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 West Africa Tel: +225 22-40-4440 Fax: +225 22-40-4435 e-mail: irin-wa@irin.ciWEST AFRICA IRIN-WA Weekly Round-up 17 22-28 April 2000
CONTENTS: SIERRA LEONE: Security Council briefed on rebel activity SIERRA LEONE: ICRC starts agricultural assistance GUINEA: Conde trial - Francophone legislators express concern LIBERIA: Water shortage still acute LIBERIA: Refugees return from Cote d'Ivoire COTE D'IVOIRE: Controversial anti-vandalism law scrapped COTE D'IVOIRE: Former interior minister accused of corruption GHANA: Finance minister announces foreign exchange measures GHANA: Broadcasting standards and guidelines TOGO: Government, opposition agree on electoral committee BURKINA FASO: Law on opposition parties adopted NIGERIA: Communities seek compensation for gas flaring NIGERIA: Minorities in Kaduna want their own state NIGERIA: Foreign reserves now US $6.6 billion dollars NIGERIA: Militant group to protest against legislators NIGERIA: Government hopes to reverse brain drain NIGERIA: Oil-producing regions get revenue payout NIGERIA: Government plans to sink 1657 wells WEST AFRICA: Conference on children affected by war HEALTH: African leaders want US $1 billion a year for malaria EDUCATION: World Bank announces new initiative EDUCATION: Britain urges governments to seek more funding EDUCATION: UNICEF calls on donors to "forgive" debt EDUCATION: UNDP head links education to economic success SIERRA LEONE: Security Council briefed on rebel activity The UN Assistant-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Hedi Annabi, on Thursday briefed the UN Security Council on the situation in Sierra Leone. The UN Department of Public Information said the closed-door meeting took place less than a week after reports of hostile actions by the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebel group, in particular the obstruction of Sierra Leone's UN-backed disarmament programme. On Saturday 22 April, RUF rebels made UN military observers dismantle a reception centre for combatants in Magburaka area in northern Sierra Leone. A UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) official told IRIN the rebels "said their leader had not told them that a centre was to be erected in that area". Members of the Council asked Annabi to convey their concern about such incidents to the parties, especially the RUF, Council President Robert Fowler of Canada told the press. He said the council would be discussing the matter again shortly when the Secretary-General's report on UN activities in Sierra Leone is issued. SIERRA LEONE: ICRC starts agricultural assistance The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Sierra Leone Red Cross society have begun distributing seeds, tools and other relief items to about 40,000 farm families averaging six members each. ICRC said the distributions, which will initially cover the areas of Tonkolili, in the centre and Kenema in the southeast, will expand in early May to the districts around Kailahun and Pujehun, in the east. The first convoys left Freetown and Kenema on 20 April and the distribution is expected to be completed by the beginning of June. GUINEA: Conde trial - Francophone legislators express concern An organisation linking parliamentarians in the world's French-speaking countries on Friday expressed concern at the present bottleneck in the trial in Guinea of opposition leader Alpha Conde and 47 other political activists, AFP reported. A team of lawyers defending the 48 accused decided on Wednesday to boycott the trial, which began in mid-April, saying that they were not placed in a position to do their job. In a communique, the Assemblee parlementaire de la francophonie (APF) urged Francophone heads of state and government to "do everything possible to foster a solution that is peaceful and in keeping with the law". Conde, who leads the Rassemblement du peuple de Guinee (RPG), has been in prison since 16 December 1998, a few days after losing a presidential election. He is accused of violating the security of the state. LIBERIA: Water shortage still acute A water shortage that began three weeks ago in Monrovia is still acute, but the government is doing everything "humanly possible" to solve the problem, Deputy Minister for Administration Arthur Saye told IRIN. Saye said the shortage, caused by broken pipes, had been dragging on for some three weeks because of "logistics". "We do not have any company in the country that produces the kind of spare parts needed to mend the broken pipes," he said. He said he could not confirm or deny fears, reported in the media, that diseases such as cholera or dysentery might break out as a result of the water shortage which, Monrovia residents and news organisations said, had led to an accumulation of sewage in the town. LIBERIA: Refugees return from Cote d'Ivoire A batch of 291 Liberian refugees left Cote d'Ivoire for their home country on 20 April, a source at the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Abidjan told IRIN on Tuesday. The group travelled from Bollequin and Toulepleu, located in southwestern Cote d'Ivoire, to the eastern Liberian county of Grand Gedeh, the source said. This brings to 1645 the number of Liberians voluntarily repatriated from Cote d'Ivoire since January, the source added. COTE D'IVOIRE: Controversial anti-vandalism law scrapped A law that held organisers of demonstrations liable for any material and other damage done during such protests has been abrogated by Cote d'Ivoire's president, General Robert Guei. Under the Loi anti-casseur' (anti-vandalism