I want to commend Dr. Tajuudeen Abdul Raheem's succint expository on Blair's African Commission or whatever it is they call it. I agree with him and nobody could have said it better!

It was contended that the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPCs) Initiative, and later its enhanced version, would ensure a permanent exit solution to Africa’s debt problems. There now seems to be an emerging consensus, however, that many African countries continue to suffer from a debt overhang despite the HIPC Initiative and various actions in the context of the Paris Club, says this editorial from the Seatini Bulletin.

"We, representatives of civil society from Cameroon, Ghana, Guyana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Uganda, Sierra Leone, Zambia and the regional network, the African Forum and Network on Debt and Development (AFRODAD), met in Lilongwe, Malawi from 8 to 10 December 2004 and in Maputo, Mozambique on 15 March 2005 to study in detail the country situations of Commonwealth HIPCs and prepare our participation in the 7th Commonwealth HIPC Ministerial Forum, 15 to16 March 2005."

This International Organization for Migration (IOM) paper discusses the trends, causes and impacts associated with internal voluntary migration for paid work. It states that in general, internal population movements are growing, and the three most significant recent changes in the pattern of internal population movement are: the feminisation of migration; the emergence of more accumulative kinds of migration which can contribute to the reduction of poverty; and the increase in temporary migration, especially commuting.

As Somalia's Transitional Federal Government (TFG) embarks on a five-year plan to re-build the war-torn country after two years of peace talks and 14 years of state collapse, Amnesty International is making an urgent call for human rights to be made a priority. "Vital to the success of the transitional government and the establishment of the rule of law in Somalia will be to secure justice for victims of war crimes and crimes against humanity," said Kolawole Olaniyan, Director of the Africa Program of Amnesty International. "There must be an open and transparent process to start establishing the truth and responsibility for past crimes with a view to prosecutions once a competent and impartial justice system is in place."

Kenya's Attorney General Amos Wako led the official delegation that presented Kenya's second periodic report to the United Nations Human Rights Committee on the status of human rights in Kenya under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The first issue the Committee raised was grand endemic corruption. The Committee was concerned that corruption affects the whole of society and compromises the ability to enjoy all other rights. The Committee wanted to find out whether the government was worried about donors pulling out. The Committee further wanted to be enlightened on what the government was doing to fight corruption.
* Read East African Standard comment on the human rights situation in Kenya at http://www.eastandard.net/hm_news/news.php?articleid=15871

Seething worldwide anger at US President George Walker Bush was reignited last week when he nominated one of his henchman, deputy US defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, for the position of World Bank president. Wolfowitz, who would take over from James Wolfensohn who is due to step down in June this year, is seen as the prime architect of the illegitimate invasion of Iraq, and is a champion of the free market approach to dealing with poverty. While Bush stresses Wolfowitz’s development credentials, there are many who quite simply view him as a war mongeror.

The appointment is seen as characteristic of Bush's tough approach towards multilateralism in which he seeks to aggressively push the US agenda and establish control over key institutions such as the World Bank. Initial speculation was that other G8 members, and especially the European lobby, would be opposed to the nomination, but Germany has since said it will not oppose the nomination, making a European challenge unlikely. It appears that this is one of the issues that Bush laid the groundwork for in his recent European friendship tour. The pay-back could come with US support for European leadership at the World Trade Organization.

Wolfowitz's role in the Iraq war makes him an unpopular choice for president of the Bank because the invasion and subsequent occupation is opposed in many of the areas of the developing world in which the Bank works. Former chief economist of the World Bank turned critic, Joseph Stiglitz, has warned that the nomination of Wolfowitz risks turning the institution into a hate figure and could spark public protests worldwide.

In this sense the appointment of Wolfowitz would bring into stark focus the links between war and the Bank – something that has been highlighted for some time by staunch critics. And as pointed out at http://www.voiceoftheturtle.org/raj/blog/ the appointment of Wolfowitz offers an opportunity because it makes nonsensical the argument that the World Bank can somehow be reformed and might therefore lead to a united voice against the damaging policies of the institution.

Others have pointed out that the issue of personalities is not as important as the damaging neo-liberal policies carried out, regardless of the figurehead. As Jubilee South said in a statement: "We call on all those concerned to direct their campaign efforts not simply at reversing that decision, but at decommissioning the World Bank itself, holding its owners and directors accountable for the genocidal consequences of its lending and collections, and resisting the neoliberal economic offensive that it is now entrusting Wolfowitz to unambiguously lead."

