CODA (Capacity Building for OD in Africa) in Association with SAAP (Swiss Association of Applied Psychology) offers Systemic Organisation Development Training. Modules covered are: OD consultancy processes and systemic approach; Entering organisations and structuring OD interventions; Organisation culture and change management; Integrating OD and management processes, professionalism and ethics. For more details write to M&N Strategic Solutions: [email protected]

The driving assumption within the international development policy establishment is that 'there is no alternative' to neo-liberal economics and globalisation. In 'Reclaiming Development' Ha-Joon Chang and Ilene Grabel explain what this dominant school says about how economies develop and the economic policies it imposes worldwide. By analysing the actual historical experiences of the leading Western and East Asian economies during their development, the authors question the validity of the neo-liberal development model.

The Contact Trust is committed to increasing the level of civil society involvement in the activities of the South African government and parliament. Through the Internship programme Contact provides communities and Non Governmental Organisations from around the country with the information and support they need to become involved in policy and legislation development.

Shell's failed relationships with communities, the potential for aggravating civil conflict and lack of transparency have combined to produce a crisis in the company's Nigerian operations, says a newly-published briefing by Christian Aid, Friends of the Earth, Platform and the Stakeholder Democracy Network. The report details shared concerns for Shell's investors and oil and gas producing-communities in Nigeria. The report analyses leaked documents commissioned by Shell, arguing that unless the oil company significantly changes direction in Nigeria - onshore operations may not be possible beyond 2008. This may end in a chaotic withdrawal that would be damaging and costly for all. Nigeria represents about 10% of Shell's overall business.

Some big events in life pass by unnoticed at the time of happening by human intelligence. We must generally wait for the precious analyses of historians several decades later so as to qualify the events as historic. It is often said quite mechanically that history is repeating itself, without thinking about the lessons to be drawn from such pronouncements. Must we wait for the end of the century to recognize the historical value contained in the Protocol on the Rights of Women?

From the Constitutive Act of the African Union, it seems that Africa has made a step forward in following the chorus of nations. In fact, strong regional structures and decisions that have been re-dynamised and honored by the visionary leadership of the Heads of States, Africa is now adorned with the essentials that it had lacked until then: she is now equipped with a common will, a real union to mobilize her energies and merge the synergies towards a common objective in the fight against underdevelopment and the numerous ills that this entails.

As reassuring as consequence of the regional policies may be there is no doubt that the innovation to highlight rests in the recognition of the woman as an equal partner with the man and the need for her involvement in the management of African affairs, state affairs and family or private affairs. The African woman remains from now on at the center of the credo of all political discussions. The consecration of the concept of gender parity in the Constitutive Act of the African Union in the recruitment of Commissioners and all other technical personnel brilliantly marks the end of an era where actions for the promotion of women were included under pressure for the conditionality imposed by donors and this without any conviction or concern for the improvement in the condition of the African woman.

In fact the Constitutive Act of the African union in its framework for the adoption of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People's Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, constitutes the expected detonator to reaffirm and implement the principle of equality and its corollary the principle of non discrimination. In other words, the adoption of an African instrument specific to the rights of women reveals in plain language the appropriation by the African states of the principles of equality and non-discrimination.

In all the big meetings in the history of Africa, Africans have known how to show their courage and mobilize their energies so as to make heard the cause of their people. By this Protocol that solemnly reaffirms their rights, the protection of their dignity and their non disputable role in the management of the affairs of the state and in the decision making spheres, Africans are recovering the merits that are coming back to them, that which was praised in the songs and tales of our ancestors but made to look bad in a contemporary epoch full of traditional values. What does the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People's Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa say ?

As a regional instrument, it flows from the African Charter on Human and People's Rights adopted in 1981, which it has the merit of completing in conformity to the provisions of Article 66 of the African Charter. The provisions of the Protocol protect the rights of African women such as they are recognized and guarantied to all human beings and particularly by the international instruments on human rights namely the Universal Declaration on human rights, the international Covenant on Civil and Political Rights as well as the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, The Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women and its Optional Protocols and the African Charter on the Rights and Well Being of the Child and all other conventions and international treaties on women's rights as human rights, inalienable, interdependent and indivisible.

The 12th consideration in the Preamble constitutes the framework within which to understand the Protocol.

- The rights protected by the Protocol

The rights protected in the Protocol are diverse and are not exhaustively discussed in this paper. However the principle of equality cuts across. With its corollary the principle of non-discrimination, the principle of equality, is recognized in all African constitutions.