law), members of the then opposition Rassemblement des Republicains (RDR) had been jailed in October 1999 following a demonstration during which state property was destroyed. COTE D'IVOIRE: Former interior minister accused of corruption Former interior minister Emile Bombet, detained on Thursday for the third time in four months, appeared in an Abidjan court, accused of misappropriating European Union funds granted to Cote d'Ivoire for the organisation of elections under the government of ex-president Henri Konan Bedie. GHANA: Finance minister announces foreign exchange measures Finance minister Kwame Peprah on Wednesday announced measures to reduce pressure on Ghana's cedi - whose value has shrunk from 2515 to the US dollar a year ago to 4420:1 - and conserve foreign exchange, the state-run Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) reported. Foreign exchange bureaux are now required to demand identification of all purchasers of foreign exchange and submit a list of such buyers to the Bank of Ghana each week, while no individual or firm may purchase more than US $2,000 on a given day. GHANA: Broadcasting standards and guidelines Ghana's National Media Commission (NNC) on Thursday launched four publications on national media policy, broadcasting standards, guidelines for rejoinders, and guidelines for political reporting, state-run GBC radio reported. The books, which were published in collaboration with the Frederick Herbert Foundation, cover areas such as language in broadcast, morality and social values, media pluralism, and reporting on campaigns and politics. TOGO: Government, opposition agree on electoral committee Togo's government and opposition parties have agreed on the composition of a new independent electoral committee at talks on the country's future which were resumed this week after a three-month opposition boycott. According to a joint statement issued by a paritary committee on Tuesday after a day of talks, they agreed to create a 20-member electoral committee, with 10 members appointed by the government and another 10 by the opposition parties, news organisations reported. The list of members is to be agreed on at the next paritary committee meeting on 4 May before going to parliament for approval. Discussions aimed at resolving a political crisis that developed in mid-1998 when the opposition contested the result of presidential elections which it said were rigged were suspended in January 2000. However, the two sides met on Tuesday after the opposition announced, on 12 April, that it had agreed to return to the discussion table. BURKINA FASO: Law on opposition parties adopted Burkina Faso's parliament on Tuesday adopted a law governing the role and place of opposition parties in the country's democratic process, the official 'Sidwaya' daily reported. Under the new law, opposition leaders or activists may not be penalised for their political opinions "on condition that they respect the law" while their freedom of movement may not be curtailed except for reasons provided for in existing laws. The law guarantees opposition parties access to the state press and financing from the state in the same conditions as ruling parties. NIGERIA: Communities seek compensation for gas flaring ABOUT 550 communities in Delta, Edo and Ondo have urged oil companies operating in the three southeast Nigerian states to pay compensation to communities affected by poisonous fumes emitted during gas flaring, 'The Guardian' reported on Monday. NIGERIA: Minorities in Kaduna want their own state A group that includes former state officials, retired armed forces officers, professionals and religious leaders from the southern part of Kaduna has set up a 60-member committee to press for the creation of a new state for ethnic minorities who feel threatened, 'The Guardian' reported on Thursday. The Southern Kaduna Peoples' Union (SOKAPU) stepped up its campaign for the partitioning of the northern state following Sharia riots in February between Muslims and non-Muslims, mainly Christians, that left several people dead and injured many others, the paper said. NIGERIA: Foreign reserves now US $6.6 billion dollars Nigerian's foreign reserves increased from US $6.49 billion in February to US $6.6 billion dollars in March, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) was quoted as saying in a report issued Friday. Foreign reserves stood at 7.1 billion dollars at the end of December 1998 but dropped to 4.3 billion at the end of May 1999 following an upsurge in spending in the last days of military rule, AFP said. They have kept increasing since recovering to US $5.8 billion dollars at the end of 1999. NIGERIA: Militant group to protest against legislators The Odua People's Congress (OPC), founded to protect the interests of one of Nigeria's main ethnic groups, the Yoruba, plans to stage a peaceful protest in Abuja on 2 May against the "ineptitude' of legislators, AFP quoted its secretary-general, Kayode Ogundamisi, as saying on Wednesday. He said parliament had so far occupied itself with "issues which do not affect the lives of ordinary Nigerians" instead of legislating against poverty, passing the 2000 budget, fighting inflation and convening a sovereign national conference, AFP reported. NIGERIA: Government hopes to reverse brain drain President Olusegun Obasanjo and other top government officials plan to meet in New York and London with Nigerian nationals who fled to Europe and the United States during military rule to persuade them to return to the country, AFP quoted Information Minister Jerry Gana as saying on