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 162
10 - 16 January 2004


CONTENTS:

SOUTHERN AFRICA: Looming food crisis as aid pipeline dries up
MALAWI: Aid agencies assessment to verify govt hunger figures
ZIMBABWE: European parliament criticises sanctions failure
ZAMBIA: Many Angolan refugees may opt to stay
ANGOLA: Govt denies accusations of missing oil billions
MADAGASCAR: Ongoing food security concerns
LESOTHO: Focus on challenges to multiparty democracy
SWAZILAND: AIDS and economic decline hamper school enrolments 
BOTSWANA: Women demand gender equality in media
NAMIBIA: First batch of Namibian peacekeepers ready



SOUTHERN AFRICA: Looming food crisis as aid pipeline dries up

The World Food Programme (WFP) on Thursday welcomed a recent contribution
to its emergency appeal for southern Africa, but said its operations were
still seriously underfunded.

In July last year WFP appealed for US $311 million to feed 6.5 million
people across the region, but has received less than two-thirds of the
funds needed, leaving a shortfall of US $127 million.

"It is important that donors come forward during January with donations,
so that the most vulnerable can be reached during the 'lean season'
(January to March)," WFP spokesman Michael Huggins told IRIN.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38954


Are countries spending enough on HIV/AIDS?

The impact of HIV/AIDS in Southern Africa is now well recognised, but the
critical question is whether enough funding has been allocated to deal
with the epidemic, a report by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC)
said.

In April 2001 in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, African leaders committed
themselves to allocating at least 15 percent of government expenditure to
the health sector.

But except for Zimbabwe and South Africa, none of the other Southern
African countries surveyed in the report - Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique
and Swaziland - had fulfilled this promise.

Analysts have questioned the accuracy of the Zimbabwe figures.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38932


MALAWI: Aid agencies assessment to verify govt hunger figures

The World Food Programme (WFP) said it was unable to endorse a government
statement that 3.5 million Malawians were in need of food aid.

WFP spokeswoman Antonella D'aprile told IRIN on Friday that a food
security assessment would have to be conducted to verify the number of
people in need of assistance.

Vice President Chakufwa Chihana appealed on Thursday for urgent
international assistance to help feed more than 3.5 million people,
Associated Press reported.
 
However, D'aprile said "WFP's stand regarding this declaration is that we
cannot endorse the figure because there have not been [vulnerability]
assessments. What WFP decided, just this morning, is that we will be going
to the field to do a food security assessment, together with FEWS NET
[Famine Early Warning Systems Network] and other NGOs, in the coming two
weeks to assess the situation."

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38979


ZIMBABWE: European parliament criticises sanctions failure

European parliamentarians meeting in Strasbourg, France, on Thursday
lashed out at some European Union (EU) member states for their failure to
implement sanctions imposed on the Zimbabwean government.

Michael Gahler, a German member of the European Parliament told IRIN that
besides calling for tougher sanctions against Zimbabwe, parliamentarians
expressed "disappointment that sanctions, in practice, have not worked."

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38981


More than 1,000 malaria deaths

IRIN reported that more than a 1,000 people died of malaria in Zimbabwe
during 2003. The figures were provided in a report published by the UN
Relief and Recovery unit in the capital, Harare. Confirming the figure,
World Health Organisation (WHO) official Jasper Pasipamire said the high
number of deaths was a "cause for concern."

According to the WHO official, one of the major factors influencing
malaria mortality rates in the country was the failure to detect malaria
cases at primary health care centres.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38955


Cholera crisis not yet over

On Wednesday IRIN reported a warning by Save the Children-UK (SC-UK) that
although a cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe's Zambezi Valley appeared to have
abated, the rainy season could lead to a resurgence of the disease
nationwide.

According to the SC-UK country programme director Chris McIvor: "One of
the main lessons that we learnt from the cholera outbreak in November and
December, that affected about 900 people and left nearly 40 dead, was that
we were all unprepared. If cholera was to appear in another part of the
country tomorrow, I am not sure that collectively we would be able to
respond as effectively and promptly as we should."

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38931


Protecting aid from politics

Also on Wednesday IRIN reported that a new Overseas Development Institute
study had called for fostering better relations between NGOs, government
and beneficiaries to protect the neutrality of aid deliveries in Zimbabwe.

The report, "Neutrality in Humanitarian Assistance: A Case Study from
Zimbabwe", argues that "more needs to be done to publicly disseminate the
principles that inform emergency programmes". This would avoid the kind of
conflict around aid programmes that has been witnessed in Zimbabwe.
Relations between government and the international community are currently
strained.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38927


NCA calls for "people-driven" constitutional reforms

IRIN reported on Tuesday that the lobby group the National Constitutional
Assembly (NCA) has vowed to frustrate any talks on constitutional reform
between the ruling ZANU-PF party and the opposition.