The francophone countries recognize equality between men and women formally and in the law. In the other countries however there are specific mechanisms for putting into effect these legal principles. The Protocol goes beyond the abstract of laws protecting women's rights. There are specific provisions to ensure that the laws are implemented with specific actions given to guide such processes. These are found in the provisions on the right to life, to integrity, security, elimination of all harmful practices, access to justice and equal protection before the law. The need for concrete application reverberates through the whole document and economic rights of the woman as well as the right to social protection are recognized.

In using complimentary forms of expression, the protocol retains the African touch in its context to give significance to the African reality. The right to food security, the encouragement of the creation of a system of social protection in favor of women working in the informal sector makes real sense to the African woman. The Protocol brings the women' s rights from the Universal setting to a point where all and sundry are able to access them. This plea for the ratification finds a basis in this. The majority of the African constitutions have provision for the necessary legislative mechanisms to protect the rights of women. The ratification of the Protocol will stir up the constitutional mechanisms into action and where absent make it possible for the establishment of such mechanisms.

Further by virtue of Article 26 the States have an obligation to include the level of implementation of the Protocol in their periodic reports to the African Commission on Human Rights. Paragraph 2 of Article 26 makes an interesting provision in as far as the budgetary question goes and this is indeed a soft spot for African states.

Thus the African states must allocate enough budgetary funds for the implementation of the protocol. Hitherto the budgetary allocations have been very weak for women's issues.

- Innovation of the Protocol

The Protocol takes into account the aged as well as the handicapped and the illiterate. This is an indication of the evolution of the African society and further offers special protection for women in situations of distress, women in prison, and pregnant and lactating mothers. The recognition of the rights of widows is a further indication of this evolution as widows suffer a lot in the hands of tradition and blatant disregard for their rights upon the death of their husbands. The rights of women to political participation and decision making is recognized as well even though these rights are recognized in the ICCPR and its predecessor, the 1952 convention.

Article 9 brings in for the first time the term parity and this Article paves the way for affirmative action in legislation in the member states. A distinction is made in the article between equality of chances and equality in result. It is noted that women must be made equal partners with men in decision making processes as well as policy formulation.

Women must be presented to the electorate in the democracies and this can only happen if the political parties make it favorable for women to vie for election. Political participation and its constituent characteristics must be looked at from the perspective of the rights of women.

Peace and development are interdependent in the same way that democracy and respect for human rights are interdependent. Human rights cannot be dissociated from women's rights. The human genus is made up of man and woman. Harmony can only be attained if the rights of both are respected.

The right to peace and the right to development are hardly ever recognized in international conventions. This is a first as there had only been mentions of the same in the General Assembly of the UN without real protection of the rights.

The main advantage of the Protocol is that it seeks to harmonize the different systems regulating the rights of the family and the woman. The contradictions of the African systems are noted in the plural judicial systems that often lead to confusion. The family in many African states is managed by traditional laws and Sharia in the Muslim states. As such substantial breaches to the principles of equality and non-discrimination are entrenched in the Constitutions, the supreme laws of these states. Article 6 shows the will to reconcile these opposing and fundamental differences in legal systems of states. Article 7 gives the courts and the judicial systems the duty to arbitrate over personal law and laws of the family. The Protocol seeks to do away with the confusion mentioned in the foregoing.

Article 6 c addresses the issues of marriage and highlights the objective harmonization of the conflicting laws. It also brings to the fore the search for a new Africa based on harmony and free of contradiction. The preservation of African values is placed with women, the custodians of legends and traditions known in our time for their unending fight for peace, liberty, dignity, justice and solidarity. I believe that this is argument enough to encourage the Heads of States to emulate the Republic of Comoros in ratifying the protocol to the African Charter on Human and People's Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa.

* Zeinab Kamil Ali is a member of the Commission on Human Rights, Djibouti

* Please send comments to

* For the full French version please click on the link below.

Certains grands évènements de la vie passent inaperçus par l’intelligence humaine au moment de leur accomplissement. Et il faut généralement attendre l’analyse précieuse des historiens , quelques décennies plus tard, pour enfin leur accorder le qualificatif « d’historiques ».
On dit souvent très machinalement que « l’histoire se répète » , sans se soucier des enseignements à tirer d’une telle assertion.
Faut-t-il donc attendre la fin d’un siècle pour reconnaître au protocole africain sur les droits des femmes la valeur historique qui lui revient ?