Wednesday. NIGERIA: Oil-producing regions get revenue payout The governments of Nigeria's nine oil-producing states have received about US $110 million under an arrangement introduced by President Olusegun Obasanjo that provides for them to get 13 percent of oil revenue, AFP reported Information Minister Jerry Gana as saying. The amount covers the first three months of this year. The states had long demanded a higher share of national oil revenues -- previous regimes never paid them more than three per cent -- to compensate for the disruption caused by oil production and provide funds for the development of non-oil industry and infrastructure. NIGERIA: Government plans to sink 1657 wells Nigeria's government plans to sink 1657 boreholes under a special programme to improve access to water and sanitation throughout the country, 'The Guardian' reported on Thursday. According to the Federal Ministry of Water Resources, it said, each of Nigeria's 774 local government areas will receive two hand-pump wells and each of its 109 senatorial districts will obtain a motorised water pump under the programme, which will begin this year. The government also plans to rehabilitate 10 boreholes in each local government area, the newspaper reported. WEST AFRICA: Conference on children affected by war A ministerial conference aimed at producing a plan of action to protect West African children in times of war was held on 27-28 April in Accra, Ghana. Hosted by the governments of Ghana and Canada in collaboration with UNESCO, it was attended by foreign and defence ministers and military officials from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). HEALTH: African leaders want US $1 billion a year for malaria African heads of state called this week for at least US $ 1 billion US dollars a year to be made available to the WHO-led Roll Back Malaria movement in Africa to help achieve its aims of halving malaria deaths by the end of the decade. The call was made on Tuesday in the final declaration of a summit on malaria in Abuja, Nigeria, at which up to US $750 million dollars in extra funds were pledged. Funds were identified by Britain, Canada, the United States, the World Bank and other sources, according to a news release posted on the Roll Back Malaria website. [http://mosquito.who.int/cgi-bin/rbm/login_rbm.jsp?] Roll Back Malaria, a campaign launched in 1998 by WHO, is aimed at halving deaths from malaria - which kills up to a million people in Africa annually, according to WHO - by the year 2010. Africa's GDP would be up to 32 percent (US $100 billion) higher this year if malaria had been eliminated 35 years ago, according to a new report by WHO, Harvard University and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. EDUCATION: World Bank announces new initiative World Bank President James Wolfensohn on Thursday announced a "fast track" plan to help governments provide free basic education for all children by the year 2015, The World Bank reported. Wolfensohn told the 26-28 April World Education Forum in Dakar that no country with a viable and sustainable plan for achieving Education for All (EFA) would be unable to implement it for lack of external resources. "Donors must be ready to respond more quickly and help countries which are ready to move to meet these goals," he said. "The World Bank has fulfilled its EFA commitments made in Jomtien (Thailand) in 1990, and subsequently in Beijing in 1995." He, however, noted that there was still a long way to go since too many people are still excluded from education because of poverty, poor policies and corruption. According to the press service of the World Forum on Education, Wolfensohn said he was prepared to assist a world campaign for education advocated by NGOs who are calling for US $ 4 billion for that initiative. EDUCATION: Britain urges governments to seek more funding Britain's Secretary of State for international Development, Clare Short, on Thursday called on governments attending the World Education Forum in Dakar to demand financial backing from the international community for countries committed to universal primary education. She also assured the forum of further British support for basic education, particularly in the poorest countries in sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia. EDUCATION: UNICEF calls on donors to "forgive" debt UNICEF's Executive Director Carol Bellamy on Thursday called on donor countries to "immediately" forgive the debts of poor countries that have viable plans for achieving the goal of education for all. She told the World Education Forum in Dakar that universal education would remain a dream until the deep poverty that keeps children out of school was addressed. "It is a global scandal that vast majority of the more than 110 million school-age children not in school are girls," she noted, stressing that education is the right of all children and the obligation of all governments. EDUCATION: UNDP head links education to economic success The head of UNDP, Mark Malloch Brown, told the conference the goal of education for all was "morally and economically urgent". "The single most important question for economic success is: How smart are your people?" he said. "Older measures of competitiveness such as labour costs, resource endowments and infrastructure are being superseded by human capital." [See also www.education.unesco.org/efa] Abidjan, 28 April 2000; 16:30 GMT [This item is delivered in the English service of the UN's IRIN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations. 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