The cry from many in Africa to this statement would be a resounding ‘Hear, Hear!’

* Compiled by Pambazuka News. For further reading, click on the links below.

http://www.voiceoftheturtle.org/raj/blog/
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=13&ItemID=7460
http://www.jubileesouth.org/
http://www.nu.ac.za/ccs/default.asp?2,40,5,609
http://www.eurodad.org/articles/default.aspx?id=604
http://www.choike.org/nuevo_eng/informes/1752.html
http://www.brettonwoodsproject.org/wolfowitznomination

Nigeria’s education minister has been detained for questioning on suspicion he bribed parliamentarians to approve his annual budget, a senior official at the country’s anti-graft agency told IRIN on Monday. Education Minister Fabian Osuji was arrested last Thursday and questioned for three days before his release on Saturday by investigators of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), said the official, who asked to remain anonymous.

Reporters sans frontières (RSF) has voiced concern that, with general elections due to take place in just two months, on 15 May 2005, two journalists, Shiferraw Insermu and Dhabassa Wakjira, continue to be detained. Insermu and Wakjira, journalists for the Oromo-language service of the state-owned Ethiopian Television (ETV), are accused of having links with an Oromo separatist group. "As Ethiopians get ready to vote, two journalists continue to languish in a prison where cases of torture and mistreatment are regularly reported by international organisations," RSF said.

"In the name of humanism and self-determination, Blair's evangelical mission undermines Africa's case for development. And in the name of governance it threatens to weaken still further Africa's already fragile nation states," writes Daniel Ben-Ami is author of 'Cowardly Capitalism: The Myth of the Global Financial Casino, in this commentary for www.spiked-online.com. Ben-Ami writes that Africa's situation is so dire that any extra assets would be welcomed, but that the Commission for Africa Report, is likely to do more harm than good.

"This is a wide ranging informative compilation of essays which offer the very best advocacy for Africa - by Africans."– Glenys Kinnock MEP

Pambazuka News, the electronic newsletter on social justice in Africa, has published an anthology of editorials that provide a perspective on development and social justice in Africa that rarely finds expression elsewhere. The collection constitutes a valuable record of the views of both African civil society activists and academics on key developments and events in the region during 2004, touching on issues of conflict, development, debt cancellation, women’s rights and the role of the international financial institutions in Africa.

SPECIAL PROMOTION FOR PAMBAZUKA NEWS SUBSCRIBERS

Readers in Africa can obtain a copy of the book from Mkuki na Nyota Publishers (see below) for US$ 15. Subscribers elsewhere can buy the book for UK Pounds 10 (normal price 17.95 pounds) for a limited period – until 30 April – provided you can prove that you are a subscriber to Pambazuka News. You must quote the words “Pambazuka News Subscriber Offer” and include your email address (so we can check whether you are a subscriber) and send your order to [email][email protected]

ISBN 9987417353 304pp. 2005 Mkuki na Nyota Publishers, Tanzania
(Editorials from Pambazuka News series, 1)

* EDITORIAL: Henning Melber examines genocide in Namibia in the context of colonial violence and what it means for current generations
* COMMENT AND ANALYSIS: Saranel Benjamin and J. Zoë Wilson from the Centre for Civil Society at the University of Kwazulu Natal critique the role of women in South African social movements
* LETTERS: Subscribers write in about shoes that pinch, walls of silence, women’s day and in memory of Guy Mhone
* PAN-AFRICAN POSTCARD: Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem finds little cause for satisfaction in Tony Blair’s Commission for Africa report; Issa Shivji critiques compassion for Africa
* CONFLICTS AND EMERGENCIES: The UN is urged to grow teeth on Sudan
* HUMAN RIGHTS: The Zimbabwe NGO Human Rights Forum issues a report on the human rights situation prior to elections
* WOMEN AND GENDER: The Global Campaign for Education slams world leaders for failures on girl’s education
* ELECTIONS AND GOVERNANCE: Zimbabwe election news - Amnesty rules out fair poll, monitoring group EISA blocked from poll observation, activist group Sokwanele slams Mbeki over poll comments
* EDUCATION: New report from Save the Children calls for children to be at the centre of policy

>>>>>PAMBAZUKA NEWS TURNS 200! On March 31, Pambazuka News will release its 200th edition. The milestone represents a journey from an e-newsletter with a few hundred subscribers to one with over 15 000 subscribers; from an e-newsletter that nobody knew about to one that is widely distributed on the African continent.

