[Peace-discuss] Fwd: AfricaFocus Bulletin

[Alfred Kagan]

FYI

>Date: Mon, 22 Dec 2003 09:28:21 -0600
>To: akagan at uiuc.edu
>Subject: Message from the Editor
>From: africafocus at igc.org
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>
>AfricaFocus Bulletin
>December 22, 2003
>
>Message from the Editor
>
>Dear Friends,
>
>My best wishes for the holiday season and the coming year to all
>readers of AfricaFocus Bulletin.
>
>The Bulletin is taking a break from publication for the next two
>weeks. You should expect the next issue sometime in the second week
>of January. I look forward to continuing to provide you with
>information you can use as we work for justice in and for Africa.
>                              
>Below is a summary listing of the 16 issues you have received over
>the past seven weeks. The full articles are available at the
>indicated links on http://www.africafocus.org. In the new year,
>AfricaFocus Bulletin will continue to feature high-quality analysis
>and advocacy materials that you might otherwise miss.
>
>If you haven't done so yet, please take a few moments to visit the
>new AfricaFocus website at http://www.africafocus.org. In addition
>to a searchable archive of the AfricaFocus Bulletin, the website
>has convenient customized Google searches and the latest news feeds
>from BBC Africa and AllAfrica.com. I particularly encourage those
>of you who are teachers to introduce the site to your students as
>a useful resource. Look for new features to be added to the site in
>2004.
>
>A special thank you to those of you who have written me recently
>expressing your appreciation for the Bulletin or for particular
>issues, and to those of you who regularly pass the Bulletin on to
>friends and colleagues.
>
>Thank you very much for your encouragement and support,
>
>William Minter, Editor
>
>**************************************************************
>
>AfricaFocus Bulletin, Nov-Dec 2003
>
>Africa: Debt and Deception Nov 4, 2003
>http://www.africafocus.org/docs03/hipc0311.php
>
>As the U.S. Congress approves $87 billion for the U.S. occupation
>of Iraq, long-standing promises by rich creditors to provide debt
>"relief" of some $49 billion for 42 countries remain unfulfilled,
>and largely off the radar screen for policymakers. Yet debt remains
>a crippling burden not only for the 34 African countries that
>qualify as Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC), but also for
>major African powers such as Nigeria and South Africa.
>
>
>Africa: New Commitments on AIDS Treatment Nov 7, 2003
>http://www.africafocus.org/docs03/hiv0311a.php
>
>Despite footdragging by the Bush administration on full funding
>both for its own initiative and for multilateral efforts, there
>has been a recent flurry of announcements of new commitments to
>treat people with AIDS who lack access to antiretroviral drugs.
>
>
>Africa: Agriculture Strategic, Neglected  Nov 16, 2003
>http://www.africafocus.org/docs03/fao0311.php
>
>"Unfortunately, development partners have paid much less attention
>to agriculture and rural development over the past two decades,"
>commented Dr. Jacques Diouf, Director-General of the Food and
>Agriculture Organization (FAO), in a speech last week. "The World
>Bank, the major funding source for Africa, targeted 39 percent of
>its lending in 1978 to the agricultural sector in Africa. By 2002,
>this proportion had dropped to 6 percent."
>
>
>Africa: Humanitarian Double Standard Nov 20, 2003
>http://www.africafocus.org/docs03/un0311.php
>
>"But let me be clear: the aid we give them is not charity, it is
>their right. ... donors and citizens who can help have not only a
>moral responsibility to provide emergency and life-sustaining
>assistance, but an obligation to do so under international
>humanitarian and human rights law." - UN Secretary-General Kofi
>Annan
>
>
>Africa: Debt Meeting Consensus Nov 25, 2003
>http://www.africafocus.org/docs03/debt0311.php
>
>African experts meeting in Dakar under the auspices of the United
>Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) deplored the lack of
>a consolidated African position in response to global policy
>proposals that have vast economic implications for Africa. They
>agreed that current debt relief schemes are inadequate, that
>increased debt relief is the most effective way to provide rapid
>additional funding for development, and that additional measures
>were also essential to advance the globally acknowledged goals of
>ending proverty.
>
>
>Africa: AIDS, Frontline Voices Dec 1, 2003
>http://www.africafocus.org/docs03/hiv0312a.php
>
>Leaders of the All Africa Conference of Churches, meeting in
>Cameroon last week, pledged to "undertake prophetic advocacy until
>anti-retrovirals are available to all who need them; have zero
>tolerance for stigma and discrimination against HIV-positive
>persons, and do whatever possible to eliminate the isolation,
>rejection, fear and oppression of the infected and affected in the
>community." Hundreds of the delegates responded to a call to come
>forward for testing for HIV.
>
>
>Africa: AIDS, New World Health Plan Dec 1, 2003
>http://www.africafocus.org/docs03/who0312.php
>
>"I feel angry, I feel distressed, I feel helpless ... to live in a
>world where we have the means, we have the resources, to be able to
>help all these patients - what is lacking is the political will.
>... It does indicate a certain incredible callousness that one
>would not have expected in the 21st century." - United Nations
>Secretary General Kofi Annan.
>
>
>Africa: Digital Solidarity Gap, 1 Dec 15, 2003
>http://www.africafocus.org/docs03/it0312a.php
>
>Delegates from 176 countries and as many as 10,000 representatives
>of civil society and the private sector attended the World Summit
>on the Information Society in Geneva last week. They dispersed
>having filled dozens of web sites with documentation of the vast