Background:

An important step to establish a legal framework for the promotion and protection of the rights of women throughout the African continent was taken when The Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa was adopted on 11 July 2003 by the Assembly of the African Union during its second summit in Maputo, Mozambique.

Scope:

The new protocol will complement the African Charter in advancing and ensuring the human rights of the African woman. It covers a broad range of human rights issues, including:

- Access to justice and equal protection before the law;
- The right to life, integrity and security of person; the right to inheritance, and calls for affirmative action to promote equal participation in the political and decision making process; equal representation of women in the judiciary and law enforcement agencies as an integral part of equal protection and benefit of the law;
- The broad range of economic, social and cultural rights for women i.e. the right to equal pay for equal work and the right to adequate and paid maternity leave in both private and public sectors; the rights of particularly vulnerable groups of women i.e. the elderly women, disabled women, widows, 'women in distress' - pregnant or nursing women in detention, poor women, women from marginalized population groups are all recognised; protection against harmful traditional practice; for women in armed conflict; refugee women; right to food security and adequate housing; and recognition of the right of women to participate in the promotion and maintenance of peace.

Landmark provisions highlight:

- The reproductive right of women to medical abortion when pregnancy results from rape or incest or when the continuation of pregnancy endangers the health or life of the mother; and
- The legal prohibition of female genital mutilation.

The African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights will supervise the implementation of the Protocol pending the establishment of the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights.

States Parties to the Protocol commit themselves among others:
- To indicate in their periodic reports to the African Commission the legislative and other measures undertaken to ensure the full realization of the rights recognised in the Protocol;
-To include in their national constitutions and other legislative instruments these fundamental principles and ensure their effective implementation;
- To integrate a gender perspective in their policy decisions, legislation, development plans, and activities and to ensure the overall well-being of women; and
- To take effective measure to prevent the exploitation and abuse of women in advertising and pornography.

The Protocol will enter into force thirty (30) days after the deposit of the fifteenth (15) instrument of ratification. The African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies (ACDHRS) has followed the process of the Protocol with keen interest since the beginning of the discourse in the early 1990s. The lobby for the Protocol has mobilised a wide number of networks when the inadequacies of the African Charter in providing for the rights of women was realized. ACDHRS has served as a member of the working group set up by the African Commission to develop and formulate the first draft which was forwarded to the AU, then OAU. Over the years, the Centre continued to work closely with other organisations and activists on the continent to maximize on our collective collaborative resources to advance this giant step in the cause of human rights.

The adoption of the Protocol ushers in a new and significant era in the promotion and protection of the rights of women in Africa. To date, only one country has ratified the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa, while 30 have signed, thus indicating their intention.

The Appeal

While the African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies congratulates African Governments for taking the step of adopting the Protocol, we would wish to urge member states to pursue the process of ratification of the Protocol with much vigour and speed to ensure a prompt entry into force of the instrument and therefore its implementation. If the Protocol is ratified and fully implemented, it has the potential to become an important framework to end impunity for all forms of violations of the human rights of women in Africa. Furthermore, the action of ratifying and ushering in implementation would reinforce commitment to end discrimination and violence against women. The women of Africa who have suffered for so long, whose efforts at building our beloved continent have gone on for too long without acknowledgement, and indeed the men of Africa, should be equalled to the task. This is a challenge and a duty we all owe to posterity and to Africa.

We therefore add our voice to all those of our brothers and sisters calling on states to stand up to this challenge and perform the duty it requires. The momentum should not be lost less history judges us unequalled to responsibility.

* Hannah Forster is Executive Director of the African Centre on Democracy and Human Rights Studies (ACDHRS)

* Please send comments to

July 11, 2004 will mark one year since the African Union in Maputo, Mozambique adopted the Protocol on the Rights of African Women. Adoption of the Protocol was a landmark development in the continental struggle to liberate more than half of its citizens.

However, it will take 15 ratifications before this Africa-specific version of The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) - adopted in 1979 by the UN General Assembly - becomes legally enforceable. So far only one country has ratified (Comoros).

Given that 53 countries on the continent have already ratified the parent treaty of this Protocol, i.e., The African Charter on Human and People’s Rights (Banjul Charter), which treaty effectively domesticated CEDAW and other international conventions and declarations that address women’s rights, ratification of the Protocol should not be a problem.

