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 16 covering the period 16-23 April 1999
AFRICA: Pressure mounts to prevent the use of child soldiers
An African conference on the use of children as soldiers has condemned the recruitment of boys and girls under the age of 18 by both government armies and rebel forces and has urged the rapid adoption of international legislation to enshrine that principle. The conference, held in Maputo from 19-22 April, brought together government and NGO representatives to discuss an African position on the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which seeks to raise the minimum age of military recruitment from 15 to 18 years.
The meeting, jointly organised by the International Save the Children Alliance and the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, called for the "demobilisation into safety" of all boys and girls under arms, even those who had volunteered, and the "bringing to justice those who continue to recruit or use children as soldiers."
The declaration called on the international community to actively campaign against governments and armed opposition groups that use child soldiers, and for African governments to ensure amnesty for child combatants and their rehabilitation and reintegration. "Even so-called terrorists are looking for international support, support in their community. It is a question of saying these things are not acceptable," Ephraim Boia of the Mozambican NGO Reconstruindo a Esperanca (Rebuilding Hope) told IRIN.
Eight million refugees
Albert-Alain Peters, head of the UNHCR Bureau for Africa said the continent had eight million refugees, two million of whom are from the wars in the Horn of Africa, including Somalia, Ethiopia and Sudan.
He said the refugees' situation was a direct result of political problems in their respective countries. "This situation therefore requires political solutions," he said. He said there had, however, been encouraging resolution of conflicts whereby refugees have returned to their countries. These include Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Namibia and South Africa.
Peters expressed concern that the outbreak of a refugee crisis in Belgrade might force European countries, who are the major donors of aid to UNHCR, to redirect their support to their own over the plight of African refugees. "We need to emphasise to our African governments to increase their material support to the cause of refugees in the continent," he said
MOZAMBIQUE: Return to compulsory recruitment
Opposition is mounting to the government's new conscription law. It makes every Mozambican between the ages of 18 and 35 potentially subject to compulsory conscription for a period of two years as the government seeks to expand the size of the army from its current strength of 4,000-5,000 to between 12,000-15,000. It also allows for the minimum age of conscription to be lowered in time of war.
In apparent rejection of enforced military service, last year despite legal penalties, only 35,000 people signed up in a government registration drive out of an expected 750,000.
Civil society opposition
Reconstruindo a Esperanca is leading a campaign to exclude all former child combatants, including those who served in government militia or traditionally-based self-defence forces, on the grounds that they are all still battling to overcome the trauma of their experiences. An estimated 10,000 children were in Renamo ranks alone.
Obligation to protect borders
A government official told IRIN that only 1,000 people would be called up this year. He added they would be selected on a case-by-case basis. He, however, also acknowledged popular rejection of military service, which was why the government reintroduced conscription, he said. "People associate the army with war. But we have an obligation to protect out borders," the official added : "Our country is in no position to supports a voluntary army. For that you must give someone incentives, and we cannot afford to do that."
Possible delay for October polls
Delays have hit the timetable of Mozambique's general elections planned for October and a caretaker government could be running the country until the polls are held possibly next year, political analysts said this week.
"The elections will eventually be postponed, logistical aspects have delayed implementation of the timetable," political observer Antonio Gumende told IRIN. The complication is that the constitutional life of the government ends in December, around the time the heavy rains begin, so "the debate is now over a caretaker administration from October to April," according to Gumende.
Alfredo Gamito, the minister of government administration responsible for the elections, accused parliament of being behind the delays. He told IRIN that as a result the government was now weighing the options of shortening the timetable to allow the elections to take place on schedule in October, or their postponement to December, or even April next year.
"The position is that we must make the elections this year, it's a strong commitment," Gamito said. "If there is a two or three month delay there won't be very big consequences, but if it's more than six months then it's a problem."
SOUTHERN AFRICA: Food security
The 1998/1999 maize forecast for Southern Africa is expected to decline by 13 percent to 14.75 million mt compared to last year's maize output of 17.05 million mt while the region is projected to have a maize shortfall for the 1999/2000 marketing year. According to a food security report by the South African Development Community (SADC) Regional Early Warning System (REWS) incessant rains in southern SADC countries have hit production
The report said production prospects were also adversely affected by dry spells in South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland in February. It added that maize surpluses for the 1999/2000 marketing year were projected only in South Africa, Mozambique , Malawi and Swaziland. However, the report stated, a SADC maize shortfall of 1.92 million mt is projected for the 1999/2000 marketing year compared to last year's regional surplus of 881,000 mt.