It argued that only Zimbabweans - not political parties – have the right
to decide on the matter.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38904


Anthrax outbreak continues

On Tuesday IRIN wrote that three people have died and close to 200 have
been infected by an outbreak of anthrax as Zimbabwe struggles to contain
the disease, which affects both humans and cattle.

The outbreak, at present confined to the southeastern province of
Masvingo, has so far affected 191 people and caused the deaths of more
than 60 head of cattle since it emerged last month.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38903


Humanitarian agencies watch Forex auction anxiously

IRIN reported on Monday that the lack of local currency in the Zimbabwean
market ahead of the country's first auction of foreign exchange, held on
the same day, had caused some anxiety among humanitarian aid agencies.

The World Food Programme reported that in the past week local currency had
only been available at the official Central Bank exchange rate, and NGOs
had been unable to make payments to staff and other service providers.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38881


Legal battle to publish The Daily News continues

Zimbabwe's only independent daily newspaper, the Daily News, faced another
legal hurdle in its bid to resume publication.

Sam Nkomo, chief executive officer of the paper's publisher, Associated
Newspapers Zimbabwe (ANZ), told IRIN on Monday that the Daily News, which
has been critical of government, had still not resumed operations and
might not be able to do so for some time.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38874


ZAMBIA: Many Angolan refugees may opt to stay

IRIN reported on Thursday that a significant number of Angolan refugees in
Zambia may elect not to join a voluntary repatriation programme.

The programme is to restart in the next few months, following the rainy
season, said a report this week by the US Committee for Refugees.

Some 18,000 Angolans were repatriated from Zambia by the UN refugee
agency, UNHCR, in an operation that began in June last year. Approximately
90,000 remain in three refugee settlements - Mayukwayukwa, Meheba, and
Nangweshi - in the west of the country, while an estimated 97,000 more
unregistered "spontaneously settled" Angolans live outside the camps among
the Zambian population.

But according to the US Committee for Refugees, "as many as 30,000 to
50,000 Angolan refugees have no desire to live in Angola and will choose
to remain in Zambia rather than repatriate." These include young adults
and children born and raised in Zambia, many of whom have never visited
Angola and are unfamiliar with their homeland.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38957


Lawyers say "rule of law" threatened by sacking of DPP

The Law Association of Zambia (LAZ) said on Tuesday it was concerned over
the government's apparent "lack of regard" for the "rule of law", IRIN
reported. LAZ's comments came in the wake of President Levy Mwanawasa's
move to dismiss the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Mukelabai
Mukelabai, allegedly unconstitutionally.

The row between Mwanawasa and Mukelabai erupted shortly after the trial of
former Zambian president Frederick Chiluba, charged with stealing millions
of dollars from state coffers, kicked off last month.

On 9 January Mwanawasa revealed that he had received anonymous letters
claiming that Mukelabai had been seen attending meetings with Chiluba's
co-accused, the former Security Intelligence Service chief, Xaviar Chungu.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38899


ANGOLA: Govt denies accusations of missing oil billions

The Angolan government rejected accusations of corruption and mismanaging
billions of dollars of oil revenues, IRIN reported on Thursday.

A government statement released in Luanda described as "groundless" the
allegations made in a new report by the US-based Human Rights Watch (HRW).

The HRW report, released on Tuesday, alleged that more than US $4 billion
in state oil revenue disappeared from Angolan government coffers from 1997
to 2002, "roughly equal to the entire sum the government spent on all
social programmes in the same period".

The Angolan government said the HRW accusations were not backed up by "any
independent audit", and it should not have to account "for estimates of
its revenues based on non-credible sources". The statement added that
Luanda was committed to "transparency in the management of public
property".

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38942


Army clamps down on illegal diamond traffickers

On Wednesday, IRIN reported that as part of ongoing efforts to curb
illegal diamond trafficking, the Angolan army has arrested 700 people.

The arrests were made during an army operation which began in the central
province of Bie in December, aimed at cleaning up diamond mining
operations in the country, according to state radio.

An independent risk analyst, Johann Smith, described the army sweep as an
attempt by the government to take control of diamond mining operations.
For decades it has been a poorly regulated sector, with the former rebel
movement, UNITA, using the proceeds of its lucrative illegal mining to
fund its war against the government.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38929


Attempts to curb child exploitation

With an estimated 30 percent of Angolan children aged between five and 14
forced to work, officials and aid groups gathered on Wednesday to discuss
ways of tackling child exploitation.

The meeting in the southern Cunene province was expected to highlight
children's rights, an issue that has largely been ignored in Angola, IRIN
reported.

The legal minimum age for employment in Angola is 14 years. However,
according to the International Labour Organisation, many younger children
work on family farms, as domestic servants, and in the informal economy.
Family-based child labour in the subsistence agricultural sector is
common.

Primary school attendance in Angola stands at just over 50 percent.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38928


Portuguese proves hurdle for returnees

Faced with the daunting challenges of returning home after years of living
abroad, Angolan refugees now have the added task of having to learn
Portuguese, IRIN reported on Tuesday.

