD- Mali and a state representative (In charge of the National strategies for action against poverty).

Mozambique
Music concert in front of Maputo's slums.
Contact: Jeronimo Napido or Silvestre Baessa Email : [email protected].

Namibia
10th of Sept
1. Rally - Huge march in Windhoek through the city centre and delivery of a petition to officials/representatives going to the MDG summit
2. Radio and television coverage ahead of the 10th
3. Draping of white cloths around parks within the central business district .
Contact: Mr. Theo Uvanga Namibia Development Trust, P.O. Box 8226, Bachbrecht, Windhoek, Namibia, Tel: +264 61 238002/3, Fax: +264 61 233261

Niger
10th of Sept
1. Morning rallies in front of the political leaders offices.
2. Breakfast with the MDG Summit delegation.
A press conference will be held after the breakfast.
Contact: Ali Abdoulaye, tel:+227 7525 60, email: [email protected]

Nigeria
1st - 10th Sept
1. Press brief on the 1st of September
2. Civil society Conference on the Paris Debt Deal on the 5th of September at Gurara Hall, Rockview Hotel, Abuja.
3. Poverty Public Hearing. We have mass of people gathered in various locations across the 36 states and the Federal Capital territory, Abuja to hold a public hearing on poverty issues in Nigeria and present manifestations and testimonies of poverty incidence. – 10th September
4. Send ‘wake up to poverty’ testimony post cards to the President and members of the National assembly (at the Federal level) and Governors and members of the States House of Assembly (at the State level) 10th September
5. Broadcast a documentary ‘ the face of poverty in Nigeria’ in a national television at 10pm
6. The week ends with a music concert and rally 14th September
Contact: Justice Egware: email: [email protected]: tel: +234 9 2900526; +234 8036299488; +234 8023464831.

Senegal
10th Sept
There will be a gathering in front of the houses of parliament in Dakar and outside Thies Town Hall (70Km from Dakar) with MPs, local authorities, artists, and the general public. More than 1,500 people are due to take part.

Sierra Leone
5-10 Sept
1. On Sept 5th: Poverty Tour (collecting testimonies in the form of audio, video and photos from people living in extreme poverty to be presented to the Sierra Leone delegates that will be attending the UN+5 Millennium Summit).
2. On Sept 7th: Radio and TV panel discussions on MDGs (Intermittent slots of video testimonies collected from the poverty tour will be aired during the TV discussion).
3. On Sept 8th: a radio phone-in programme on the MDGs (coalition members will discuss about the MDGs in relation to Sierra Leone and members of the public will make calls to make their own contributions).
On Sept 10th: Wakeup to Poverty press conference and launch of the Sierra Leone Alternate People’s report of progress made on the MDGs: “As if People Matter”.
Contact: Mohamed Sillah -Tel: +232-22-231392/232246/234197, Cell phone: +232-76-830071, [email protected]

Somalia
10th Sept
1.The coalition is urging the two main Educational networks, namely FPENS and SAFE to help youth mobilization in the afternoon of September 10th. Hundreds of youngsters/students from 20 schools and universities will be engaged to propagate the netional motto: ‘CIRIBTIR SABOOLNIMADA- Eliminate Poverty’. Plus a press conference at a chosen venue in Mogadishu. There will also be a media event for an early morning wake up call.

South Africa
10th Sept
1. The Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) wants to organize the country workshop that is to take place prior to reporting in UN in September. We are hoping for representation from government at a high level to pass on the message that people are indeed the centre of all government policies, and the centrality of humanity to development is indeed embodied in the MDGs. Government will report to the public on progress made as well mobilize the nation particularly the five development finance institutions around the MDGs
2. Party Against Poverty – a ethical club night to raise awareness, engage and motivate people in their late teens and twenties. This is being held in 8 cities (Lagos, London, Edinburgh, New York, Johannesburg, Paris, Amsterdam and Ibiza) on Saturday September 10th and being linked via audio and digital images aswell as pre-coordinated visuals and DJ mixes

Uganda
10th Sept
White band rallies and white band messaging on trucks that will sweep through the central streets to broadcast the messages.
Contact: Julius Kapwepwe: 256 41 533840/77 499455: [email protected], [email protected]

Zambia
1st - 10th Sept
1.National Consultation to finalise the Civil Society position towards the summit, the forum will be held on the 1st of September at Mulungushi International Conference centre. Part of the forum will be the presentation of the Shadow Report.
2. A walk to Justice, from Lusaka Main Post Office to the Freedom statue where we shall present position to the UNDP Country Rep and to one member of the Zambia Delegation going to New York.
3. An hour of prayer: An inter –faith prayer service will be held at Chawama Grounds on Sunday, the 4th of September from 15:00hours to 16:00hours. The service will be led by the Inter –Faith committee on MDGs – a sub committee of the National Civil Society MDG Campaign
Contact: Henry Malumo, Tel: 260 1 266234, Mobile: 260 97 656832, Email: [email protected], [email protected]

Zimbabwe
8th - 9th Sept
Publishing of Civil Society Shadow Report, which culminates in a People’s Conference on the MDGs
Contact: Fambai Ngirande, email [email protected]

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A great deal of excitement has been generated, among South Africa's general population and also in left-wing political and activist ranks, by the launch of what has been labelled by the mainstream media the “new United Democratic Front”. There are widely varying interpretations over exactly what and who - politically and organisationally - this “new UDF” represents, the character of its politics and potential, and whether or not it is a harbinger for a much-talked about split within the Tripartite Alliance - which consists of the ruling ANC and its “liberation movement” partners, the South African Communist Party (SACP) and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) - leading to the formation of an independent, left political party to challenge the capitalist ANC.

Social Watch will launch its Annual Report 2005 this 12 September in New York. "Roars and Whispers. Gender and Poverty: Promises vs. Action" presents two new indexes to measure social development, and concludes that the targets set for 2015 as part of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) will not be met. The Social Watch report is being released on the eve of the United Nations General Assembly's 2005 World Summit, taking place 14 to 16 September, which will address, among other themes, the progress made so far in fulfilling the MDGs.

Kenya has accused Uganda of violating the terms of a regional customs agreement that links the two countries with neighbouring Tanzania. The row comes eight months after the three nations launched the union in an attempt to revive the old East African Community, which collapsed in 1977. Under the agreement, Ugandan companies can import some Kenyan goods duty-free.

Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki has been told if he campaigns for a "yes" vote then November's planned referendum for a new constitution will be a farce. Electoral Commission head Samuel Kivuitu said no-one could compete with the government and their allies. "The people should be left to decide for themselves," he said. The proposed new constitution has been criticised by the opposition and five members of Mr Kibaki's cabinet.