U N I T E D   N A T I O N S
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Integrated Regional Information Network for Southern Africa

Tel: +27 11 880 4633
Fax: +27 11 880 1421
e-mail: irin-sa@irin.org.za


SOUTHERN AFRICA
IRIN-SA Weekly Round-up 153
27 - 31 October 2003


CONTENTS:

ZIMBABWE: Hospitals hit hard by strike
LESOTHO: Crippling drought continues
MOZAMBIQUE: Elections another step forward after violent past
ANGOLA: Micro-credit scheme gives disabled a chance
SOUTH AFRICA: HIV-testing row in the military
MADAGASCAR: World Bank loan to fund nutrition project
MALAWI: Many families still need assistance
NAMIBIA: Govt denies men abducted for trial
SOUTHERN AFRICA: Special Report - New thinking needed on "AIDS orphans"
ZAMBIA: Conservation farming proves popular with farmers


ZIMBABWE: Hospitals hit hard by strike

Zimbabwe's doctors went on strike on Thursday last week, demanding
salaries of Zim $30 million a month (US $36,000 at the official rate and
$6,000 at the parallel market rate) - a collosal increase from their
current Zim $4 million to Zim $5 million (US $6,000/US $1,000) a year. The
doctors argue that such a hike was needed to keep pace with inflation in a
country where the parallel market sets the real cost of living.

On Monday the doctors were joined on strike by nurses, who demanded a
review of their salaries. They were left out of a recently concluded
Public Service Commission job evaluation exercise, which sought to match
professionals’ salaries with their qualifications, work load and
experience. Nurses earn between Zim $260,000 to Zim $800,000 a month,
depending on their posts.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=37563

Agri-input shortages causing concern

With preparations for the coming planting season already underway in
Zimbabwe, there are growing concerns over the critical shortage of
agricultural inputs.

According to preliminary projections by the Seed Security Network (SSN) of
the Southern African Development Community (SADC), Zimbabwe will face a
maize seed deficit of about 40,000 mt in the 2002/03 season. SSN noted
that current production was pegged at 20,000 mt, with the remainder
expected to be imported from South Africa, Malawi and Zambia.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=37532

Four Daily News executives charged

The chief executive and three directors of the Daily News, an independent
Zimbabwean newspaper critical of the government, turned themselves in to
the police on Monday and were charged for publishing without a license.

The charges follow the arrest on Sunday, in the southern city of Bulawayo,
of Washington Sansole, another director of Associated Newspapers of
Zimbabwe, the publishers of the Daily News.

Zimbabwe police spokesman Assistant Commissioner Wayne Bvudzijena told the
official newspaper, The Herald, that the men were wanted for authorising
the newspaper's return to the streets on Saturday with an eight-page
edition headlined "We're back!".

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=37493


LESOTHO: Crippling drought continues

Ongoing drought will have a "dramatic impact" on the humanitarian
situation in Lesotho and the World Food Programme (WFP) has warned that
between 600,000 and 700,000 people could be in need of food aid in the
coming months.

WFP Country Director Techeste Zergaber told IRIN on Monday that maize
prices were likely to "hit the ceiling", and winter wheat and vegetable
harvests had largely failed as drought continued to plague the tiny
mountain kingdom.

In its latest situation report WFP said the Lesotho Meteorological
Services had warned that "the country is facing a severe drought". While
there had been "light rains" during October, high temperatures and strong
winds were responsible for unfavourable soil conditions due to a lack of
moisture.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=37486


MOZAMBIQUE: Elections another step forward after violent past

After delays and confusion, Mozambicans finally get to go to the polls on
19 November to vote in municipal elections.

But in a country where 40 percent of the population still survives on less
than one US dollar a day, what do the elections mean to people who have to
struggle so hard to make ends meet?

In the bustling "O Mercado do Povo" (the people's market) in the heart of
the capital, Maputo, opinions are strong. Most people told IRIN they would
vote because it was their right, but nobody expected that their lives
would improve under either of the two main parties, FRELIMO, or the former
rebel group turned parliamentary opposition, RENAMO.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=37561


ANGOLA: Micro-credit scheme gives disabled a chance

Pedro "Mr Roi" Rosario powers his wheelchair past piles of garbage on the
streets of Cazenga, a densely populated suburb of the Angolan capital,
Luanda, in search of new material for his shoe shop.

Scavenging for discarded but still useable old shoes from the
neighbourhood helps him keep his repair costs down. On a good day he earns
up to 3,000 kwanza (US $37), but usually his income is around $10.

Rosario was aged five when he contracted polio and his legs turned numb.
Now, at 28, he is one of the lucky few who have both a wheelchair and a
means to earn a living in a society that gives the disabled few
opportunities.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=37514

Widespread small arms continue to cause concern

A senior opposition UNITA official on Tuesday told IRIN that the
widespread availability of small arms among Angolan civilians could pose a
threat to holding peaceful national elections, tentatively scheduled for
2005.

"We welcome the government's attempts to remove weapons from the hands of
those who may be intent on destabilising the country during the elections,
but we have also asked that this process be speeded up. As long as
civilians, especially [ruling party] MPLA militants, continue to have
these light weapons in their hands, the people of Angola will remain
psychologically insecure," UNITA secretary for foreign affairs, Alcides
Sakala, told IRIN.