"Their inability to communicate effectively and, in a lot of cases, not at
all in Portuguese, places the returnees in a very disadvantageous
position, especially when dealing with officials. This often leads to
further alienation within a group that already feels marginal," Jesuit
Refugee Service (JRS) regional director, Joe Hampson, told IRIN.

During the almost three-decade-long civil war, the vast majority of
Angolan refugees, some 400,000, fled either to neighbouring
English-speaking Zambia or the Francophone Democratic Republic of Congo.

Hampson said in some cases the inability to speak Portuguese, the medium
of instruction at schools throughout Angola, prevented access to the
formal education system. Due to the language gap, children coming back to
Angola may have to repeat classes, even if they attained good grades in
their host countries.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38898


Missing oil billions unexplained

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called on the Angolan government to manage
oil revenues better and allow for greater fiscal transparency, so that
Angolans can enjoy the benefits of the country's resources, IRIN reported
on Tuesday.

"While ordinary Angolans suffered through a profound humanitarian crisis,
their government oversaw the suspicious disappearance of a truly colossal
sum of money. This seriously undermined Angolans' rights," Arvind Ganesan,
director of the Business and Human Rights programme at HRW, said in a
statement.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38900

First war, now peace, ravages wildlife

A large number of animals came close to extinction during the Angolan
civil war. The once abundant wildlife is still under severe threat,
poaching is common, laws are not enforced and there are just a few areas
where the animals are secure.

"Angola may lose all of its once rich biodiversity very soon if urgent
action is not taken to preserve the protected areas and the endangered
species. First, I was worried about the loss as a result of the war, and
now as a result of the peace," Tamar Ron, UN Development Programme advisor
to the Ministry of Urban Affairs and Environment, told IRIN.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38983


MADAGASCAR: Ongoing food security concerns

Although recent rains in Madagascar's drought-affected southern region
provided some relief to farmers, food shortages remain serious, the World
Food Programme (WFP) said on Monday.

"The tropical depression brought some relief to some areas where the rains
were reasonable. However, the problem here in the south is that the rains
are always followed by strong winds that dry the maize that just started
growing," WFP representative, Bodo Henze, told IRIN.

WFP said as a result of the rain in late December some rural roads were
currently inaccessible, making replenishment of food stocks difficult. The
most affected area was northern Androy district in southern Toliara
province.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38879


LESOTHO: Focus on challenges to multiparty democracy

This week IRIN reported on challenges facing Lesotho's fragile democracy.

A new report by the Electoral Institute of Southern Africa (EISA) argued
that steps towards deepening democracy in the tiny country continued to be
undermined by ongoing social and economic problems, which could serve to
reverse some of the gains made so far.

The report noted that the political culture remained adversarial, and
problems of political violence and poor accountability should not be
regarded as solved.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38953


Heading for disaster as drought continues

With the winter harvest described as a failure and drought now affecting
the summer cropping season, there is concern that Lesotho may be facing a
humanitarian disaster.

"The situation is not good. Estimates [are that] between 600,000 and
700,000 people will require food aid in coming months. The situation is
worse than 2002 [the height of a food security crisis in the region], as
at that time we were covering eight districts out of 10, and this year the
indication is there might be more districts in need of food aid," World
Food Programme (WFP) representative Techeste Zergaber told IRIN on Monday.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38877


SWAZILAND: AIDS and economic decline hamper school enrolments

Teachers in Swaziland are concerned that a weakening economy and HIV/AIDS
will affect the number of children enrolling for the 2004 academic year.

"The problem is school fees - and it's not a new one. Parents scramble to
come up with money for tuition, school uniforms, transportation, boarding
and other fees. What is measurably worse this year is the number of
parents who are out of work, and the growing population of children
without parents," Alexander Tsabedze, a headmaster in the northern Hhohho
region, told IRIN on Monday

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38872


BOTSWANA: Women demand gender equality in media

Despite the growing number of women choosing a media career, very few are
in decision-making positions, a situation the recently formed Botswana
Media Women Association (BOMWA) aims to correct.

"In the leadership positions we have not reached 30 percent representation
because media remains male-dominated at management levels," Shollo
Phetlhu, BOMWA chairperson and acting general manager of Botswana TV (BTV)
told IRIN on Tuesday.

"The media sets the agenda and is the mirror through which the country
looks at itself. We therefore feel that the role of the media in nation
building cannot be complete without the active participation of women,"
she said.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38902


NAMIBIA: First batch of Namibian peacekeepers ready

IRIN reported on Thursday that an advance unit of Namibian soldiers will
be deployed to Liberia at the weekend.

According to the Namibian Defence Force Chief of Staff, Major General
Peter Nambundunga, an "advance party of between 100 to 115 soldiers" would
leave on Saturday.  A total of 850 Namibian soldiers was expected to be
deployed for peacekeeping operations in the West African country.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38946 


IRIN-SA
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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 2004


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