Article 18(3) of the parent charter provides: “The State shall ensure the elimination of every discrimination against women and also ensure the protection of the rights of the woman and the child as stipulated in international declarations and conventions.” Hence, the Protocol is merely an elaboration of an already existing obligation on the part of these 53 states.

The Banjul Charter was adopted in June 1981. One year later, in June 1982, only Mali and Guinea had ratified the charter. In other words, we should not panic over what appears to be the slow process of ratifying the Protocol. It is not out of step with the bureaucratic red tape that normally guides these processes.

If the Comoros - a country that is not particularly exemplary in upholding women’s rights (an elected female entered parliament for the first time in 1993) - has ratified, many others will surely follow. Having said that, we should not be complacent in prodding our governments to ratify as soon as possible.

I believe that the women’s movements on the continent should spend more energy strategizing on the implementation of the Protocol provisions. How do we turn the Protocol into a real instrument of accountability with which to challenge our governments?

Most of our governments ratify international human rights instruments, not so much because of a political commitment to the content but because of political expediency and maintaining a good image among the international community. At best, such ratification is a pro forma exercise; at worst, it is a nuisance that they must live with.

However, once ratification is effected, our governments are pledging to be accountable for adhering to all the provisions (except where they entered reservations for specific provisions) of the treaty. It is our duty to make our governments more accountable.

* Dr Sylvia Tamale is a feminist activist and Senior Lecturer at Makerere University's Law Faculty

* How can we make our governments more accountable? Please send comments to

The adoption of the African Union Protocol represented a significant step in affirming the commitment of governments against gender discrimination and violence. In its wake, the protocol has strengthened the motivation for African governments to align their laws and policies in line with the expectations of the protocol.

The protocol bears testament to the tremendous involvement by many civil society groups, gender and human rights activists who held vigil throughout the long wait on its adoption. More significantly, it represents the collective determination by African governments to safeguard the rights of women.

But like all good laws and policies, the greatest challenge lies in translating the fine print into concrete action and thus giving meaning to laudable intent. It is on this issue that African governments must seize opportunity and work in concert in taking the next crucial step - domesticating its provisions into national law.

At the moment, the scorecard looks fairly disappointing. Only one country - The Comoros - has ratified the Protocol to date. A minimum 14 more must ratify it in order to bring the protocol into operation. While raising this number must be a reason for persistent advocacy and challenge on individual governments, the broader concern must be that of getting all African governments to ratify the protocol. Good is no good where better can be attained and African governments must be more ambitious on numbers.

Individual governments must feel sufficiently challenged to ratify without the need for prodding or pressure. That a laudable document of this stature should remain unratified since its adoption is enough reason for concern and an urgent call to action.

Attention will also need to shift towards creating the relevant institutional mechanism on which to articulate the rights of women. That infrastructure must be empowering, innovative and one that provides an important building block in consolidating the gains made on women rights. It must also be one that challenges existing prejudices and seeks to correct traditions and practices that support retrogressive structures.

National governments must therefore broaden their view on women's rights and recognize them as indispensable to the evolution of a democratic culture. The current phase of renaissance in Africa, best exemplified by the evolution of political maturity and democratic culture, can only be strengthened more not less, by paying closer attention to the rights of women.

However, African governments must avoid the trap of tokenism and paying obeisance to women's rights without sufficiently rooting these in the policy and legislative framework. For instance, one would wish to see better prioritization on women supported by gender budgeting in planning government spending. Governments must match rhetoric and intent with resources.

Ultimately, however, the cause of women will depend in large measure, on the commitment of each one of us. In our own small ways, there is much that we can do to entrench the rights of women and thus affirm the objects of the AU protocol. That first, small step that counts in the journey of a thousand miles must start with each and everyone of us - today because tomorrow may be too late.

* Please send comments to

* This is a review based on the publication Manufacture of Poverty, produced by the Kenya Human Rights Commission (http://www.khrc.or.ke/viewdocument.asp?ID=46)

As you enter Kenya’s Export Processing Zones (EPZs) you enter a no-man’s land: a tax free zone where over 90% of the finished products are directly exported. Every day tens of thousands of Kenyan workers, over 70% of whom are women, clock in and out. Even more queue up on the off-chance of being given work.

The EPZs were established to attract foreign investment, create jobs and diversify exports. However many argue that this goal has been pursued to the detriment of Kenyan workers, as investments have not translated into real improvements for workers and communities. To the contrary there is substantial evidence that basic human rights are being abused and that low wages and long hours are contributing to a continuous and increasing cycle of poverty.