Although there is no independent confirmation of exactly how many guns are
in the hands of individuals, officials estimate that a third of Angolans
are armed.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=37511


Education drive receives govt boost

Angola made one of its biggest peacetime strides on Monday as education
experts set the wheels in motion to train 29,000 new teachers, with the
aim of getting one million children back into the classroom.

The massive US $40 million-plus project will help slash the number of
grade one to four children – those under the age of 11 - who are not in
school, from 1.1 million now to 100,000, the United Nations Children's
Fund (UNICEF) said.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=37494

SOUTH AFRICA: HIV-testing row in the military

A recent row in South Africa over the deployment of HIV-positive soldiers
on peacekeeping missions has turned the spotlight on the issue of HIV
testing and the exclusion of HIV-positive individuals from the army.

South Africa's Minister of Defence Mosiuoa Lekota sparked controversy
earlier this month when news reports quoted him as saying: "Anybody with
the condition [HIV/AIDS] cannot be recruited [into the defence force]."

Activists said the policy was unconstitutional, and threatened to take the
defence department to court.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=37541

Breast milk bank provides hope for HIV+ babies

Orphaned babies, many of whom are HIV-positive, are getting more than
basic love and shelter at a home in South Africa's port city of Durban.
They are also receiving the gift of immune-boosting breast milk donated by
a network of mothers in the city.

Coordinator Shirley Royal told IRIN on Tuesday that the home, which cares
for six babies at a time, combines a family environment, stimulation and
good nutrition to help them recover while plans are made for them to be
reunited with their family, or placed with another family.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=37509


MADAGASCAR: World Bank loan to fund nutrition project

In an effort to bolster existing efforts, the World Bank this week
approved a US $10 million loan to support a nutrition project that will
focus on reducing chronic malnutrition among children aged under three
years.

The programme will make food supplementation available to malnourished
children and pregnant women, while vitamin A supplements will be given to
young children and breast-feeding mothers.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), 42 percent of Malagasy
children under five are underfed, while acute malnutrition affects 9
percent of young children.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=37560


MALAWI: Many families still need assistance

Although the food crisis which shook Malawi over the last two years
appears to have dissipated, many families were so severely affected by the
shortages that they need continued assistance, World Vision Malawi (WVM)
told IRIN on Thursday.

With more than 80 percent of the country relying on agriculture, the
devastation wrought to crops by droughts and floods had a deep impact on
the food security of 3.6 million of the country's 11 million people.

Although an emergency operation by NGOs and UN agencies averted a
disaster, increased soil erosion, reduced soil fertility and HIV/AIDS have
left many communities still in need of help, WVM national director Duncan
Campbell said.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=37549

NAMIBIA: Govt denies men abducted for trial

A former Namibian army commander and a senior policeman this week denied
that the security forces abducted 13 alleged Caprivi secessionist rebels
from neighbouring Zambia and Botswana to stand trial for high treason in
Namibia.

The 13 are part of a group of 121 men accused of belonging to the Caprivi
Liberation Army, which attacked the Caprivi regional capital, Katima
Mulilo, in August 1999. They face over 200 charges, including high
treason.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=37540

SOUTHERN AFRICA: Special Report - New thinking needed on "AIDS orphans"

A review of research literature - 81 published and unpublished papers,
books and reports - on the impact of HIV/AIDS on children in Africa has
found significant gaps and biases that shape responses to AIDS-affected
children.

Most research is based on an assumption that an epidemic of orphans is a
threat to society, concludes the review. "AIDS orphanhood" is
conceptualised as a disease in itself, a breeder of criminals, militia and
sex workers. This idea, echoed by the media, reinforces and perpetuates
the stigma and discrimination experienced by AIDS-affected children.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=37547


SWAZILAND: Poor land management affecting harvests

Swaziland's harvest yields are expected to get steadily worse because poor
land management is leading to soil degradation, a World Food Programme
(WFP) crops survey warned this week.

"Crop yields are in general very low because most of the cultivated soils
have low levels of fertility, high acidity and poor moisture retention
capacity," the report said.

The kingdom is facing its fifth consecutive year of diminished harvests.
By January 2004, 245,000 people, or about a quarter of the population, are
expected to be dependent on WFP food aid.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=37502


ZAMBIA: Conservation farming proves popular with farmers

Efforts to encourage farmers in Zambia to adopt alternative farming
methods have paid off, and small-scale farmers in some areas are reporting
record productivity.

According to the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), the bumper
crops may be attributed to a steady move away from conventional tillage
methods to conservation farming (CF).

The UN agency on Tuesday highlighted that its 2002/03 CF assistance
programme had resulted in the production of approximately 28,000 mt of
maize, valued at US $7 million, while noting that the total cost of the
programme was US $4.2 million.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=37512

WFP targets HIV/AIDS orphans in urban areas

The rise in the number of children orphaned by HIV/AIDS in Zambia has
forced the World Food Programme (WFP) to scale up its assistance
programmes in some of the country's urban centres.

WFP information officer Lena Savelli told IRIN on Monday that although
food security in Zambia continued to improve, there was growing concern
over the plight of vulnerable children, most of whom were left to support
households after the death of a parent.

"We are not feeding nearly as many people as we did last year, but the
lack of coping mechanisms among the most vulnerable households, especially
AIDS orphans, remains extremely serious," Savelli said.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=37488


IRIN-SA
Tel: +27 11 880-4633
Fax: +27 11 447-5472
Email: IRIN-SA@irin.org.za

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Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2003


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