>digital divide between rich and poor, declarations of good
>intentions, examples of promising initiatives, and decisions to
>postpone controversial decisions on internet governance and a
>proposed Digital Solidarity Fund.
>
>
>Africa: Digital Solidarity Gap, 2 Dec 15, 2003
>http://www.africafocus.org/docs03/it0312b.php
>
>Meeting in Lyon, France just before the World Summit on the
>Information Society, representatives of cities and local
>authorities decided to take their own initiatives to address the
>global digital divide. When the World Summit failed to make a firm
>commitment to a new Digital Solidarity Fund, the mayors of Lyon and
>Geneva joined with Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade to commit 1
>million euros to launch the fund themselves.
>
>
>Liberia: Peace Process Implementation Nov 12, 2003
>http://www.africafocus.org/docs03/lib0311.php
>
>Implementation of the latest peace agreement in Liberia is now at
>a critical stage. While the nation's capital Monrovia is generally
>calm, insecurity continues in much of the countryside. The chances
>of further enhancing stability and of advancing rapidly in
>reconstruction depend not only on Liberians, but also on regional
>and international commitments.
>
>
>Nigeria: Oil and Violence Dec 18, 2003
>http://www.africafocus.org/docs03/nig0312.php
>
>Delta State produces 40 percent of Nigeria's two million barrels a
>day of crude oil and is supposed to receive 13 percent of the
>revenue from production in the state, notes Human Rights Watch in
>a new report. Conflict over oil revenue lies at the root of ongoing
>violence, particularly in the key city of Warri. "Efforts to halt
>the violence and end the civilian suffering that has accompanied it
>must therefore include steps both to improve government
>accountability and to end the theft of oil."
>
>
>Senegal: Debt and Destruction Nov 4, 2003 (031104)
>http://www.africafocus.org/docs03/sen0311.php
>
>As the U.S. Congress approves $87 billion for the U.S. occupation
>of Iraq, long-standing promises by rich creditors to provide debt
>"relief" of some $49 billion for 42 countries remain unfulfilled,
>and largely off the radar screen for policymakers. Yet debt remains
>a crippling burden not only for the 34 African countries that
>qualify as Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC), but also for
>major African powers such as Nigeria and South Africa.
>
>
>South Africa: AIDS Treatment Gets Green Light  Nov 23, 2003
>http://www.africafocus.org/docs03/tac0311.php
>
>Last week the South African government approved a comprehensive
>plan for treatment as well as prevention of HIV and AIDS. The
>result of years of pressure by the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC)
>and other activists, this step gives the green light for free
>public treatment of all those in need of it. Implementing this
>decision, however, still requires enormous efforts.
>
>
>Sudan: Oil and Rights Abuses Nov 28, 2003
>http://www.africafocus.org/docs03/sud0311.php
>
>While diplomats say there are good chances of achieving a peace
>settlement in Sudan by the end of the year, fighting nevertheless
>continues in western Sudan, and the United Nations has appealed for
>$450 million to support some 3.5 million displaced Sudanese. Human
>Rights Watch has just released an extensive new report documenting
>the complicity of oil companies with human rights abuses in Sudan,
>and warning that disputes over oil revenue have the potential to
>further prolong the conflict.
>
>
>Zimbabwe: Civil Society Voices Dec 7, 2003
>http://www.africafocus.org/docs03/zim0312a.php
>
>A six-nation panel including Australia, Canada, India, Jamaica,
>Mozambique, and South Africa today recommended continued suspension
>of Zimbabwe from the Commonwealth, until the government of Zimbabwe
>meets minimal conditions indicating willingness to dialogue with
>internal opponents. News coverage of this issue  has
>focused on the divergent views of governments, particularly the
>reluctance of some African states to maintain the suspension of
>Zimbabwe. The simplistic image of a split between Europe and
>Africa, however, ignores the widespread consensus in civil society
>in Zimbabwe and the region in favor of  continued pressure.
>
>
>Zimbabwe: "We Are Still Here Ambuya" Dec 10, 2003
>http://www.africafocus.org/docs03/zim0312b.php
>
>"We Are Still Here Ambuya," sings mbira player and activist
>Machingura in his new CD released recently in Berkeley, California.
>Linking struggles for social justice in Zimbabwe, the United
>States, and around the world, Machingura's music-making in
>California follows on his experience as vocalist in Harare's Luck
>Street Blues band in the late 1990s. It has also led to his
>selection as one of six "Artist Ambassadors" for the World
>Social Forum in Mumbai, India in January. He follows in a rich
>tradition of Zimbabwean musicians whose music has both reflected
>and inspired their people's quest for justice.
>
>*************************************************************
>AfricaFocus Bulletin is a free independent electronic publication
>providing reposted commentary and analysis on African issues, with
>a particular focus on U.S. and international policies. AfricaFocus
>Bulletin is edited by William Minter.
>
>AfricaFocus Bulletin can be reached at africafocus at igc.org. Please
>write to this address to subscribe or unsubscribe to the bulletin,
>or to suggest material for inclusion. For more information about
>reposted material, please contact directly the original source
>mentioned. For a full archive and other resources, see
>http://www.africafocus.org
>
>************************************************************


-- 


Al Kagan
African Studies Bibliographer and Professor of Library Administration
Africana Unit, Room 328
University of Illinois Library
1408 W. Gregory Drive
Urbana, IL 61801, USA

tel. 217-333-6519
fax. 217-333-2214
e-mail. akagan at uiuc.edu