SADC ministers meet to discuss health care
SADC health ministers met in Pretoria last week to discuss a number of important health issues in the region. Amongst the topics discussed included the adoption of a draft SADC protocol on health which would provide a legal framework within which members could cooperate on health issues. Members also looked ways to curb the spread of and establish a more multi -sectorial approach to HIV/AIDS in the region. Health ministers also discussed steps to develop more interrogated approaches to TB and malaria in SADC.
WHO urges more attention to care during pregnancies
Meanwhile, WHO Director General Gro Brundtland this week urged African countries to pay more attention to pregnancy safety. Speaking in Maputo, Brundtland said African women faced the highest danger of death during pregnancy or whilst giving birth compared to all other women in the world.
One in 16 African women die each year
According to WHO, an estimated one in 16 women in Africa will die during pregnancy or in labour. In Europe or North America this figure is estimated at one in 4,000. It said that 63 percent of African women have access to "adequate" health care, but the utilisation rates still remained low. Reasons for this included distances from health services, high costs of medication and the multiple demands on women's time, such as being the primary care-giver and the main income earner in the family. WHO said improving women's health care would in the long term save families and governments the costs of health care.
ZIMBABWE: Mugabe acknowledges AIDS epidemic
President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, in his first public acknowledgement of the AIDS crisis, said that an estimated 1,200 people are dying in Zimbabwe each week from HIV/AIDS-related illnesses. Mugabe announced the casualty figures in a speech marking the country's 19th independence anniversary last week end. Government officials said an estimated 20 percent of the country's 12.7 million people were infected with the disease.
ZAMBIA: Refugees resettlement
The resettling of approximately 15,000 Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) refugees from Kaputa to Mporokoso, 200 km away, began last week end.
UNHCR official Dominik Bartsch told IRIN there were two major reasons why the refugees are being moved from Kaputa to Mporokoso, about 200 kms away. "Firstly, it is an international convention requirement regarding refugees that they must be accommodated at least 50 kms away from the border. Secondly, Kaputa was overcrowded and therefore its facilities overstretched, as the town grew from a population of 300 to about 15,000 with the influx of refugees." The influx of refugees started in early March following the intensification of the DRC conflict.
SWAZILAND: HIV and AIDS
A recent report by UNICEF said there are more than 300,000 Swazis currently living with HIV and between the year 2000 and 2014, it is estimated that between 30,000 and 40,000 people will die annually. It said that the number of HIV positive children would reach 20,000 to 25,000 by the year 2000 and this constituted about four to five percent of children under the age of 15. UNICEF added that the number of children living in families with HIV/AIDS would be between 125,000 and 165,000 by 2000, 30 percent of all children under the age of 15.
Stigma and taboo
Meanwhile, a health care worker told IRIN that educators and care givers faced a number of difficulties. She said that one of the biggest obstacles was the stigma attached to having HIV/AIDS. "People are still living in denial, there is almost a feeling that this is not taking place in our communities. Families with an AIDS patient won't bring that person to a clinic for treatment because they fear that they will become isolated from rest of the community." She added: "We have to get people talking openly about the disease first."
Lack of government support
The health care worker told IRIN that there is very little support coming from government and most of the work with HIV/AIDS patients is being done by non governmental organisations (NGO's). "We don't have enough money to care for all those who need out help, especially those in the more remote areas of Swaziland."
JOHANNESBURG, 23 April 1999 13:45 GMT
Contact IRIN-SA (Tel: +27 11 880 4633, e-mail irin-sa@ocha.unon.org) for more information or free subscriptions.
[This item is delivered in the "irin-english" service of the UN's IRIN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations. For further information or free subscriptions, or to change your keywords, contact e-mail: irin@ocha.unon.org or fax: +254 2 622129 or Web: http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN . If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer.]
Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 1999
distributed by - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Volunteers in Technical Assistance Disaster Information Center lists: listproc@vita.org sitreps nat-dsr web: www.vita.org appeal fireline - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Southern Africa - http://www.vita.org/humanitarian/safrica