Based on these observations and reports from workers, a number of organisations joined together under the lead of Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC). They carried out research into the sector and worked to build up a picture of labour conditions and their subsequent effects. They identified some of the long term social consequences and concluded that the industry is in actual fact ‘Manufacturing Poverty’ – hence the title of the campaign and report that was launched in February 2004. The overall objectives of the study were to: analyse changes in national labour laws; assess the affect of purchasing practices; and capture the experiences of workers.

Export Processing Zones – what are they?

EPZs are characterised by industrial parks controlled either by a customs administration or an EPZ authority. Imports are duty and tax free and all processed products are directly exported. The trend was started by the creation of the Shannon Free Zone in Ireland, a zone that now boosts over 100 international manufacturing companies. It was the success of this first zone that encouraged many countries to create their own EPZs in the hope that the incentives would encourage industrial development.

Kenya first experimented with the concept in the early 80s and established the EPZ programme in 1990 following the enactment of the EPZ Act. Under this Act, companies are offered financial incentives including a 10 year corporation tax holiday, subsidised credit and exemption from import tariffs. In addition they are guaranteed simple company and legal procedures and a reliable infrastructure.

In return the Kenyan government hoped that the programmes would generate jobs, transfer technology and diversify the range of exported products.

The programme did not really take off until the United States introduced the African Growth and Opportunity (AGOA) Act in May 2000, followed by AGOA II in 2002. The Act allows greater access for imports into the US, than is available to any country without a Free Trade Agreement with the US.

In 2003 there were 37 gazetted zones in Kenya and 69,000 operational export-oriented enterprises, employing over 35,000 Kenyans. Of the 54 enterprises surveyed by Kenya Human Rights Commission only 26% had any degree of Kenyan ownership and this ranged from 4% to 100% ownership.

Certain industries dominate in the EPZs namely those that are labour intensive, but that produce relatively low value products such as garments. In 2002 59% of the EPZs were in the garment industry and 79% of exports were to the US.

In 2003 the total turnover was 15,801 million Kenyan Schillings (KSh), a 5 fold increase from 1999. The exports valued 13,273 million KSh and the total domestic expenditure was 5,085 million KSh.

The reality

The sector has recorded profits and been labelled as one of the fasted growth areas in Kenya. But what is the reality for the workers?

At the beginning of 2003 workers went on strike in the EPZs in Nairobi and Athi River. With a new government in place they were optimistic that conditions would improve if their concerns were pushed forward. Amongst other issues they demonstrated against subsistence wages, sexual harassment, summary dismissals and poor health and safety standards. At the time even freedom of association was limited and the unions not recognised. The Minister of Trade described the strike as a ‘barbaric act of hooliganism’ and with no legal backing, the Central Organisation of Trade Unions (COTU) distanced itself from the strike.

Without a definite forum to address their industrial disputes many workers were dismissed for taking part in the strike. Conditions remained unchanged and new workers employed. After some time many of the initial workers were reinstated although those who had joined a union were not considered. One worker described his experience: ‘I was selected by the workers to represent them, a thing that was not appreciated by the management. I knew a lot so I was restricted from associating with fellow workmates….all leaders were put on one line… and we were told not to talk to one another’. After the strikes when he reapplied, his application was rejected and he has also been denied outstanding pay.

Following the strike the government called for freedom of association but by the beginning of 2004 only eight companies had accepted trade unions in the EPZs.

Working hours and remuneration

Average monthly wages in EPZs range from 3800 Ksh for basic tasks including sewing and tailoring tasks, to about 6000 Ksh for jobs such as quality control. At a minimum of 120 Ksh per day, this ensures that the majority of Kenyan workers, will continue, along with more than half the worlds population, to struggle to survive on less than 2$ a day. This does not even take into consideration the poverty threshold for a family and many of the workers have insufficient to provide for the basic food, housing, and medical needs of their immediate families.

In order to supplement their income workers often rely on being paid overtime. However many reported that despite the fact that they were frequently forced to work overtime they often do not get paid for it. Some said that their log-out cards are punched while they remain in the factory and others explained how overtime is not paid if it is used to meet targets. This violates Kenyan law which stipulates a 45 hour working week and overtime payment at 1.5 times normal wages.

