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 353
1 - 7 December 2007


CONTENTS:

SOUTH AFRICA: Risky sex on drugs a challenge for HIV prevention
LESOTHO: Grassroots solutions flourish in hard times
SOUTH AFRICA: No registration, no benefits
GLOBAL: More on hair care than climate conditioning
SOUTH AFRICA: Miners demand safety first
SOUTH AFRICA: Gender takes back seat in succession battle
AFRICA: Building capacity to attract carbon markets
ANGOLA: To tell or not to tell, that is the tricky question
SWAZILAND: Too much bread to buy a loaf



SOUTH AFRICA: Risky sex on drugs a challenge for HIV prevention

South Africa's status as the country with the highest number of HIV
infections in the world is well known; its rapidly emerging roles as a
major transit route for trafficking illegal drugs and the leading
consumer in the region is less well documented.

Injecting drug users are an established sub-culture in South Africa but
the rising consumption of cheap drugs that tend to increase the
likelihood of unprotected sex is causing growing concern. Experts agree
that risky sex while under the influence of narcotics is now the
country's biggest drug-related HIV problem.

See full report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75641


LESOTHO: Grassroots solutions flourish in hard times

The worst drought in 30 years, combined with one of the world's highest
HIV rates, has left the mountain kingdom of Lesotho struggling to cope,
but there are glimmers of hope as the government and aid agencies come
up with innovative responses to the humanitarian crisis.

2007 began with normal rainfall, but then the rain stopped and drought
set in. Severe food shortages followed, making it much harder for
HIV-positive people on antiretroviral (ARV) drugs to obtain the proper
nutrition that is vital to the success of their medication.

See full report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75668


SOUTH AFRICA: No registration, no benefits

An innovative outreach programme that uses local schools as the point of
entry into South Africa's poorest communities is helping tens of
thousands of impoverished rural people obtain previously inaccessible
grants and services.

Many South Africans have been unable to access services because they do
not have an identity document, which places citizens on the national
database. The outreach programme, created and implemented by the
Durban-based Media in Education Trust, a non-governmental organisation
focusing on rural development, helps to bridge this gap by assisting
school children and their families to obtain identity documents.

See full report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75683


GLOBAL: More on hair care than climate conditioning

Industrialised countries have only paid about US$163 million towards
helping the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) adapt to global warming -
less than what Canadians spent on hair conditioner last year - says a
new report by the UK-based development agency, Oxfam.

But less than $10 million of this has been dispensed so far, the UN
Development Programme's Human Development Report 2007/2008 pointed out.


See full report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75684


SOUTH AFRICA: Miners demand safety first

South Africa's Human Rights Commission has called on the mining industry
to address safety concerns after 240,000 mine workers downed tools this
week in the country's first strike over safety standards.

See full report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75712


SOUTH AFRICA: Gender takes back seat in succession battle

In little more than a week South Africa's ruling party, the African
National Congress (ANC), will elect new leaders - a choice likely to
decide who becomes the country's next president.

After provincial nominations earlier this week, ANC deputy president
Jacob Zuma - acquitted in a controversial rape trial last year - is well
ahead of his rival, President Thabo Mbeki. Zuma also won the support of
the ANC Women's League (ANCWL) - a decision that has staggered most
gender activists.

See full report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75729


AFRICA: Building capacity to attract carbon markets

Industrialised countries can earn greenhouse gas emission reduction
credits by investing in projects that lower emission levels in
developing countries, but little of this money has found its way into
Africa.

This could be about to change. On 6 December at the climate change
conference in Bali, Indonesia, the United Nations Framework Convention
on Climate Change (UNFCCC) announced that efforts were being made to
direct more money into Africa.

See full report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75727


ANGOLA: To tell or not to tell, that is the tricky question

Maria Antonia* began to wonder about her husband's frequent trips to
neighbouring South Africa, especially when he was away for 15 days
without contacting her. She decided to investigate whether he was going
to South Africa to see another woman, but discovered that he was going
to get antiretroviral (ARV) medication because he was HIV positive.

Stories like these are repeated time and again in Angola, but fear of a
partner's reaction, fear of being abandoned, fear of discrimination,
even fear of shame, are just some of the reasons that prevent people
living with HIV from telling those dear to them.

See full report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75737


SWAZILAND: Too much bread to buy a loaf

The escalating price of bread is the latest blow to Swazi households,
already struggling with a parallel rise in the cost of maizemeal caused
by the worst drought in a generation.

On 10 December the price of a loaf of bread will jump by 10 US cents,
and by the end of the year a loaf may cost US$1 in a country where over
60 percent of people live on less than US$1 a day, according to the UN
Development Programme.

See full report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75757


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