U N I T E D N A T I O N S=20 Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs=20 Integrated Regional Information Network for Southern Africa
Tel: +27 11 880 4633=20 Fax: +27 11 880 1421=20 e-mail: irin-sa@irin.org.za
SOUTHERN AFRICA: IRIN-SA Weekly Round-up 44 covering the period 30 October to 5 November 1999
ANGOLA: Malanje remains an emergency ANGOLA: Latest WFP update ANGOLA: No victory over hunger ANGOLA: Government stresses humanitarian role for new UN mission ANGOLA-ZAMBIA: Refugees flee fighting ANGOLA: More calls for release of journalist ZIMBABWE-DRC: Prisoner of war agreement signed ZIMBABWE: African Development Bank puts loan on hold ZAMBIA: Kaunda's son killed ZAMBIA: Journalists appear on espionage charges NAMIBIA: Government offers to compensate slain doctor's family NAMIBIA: Rail extension to the north on track MALAWI: UN to combat drug trade MALAWI: World Bank releases more aid SWAZILAND: Journalists threatened BOTSWANA: TB, AIDS laboratory opened
ANGOLA: Malanje remains an emergency=20
A "nutritional emergency" continues in the northern Angolan city of Malanje= , despite three months of uninterrupted food supplies to the formerly besiege= d government-held provincial capital, the humanitarian community has warned.
During the past three months, food distribution by the UN's World Food Programme (WFP) and their implementing partners has seen malnutrition in children under five decrease from 32 percent in June to 21 percent in September. "However, the present level of 21 percent global malnutrition still signifies a severe nutritional problem," a report by the aid agency Concern said.
The estimated population of Malanje is currently around 400,000, of whom some 210,000 are registered as displaced, with the most vulnerable among them receiving a WFP ration. But, according to the Concern study released last month, the continued prevalence of malnutrition appears to be related to exclusion, "whereby needy families are excluded from the general ration"= =2E
The study said given the amount of food entering Malanje, "the existence an= d the apparent extent of the exclusion is hard to justify. The resources to tackle the problem are available."
The report suggests that some of the factors promoting the misallocation of rations include: Inaccurate and insufficient registration; the "inexperience" of some of WFP's NGO implementing partners; corruption and diversion; the targeting of only the displaced in food distribution; and a poor understanding of the factors promoting vulnerability.
ANGOLA: Latest WFP update
Meanwhile, in its latest update on Angola, the UN's World Food Programme (WFP) said an increase in mine activities in the central highlands has compelled WFP "to evaluate the security situation very cautiously" before increasing the road transportation of supplies.
In the city of Huambo, 200 km south of the capital Luanda, WFP said it estimated there were 200,000 "food insecure" internally displaced people (IDPs) and residents. WFP said it had started food distribution to about 18,897 people in need within the suburb of Calomanda in Huambo.=20
In the southern province of Huila, it said that 823 new IDP's arrived at th= e beginning of October and the group included mainly malnourished women, elderly people and under-fives with high rates of malaria, anaemia and diarrhoea.=20
In the eastern Lunda Sul province, 547 new IDP's were registered in Saurimo= , bringing the total of newly registered IDPs to 1,363.=20 =20 ANGOLA: No victory over hunger
Advances by the Angolan government in its ongoing military offensive agains= t UNITA rebels is yet to translate into an improvement in the humanitarian situation for civilians caught up in the long-running conflict.
Due to a lack of secure land, "there is little planting going on so there won't be much of a harvest. If there is no harvest, there will be a lot of hungry people," a humanitarian official told IRIN this week.
In the remote town of Matala in the southern province of Huila, a Med=E9cin= s sans fronti=E8res (MSF-Spain) team recently estimated the rate of severe malnutrition at 13 percent. Displaced people continue to arrive in Matala fleeing insecurity in the rest of the province.=20
In the central highlands city of Kuito, MSF last week registered 607 new people attending supplementary feeding centres as against the 407 who attended the week before. Cases of Pellagra, a skin disease caused by vitamin deficiency, continue to be recorded in the city.