The unpredictability of hours and the fact that many workers are only employed on a casual basis is one of the main problems that the workers cited. They have little job security and are often requested to come to the factory every morning to check whether there is work. This places a high socio-economic strain on families and communities.

Health and Safety

Many factories in the EPZs have their own clinics where staff are sent to be treated for minor illnesses. In many cases it materialised that these clinics are run by untrained staff and are not able to meet demand. For example at Athi River there is only one clinic serving 13 factories. Most workers are not given sick leave and they have to buy medicines prescribed by the factory clinics. Workers also reported that even when injured at work many factories deduct hospital transport costs from their salaries. There were many reports of poor sanitary conditions in the factories and a lack of protective equipment or training for handling chemicals and machinery.

Before the 2003 strikes many women complained that factory clinics carried out compulsory pregnancy tests and then laid off all who were found to be pregnant. As most factories do not provide any form of statutory maternity leave in women take the absolute minimum time off but still have no security that they will get their jobs back. No factories have any form of child care provision adding to the burden placed on women with children.

Sexual harassment

While over 70% of the workforce in EPZs are women the management is still male dominated and at the most senior levels dominated by non-Kenyans. Many women reported cases of sexual harassment. Most felt that they had no choice but to agree to the demands of their male supervisors, as those that refused suffered verbal abuse and humiliation. Many claimed that on refusal they were moved to more difficult tasks for no extra pay or were forced to work through breaks.

What protection do these workers have?

One factor contributing to the mis-treatment of workers is that they are afforded very little protection under the main legal instruments. AGOA demands the protection of workers’ rights but does so without the mechanisms for effective enforcement. The EPZ Act refers to workers in relation to their numbers and stipulates that EPZs must keep records on the number and ranking of employees. It is however silent on the rights of workers.

In addition certain Kenyan laws have been exempted from application in the EPZs. For example there was a ministerial exemption regarding the Factories Act therefore avoiding the possibility of a factory inspection. This was only reversed in May 2003 but at the time of writing it was unclear as to whether inspectors have been allowed into the EPZs.

Recently there have been further changes in the law that add to the insecurity faced by workers. Of particular concern is the introduction of retrenchment. This allows employees to be laid off with at the discretion of their employer with no minimum financial compensation and no union involvement.

Factory and Purchasing Practices

Another contributing factor stems from the pressure put on factories to meet tight deadlines and respond to inconsistent ordering practices. In many cases it is impossible for factories to predict the amount of work they will have which has led to a culture of subcontracting and reliance on casual labour. The risks are continuously passed down the supply chain and the consequences borne by the factories and ultimately the workers.

Penalties for late completion are high. Frequently factories are required to ship the late goods at their own expense and future orders are often cancelled. Such penalties impact on profit margins and encourage factories to cut labour costs. Short lead times are met through night shifts, overtime and hiring more casual workers. Due to the unpredictability of demand casual workers are forced to come to the factory every day to check whether there is work - often resulting in a wasted visit.

Manufacturing Goods or Manufacturing Poverty?

The Kenyan government has gone to great lengths to create a conducive and enabling environment for investors, often using low labour prices as a selling point. Understandably perhaps there is a fear that Kenya will lose out to neighbouring markets if it does not offer competitive conditions. For example 14% of the exports under AGOA are from the Kenyan EPZs compared with 36% from Lesotho. But what is the long term impact for Kenya?

The civil society campaign does not aim to paralyse the industry or jeopardise foreign investment. However it seeks to ask whether the industry is profitable from a social as well as an economic perspective. The economics including the transfer of skills, the sustainability of the industry and the percentage profits that are re-invested in Kenya requires further study. On the social side however it is clear that the EPZ model falls far short of the mark. The evidence shows that the conditions for workers are exceptionally poor: instead of leading the way and institutionalising good working conditions, the EPZ companies aim for the bare minimum and often fail to attain that. In the process human rights abuses are institutionalised and there is no consideration for the knock on effects. Wages are insufficient to allow workers to move out of the cycle of poverty and long unpredictable working hours allow little scope for workers to contribute to the development of their communities.

Responsibility lies with various sectors. It is up to consumers and shareholders to demand ethical working conditions and for parent companies to ensure that international standards are met at all stages of the supply chain. This includes implementing realistic deadlines so that subsidiary companies are not forced to cut corners and contract out. The Kenyan government must ensure that national and international standards are met and that trans-national agreements benefit both the investor and the local economy. Finally it is essential that workers and civil society organisations monitor the situation and inform themselves of their rights and duties. Only in this way can changes be implemented that break the cycle of poverty.