We invite subscribers to celebrate with us and send us a birthday greeting. Tell us about your experience with the newsletter and how you find it of use. Please send comments to [email protected]

The Africa Regional Sexuality Resource Centre (ARSRC) calls for applications to its annual Sexuality Leadership Development Fellowship (SLDF) Programme. The Fellowship is scheduled to take place in Lagos, Nigeria from July 3-22 2005. The fellowship is designed to catalyse development in the field of sexuality by: Providing exposure to conceptual, theoretical and programmatic issues in sexuality, sexual health and sexual rights; Providing opportunities to conduct research or action projects on sexuality issues; Promoting mentoring of young African professionals by experts in the field; and Facilitating the emergence of a new generation of leaders. Deadline: March 31 2005

Bi- and multilateral trade relations between external actors and individual African states or regional blocs are becoming ever more decisive. The trade policies of both the USA and the EU are anything but helpful. This is true of the USAs African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), the EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with South Africa and more recently the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) negotiated in the Post-Cotonou era of European relations with the South.

All these initiatives have a potentially detrimental impact on regional integration. The latter remains however a priority in the developmental policy and strategy documents as formulated both by African agencies as well as the partners in development cooperation in the OECD countries. Hence the question of coherence between trade as aid and other areas of development strategy and cooperation remains to be answered.

The three analyses presented in this publication are centred on related issues in the ongoing process of globalisation under the WTO regime, and their likely effect on African countries. Each chapter critically examines recent trends in the discourse on trade reform and development.

Last year, communities in Maai Mahiu and Kajiado lost at least 140 animals after they sprayed them with chemicals bought from unscrupulous suppliers. Now, investigations reveal that the safety and quality of agro-vet chemicals in Kenya could be compromised following allegations of corruption at the Pest Control Products Board. A clique comprising officials who have been at the board for decades are said to demand as much as $5,000 (about Sh400,000) as inducement to register an agrochemical product and give it the nod to be offered for sale.

Our common interest, the report of the Commission for Africa, launched 11 March, has pointed the finger at the Bretton Woods Institutions for their role in African underdevelopment and has called for sweeping reforms. Controversially, the Commission has proposed the establishment of "decision-making councils" for each institution made up of member countries' political representatives. In its analysis of the reasons for African economic woes, the Commission has singled out the IMF for forcing African governments to slash budgets for clinics and schools at a time when Asian countries were investing. "Evidence shows that IMF and World Bank economic policy in the 1980s and early 1990s took little account of how these policies would potentially impact on poor people in Africa."

On Friday 1st April 2005, debt campaigners around the world will be targeting the representatives of rich creditor countries with a demand for debt cancellation. Organisations and activists, including many involved with the Global Call to Action Against Poverty, are planning to target the embassies of the G7 - Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and US - calling for full cancellation of the debts of the most impoverished countries. The action comes ahead of the meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund in Washington DC on 16th and 17th April. Visit the Eurodad website for more details and a detailed discussion about how the Commission for Africa dealt with the issue of debt cancellation.

An international team sponsored by the United Nations proposed a detailed, ambitious plan on Monday that it says could halve extreme poverty and save the lives of millions of children and hundreds of thousands of mothers each year by 2015. The report says drastically reducing poverty in its many guises - hunger, illiteracy, disease - is "utterly affordable." To fulfill this goal, industrial nations would need to double aid to poor countries, to one-half of 1 percent of national incomes, from one-quarter of 1 percent.

President Robert Mugabe's ruling party has used threats and intimidation against opposition supporters ahead of this month's key elections which now cannot be free and fair, said Amnesty International. The London-based rights watchdog, which sent a fact-finding team to Zimbabwe last month, said in a report that, although the level of violence was lower than in the run-ups to previous polls, the playing field was far from level.

If sending arch-unilateralist John Bolton to the United Nations sent a message of contempt for multilateralism, what does U.S. President George W. Bush mean by sending that ardent advocate of ”hard power”, Paul Wolfowitz, to the planet's single biggest purveyor of ”soft power”, the World Bank? Bush's confirmation at a press conference Wednesday that he had chosen the deputy defence secretary, best known for being the administration's earliest and most outspoken advocate of war with Iraq, caused general consternation among both the national security elite and Bank-watchers in the development community.