The formerly besieged government-held cities "may not now be so besieged, but there is no commercial influx of commodities to the towns," an aid worker explained. "Many residents with no access to affordable food are als= o becoming vulnerable."
To reduce the pressure on the overcrowded cities and towns in the interior, the government is encouraging internally displaced people (IDPs) to return to their areas of origin recently captured by government forces in the central highlands and the north of the country. "IDPs are usually very eage= r to return to their farms and villages. If they are not going back it's because they don't feel secure," the humanitarian official said.
ANGOLA: Government stresses humanitarian role for new UN mission
The Angolan government meanwhile rejected a political role for a new 30-member UN mission, effectively barring it from involvement in negotiations to end the country's civil war or in any future peacekeeping mission, diplomatic sources told IRIN.
In a letter to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan last month, a copy of which has been received by IRIN this week, Angolan Foreign Minister Joao Bernardo de Miranda wrote that a UN presence in Angola could only be effective "if its activity is restricted to the area of humanitarian assistance" and the strengthening of the government's human rights capacity.
ANGOLA-ZAMBIA: Refugees flee fighting
An estimated 1,500 Angolan refugees fleeing fighting in eastern Angola have entered Zambia's Western and Northwestern Provinces in the past three weeks= =2E
UNHCR spokesman Kris Janowski said in Geneva this week that UNHCR had sent trucks with emergency food supplies and tents to three entry points in the Western Province: Chavuma, just south of the Angolan/Zambia border, Zambezi which is one of the major towns in the region and Kalabo which is situated on the border of the Liuwa Plain National Park. He added that so far 1,050 of the new arrivals had been transferred to existing refugee settlements.= =20
"Many of the refugees are weak, after having walked for days," he said. "Zambian staff are also evaluating the need for a transit centre in Northwestern Province, where the majority of new refugees are crossing."=20
Janowski added that refugee sites at Meheba and Mayukwayukwa currently housed about 32,000 Angolans, while another 120,000 were settled in the border areas. Over the past year, an average of 100 Angolans a month have sought refuge in Zambia.
ANGOLA: More calls for release of journalist
The International Press Insititute (IPI) and the British government have joined calls by rights groups for the release of an Angolan journalist who has been held incommunicado since 16 October for allegedly publishing defamatory comments about President Jose Eduardo dos Santos.
In a letter to Dos Santos this week, the IPI director, Johann Fritz, said the detention of Rafael Marques of the newspaper, 'Folha 8', undermined democracy and stifled free debate and freedom of expression.=20
ZIMBABWE-DRC: Prisoner of war agreement signed
Parties involved in the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) this week signed an agreement in the Zambian capital, Lusaka, paving the wa= y for the release and exchange of prisoners of war (POWs).
A spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) told IRIN his officers had visited Rwandan POWs detained in Zimbabwe and Zimbabwean soldiers held captive in the Rwandan capital, Kigali. But he refused to disclose the number and names of the POWs.
However, a senior government official in Harare told IRIN last week that Zimbabwe was holding 300 DRC rebel POWs at base camps in DRC, and a further 49 Rwandese POWs were being held in Zimbabwe. He said 36 Zimbabwean POWs were being held in Rwanda and that Zimbabwe was "satisfied with the ICRC visits to our men held there". =20 The ICRC said that during the past 10 days, it had helped repatriate three of the Zimbabweans from Kigali on medical grounds. =20 ZIMBABWE: African Development Bank puts loan on hold
The African Development Bank (ADB) said this week it has put on hold a new US $30 million loan to Zimbabwe.
According to media reports the ADB said that Zimbabwe had to come to "terms with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on the course of its troubled economic reforms." Last week, the IMF put further credit facilities to Zimbabwe "under review" because of disagreements with the government over fiscal targets, reform policies and the cost of the country's military intervention in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
ZAMBIA: Kaunda's son killed
The son of the former Zambian President Kenneth Kaunda was shot and killed by gunmen this week as he and his wife drove up to their home in a suburb o= f the capital, Lusaka, news reports said.=20
The main opposition party, UNIP, which is still led by Kenneth Kaunda, said it could not rule out a political motive in the murder. Police said they ha= d apprehended two suspects, one of whom they shot and killed. The other was i= n custody.=20
ZAMBIA: Journalists appear on espionage charges
The managing editor of Zambia's independent daily, 'The Post', Fred M'membe= , and 11 of his staff reporters appeared in court this week on charges of espionage.