* Please send comments to

* Conflicts and Emergencies: Kigali requests third party verification mechanism
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* Women and Gender: Sexual rights and the commission for human rights
* Elections and Governance: Nigeria: Unions call off strike as fuel price drops
* Development: Declaration on illegitimate debt
* HIV/AIDS: HIV/AIDS, democracy and governance
* Education: Unicef launches “child to child” survey
* Environment: CSOs accuse FAO of declaring war on farmers
* Advocacy and Campaigns: Africa Action launches petition to stop genocide in Sudan
* Books and Arts: Where are the girls? Girls in fighting forces in Northern Uganda, Sierra Leone and Mozambique: Their lives during and after war

Former US Secretary of State James Baker has resigned as the UN special envoy to the Western Sahara after trying without success for seven years to broker a political settlement for the desert territory which has been occupied by Morocco since 1976. His departure was announced in a UN statement issued over the weekend.

A businessman at the centre of an inquiry into Kenya’s biggest financial scandal has claimed that former President Daniel arap Moi made him buy a bank to cover the trail of Moi’s millions of pounds stashed abroad. Pattni’s testimony to an inquiry further implicates Moi in a corruption scandal that cost the cash-strapped East African nation hundreds of millions of pounds at a time when the economy was spiralling toward recession, largely because of government mismanagement.

Despite its oft-stated commitment to the fight against corruption, the Kibaki administration has been rocked by scandals in which Sh20 billion of tax money was at risk of being misused. None of the culprits in the scandals have been dealt with and the feeling across the country is that someone in very high levels of Government is protecting them. And amid this, President Kibaki has been accused of doing little, save for the occasional public pronouncement on zero tolerance to corruption.

A Mozambican judge has sentenced seven people to between eight and 14 years in prison for their roles in the country's biggest bank fraud case, which saw a top journalist murdered as part of a cover-up. The sentences closed a case that had gripped Mozambique for years and exposed a web of corruption among the business elite.

Ask most children who have never visited Africa about the lives of their age-mates there, chances are that they will have a mental picture of them playing outside huts or herding cattle in a spacious rural landscape. Less likely would be a picture of an African child like Canésius Ndihokubwayo eking out a living on the streets of towns and cities. As the continent marks the Day of the African Child on Wednesday, Ndihokubwayo's story illustrates his plight and that of those like him. At 13 years old, Ndihokubwayo is already a veteran of the streets. When, after his father died, he left his village in Bubanza Province in 1999, he was confident of finding a job and hopeful for a better life; but disappointment swiftly followed. Ndihokubwayo ended up living on the streets because his surrogate father, who had promised him work, failed to deliver.

Africa’s political tragedies are loaded with regular doses of instability forced onto a people by rogue nationalists who block essential freedoms and narrow political activity, writes Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai in the Zimbabwe Observer. Tsvangirai asks - and answers - the questions: What are you up to when you shut the door to the sole democratic passage to development? When a regime seals off the country and shrinks the democratic space to the barest minimum, what does it expect the people to do? Do you prepare and participate in an election when you know the result? How do you restore the people’s confidence in a climate of insecurity, fear and, above all, when there is no guarantee that your vote can make a difference? Why waste time?

Liberia has no time or money to conduct a population census before elections in October 2005 that are due to return the country to democracy after a long and bitter civil war, Frances Johnson-Morris, the head of the National Elections Commission, said on Monday.

Day to day survival is the chief concern of most Angolans, rather than the current debate among politicians over the date of the country's next general elections. Low levels of government expenditure on health and education, and escalating unemployment have made many Angolans apprehensive about politics and politicians, analysts told IRIN.

After a three-week delay, Malawi's new President, Bingu wa Mutharika, has unveiled a leaner cabinet, which analysts say will find favour with international donors. The new cabinet announced on Sunday contains 21 ministers and eight deputies, compared to the 46-strong cabinet under his predecessor, Bakili Muluzi.

Delegates attending the Somali peace talks in Kenya have nominated members to a committee that will oversee the setting up of a parliament for the strife-torn country. The parliament will in turn elect the president. The committee would ensure that the process of selecting members of parliament was fair and serve as an arbitration forum to settle potential disputes over the distribution of seats, sources close to the talks told IRIN on Tuesday.