The 12 journalists pleaded not guilty to the charges and their trial was se= t for 25 November, on charges that could see them sentenced for up to 20 year= s in jail if convicted.
The charges arise out of an article published by the newspaper in March questioning Zambia's capability to defend itself against attack by Angola. The article followed a diplomatic stand-off between Zambia and its war-torn neighbour Angola, which claimed that Zambia was allowing the rebel UNITA movement to use its territory to ship weapons and supplies for its war with Angola's government.
NAMIBIA: Government offers to compensate slain doctor's family
A family member of Dr Lucas Ilonga, who was killed by security forces after a separatist attack in the northeast Caprivi Strip in August, said government attorneys have offered to make an out-of-court settlement after the family instructed legal counsel to institute a civil claim against the government.
'The Namibian' quoted Phil ya Nangoloh, the director of Namibia's Society for Human Rights who is a cousin of the deceased doctor, as saying he had been reliably informed the government had indicated it would like to settle the matter out of court. "If the out-of-court settlement is reasonable I se= e in principle no problem with that," Ya Nangoloh said.
NAMIBIA: Rail extension to the north on track
A Namibian government project to extend the country's railway network to northern parts of the country and link it with neighbouring Angola will begin next month and is scheduled to be completed by 2005, news reports said.
The project, valued at US $66 million, will start at Tsumeb heading for Ondangwa before proceeding to Oshakati, while the final 62 km section will link Ondangwa to Oshikango on the Angolan border, added the reports.
The Namibian government is expected to contribute approximately 25 percent towards the project, while the rest will be sourced from business people from the USA and Kuwait. The African Development Bank and the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa have reportedly expressed willingness to finance the project, while the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development ha= s pledged US $20 million.
MALAWI: UN to combat drug trade
Two United Nations agencies have launched a campaign to help Malawi's government combat drug abuse and trafficking in the country, a UNDP officia= l told IRIN this week. The official said the US $517,000 programme will start as soon as all the parties involved, including Malawi's customs and police, have signed the agreement. The campaign will be spearheaded by the UNDP in Malawi and the UN Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention.=20
MALAWI: World Bank releases more aid
The World Bank will this month release a further US $30 million to Malawi for balance of payments support.
The Bank last month released another US $30 million to Malawi, raising the country's indebtedness to the Bank to about US $1.6 billion. The Bank's Washington-based country director for Malawi, Barbara Kafka, who was in the country for a six-day visit recently, said Malawi's GDP growth of 3 percent last year was "not good enough to reduce poverty levels", which is estimate= d by UNDP to affect 60 percent of the country's 11 million people.
SWAZILAND: Journalists threatened and intimidated
At least two journalists were allegedly threatened and forced to leave thei= r jobs in October following an apparently illegal one-day strike by workers a= t the Swaziland Television Broadcasting Corporation (STBC), the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) said.=20
MISA said the six were held directly responsible for the news blackout and seizure of the studios. According to MISA, the striking workers stormed the television studios, locked all the doors and took control. As a result of the action, no news was broadcast on 28 October, but most of the other programmes were broadcast. =20 BOTSWANA: TB, AIDS laboratory opened
A new American-funded TB and AIDS laboratory was opened in the Botswana capital, Gaborone, this week.
The laboratory cost an estimated US $858,000 and will incorporate training, research and improved diagnosis of the two diseases. At the opening of the laboratory, US ambassador to Botswana, Robert Krueger was quoted as saying: "These two enemies, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS, hang over the country like a funeral shroud." Dr Thomas Kenyon of the Botswana-US TB programme, said the TB rates in the country had doubled in the 1990's and that the infection rate would continue to grow as more of the population became infected. Recent government statistics show that one in eight of Botswana's 1.5 million were HIV positive.
Johannesburg, 5 November, 1999 10:00 GMT
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