In 1993, the government of Cameroon passed a law allowing private tertiary education institutions to be established in the country. Now, almost a decade later, is this decision still viewed as the right one? That depends on who you ask. For Sammy Beban Chumbow, rector of the government-run University of Yaoundé I, certain private institutions "present a distinct threat to public universities".

Health authorities in Burkina Faso have already admitted they will not be able to meet global goals for providing antiretroviral (ARV) drugs to people living with AIDS, but aid workers say even the government's scaled-down target will be under threat if grassroots groups are not drafted into the fight. Burkina Faso, one of the world's poorest countries, has pledged that 15,000 people will receive the life-prolonging ARV drugs by 2007. That would be a five-fold increase on the 2,700 patients that currently access treatment, but would fall short of the 27,000 people which the World Health Organisation said should receive medication by the end of 2005.

"The debate on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) has until now largely focused on agricultural crops and much less on genetically modified trees. This is understandable, given the fact that there are already several GM crops being commercially grown in many places of the world and given that many of them are aimed at directly or indirectly feeding human beings, whose health is thus potentially threatened. However, that does not mean that GM trees are less dangerous. On the contrary, the dangers posed by GM trees are in some ways even more serious than those posed by GM crops."

UNICEF and the Graduate Program in International Affairs (GPIA) plan to hold an international conference April 25 through 27, 2005 on poverty in the global context and its effects on girls and boys. The conference in April 2005 will present analytical and policy papers that explore issues and trends related to children living in poverty by examining the concepts and measurements of poverty, as well as the actions needed to secure a protective, harmonious and stimulating environment for family upbringing.

The initial response by the world's richest countries to the earthquake and tidal wave disaster in Southern Asia has been pathetic. While many of these countries have poured billions into invading and bringing misery to the people of Iraq, they cannot seem to find anywhere near enough money to seriously help the mainly poor people who have been made destitute by this natural disaster, according to this article on the website of the Socialist Alliance.
Related Link:
* Earthquakes, Tsunamis and Nuclear Testing
http://www.counterpunch.org/rajiva12302004.html
* Tsunami tragedy blog
http://asiantsunami.blogspot.com/

Aid agencies in Africa are coming under pressure as a declining dollar means their budgets buy less while high profile operations in Iraq and Afghanistan bleed funding from development in the world’s poorest continent. The greenback has hit record lows against the euro and near six-year lows against South Africa’s rand, leaving aid groups, which planned their budgets in dollars seeing their purchasing power slashed. While agencies that get considerable donations from Europe and other non-US donors say they escape the worst of the effects, Africa projects must also fight for funding that is being sucked into rebuilding efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

While aid is supposed to reduce poverty, the conditions attached to it have often had the opposite result, write Dave Prentis, general secretary of Unison, and Louise Richards, chief executive of War on Want, in The Guardian UK. "Donors have commonly required developing countries to privatise their public services and open up their markets in order to qualify for assistance, yet both courses have proved disastrous. The UN's newly published report on the world's least developed countries confirms the evidence on the ground: those states which have liberalised their markets most dramatically have also seen the greatest increases in poverty over the past 10 years."

While some countries have well-developed educational programmes for promoting awareness of and respect for human rights, elsewhere human rights education for children, young people and the general population needs to be strengthened considerably, said Mr Koichiro Matsuura, director-general of Unesco, on the occasion of Human Rights Day on 10 December.

The vision and promise of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights are under considerable strain, the top United Nations human rights official said last Thursday, calling the response to the threat of terrorism "confused". Speaking in Geneva on the eve of International Human Rights Day, Louise Arbour, High Commissioner for Human Rights, said that today, "Few of us are free from fear; many of us are still not free from want. The sinister shadow of terrorism is generating a confused response, unanchored in the principles that have guided us in the search for a proper balance between our desire for collective security and our need for liberty and individual freedom". Mrs. Arbour underlined that the United Nations High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change had captured well the global threats the world faces. "International terrorist groups prey on weak States for sanctuary", she said. "Their recruitment is aided by grievances nurtured by poverty, foreign occupation and the absence of human rights and democracy; by religious and other intolerance; and by civil violence - a witch's brew common to those areas where civil war and regional conflict intersect".

There should be changes in the governance of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, especially in voting structure and representation changes in the governance of the WTO, including more transparency, the elimination of the green room processes and the creation of more representative processes for decision making. There should also be a move away from a focus on the G-8 to a focus on the G-24. This is according to a paper from the Initiative for Policy Dialogue (IPD) at Columbia University in the United States. The paper assesses the underlying democratic deficiencies and weaknesses in global governance, and examines the forces that might lead to a meaningful change.

"As signatories to the 1951 Refugee Convention, we have a duty to ensure that those to whom we grant protection are able to attain a decent quality of life and are able to reach their full potential. However, refugees and asylum seekers make up some of the most marginalised and excluded groups within society. Integration is a term that can evoke different associations but actually is a two way process. For the refugee, it requires a willingness to adapt to the lifestyle of the host society without having to lose his or her own cultural identity. In return, the host society should be prepared to accept refugees as equals."

A bill before the US Congress would ban tens of millions of dollars in U.S. economic aid to some of its allies unless they formally agree to exempt U.S. citizens from the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court. Congress passed a law in 2002 that gave the administration the discretion to cut off military aid to countries not belonging to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) that ratified the ICC. Over the past year, the administration has done precisely that with about three-dozen countries, almost all of them poor nations in Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa, and Central Europe. The Nethercutt Amendment would deprive the same nations of economic support funds (ESF), a category of economic assistance that accounts for about $2.5 billion in the current foreign-aid bill.

The Global Network for Good Governance (GNGG), an anti-corruption and good governance network that includes organizations and individuals from 21 countries, has announced the opening of a new branch in Nigeria. The new branch is tasked with establishing a viable network of the GNGG in Nigeria. To do so, the branch will draw the network members from a range of institutions, such as public, private, and third sector organizations, the media, and individuals who share a vision of good governance and a corruption-free society. Contact gnggnigeria@yahoo.com to find out more.

The Practical Guide is unique in providing a concise and simply-worded guide to the World Trade Organization (WTO), from a human rights perspective. Importantly, the Practical Guide contains pointers for individuals and groups concerned with human rights to respond to the threats trade and trade rules can pose to the enjoyment of human rights. It describes human rights mechanisms that can be applied by people concerned to ensure that trade, trade rules or the domestic implementation of international trade rules are carried out in a way that does not have negative impacts on human rights. No prior knowledge of trade or economic issues is required to read and make good use of the Practical Guide.

Millions of men, women and children are still being bought and sold as chattels, forced into bonded labour, held as slaves for ritual or religious purposes, or trafficked across borders, often to be sold into prostitution, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in a message marking International Day for the Abolition of Slavery. "All these forms of slavery are abhorrent, and must be eradicated," he declared, calling on all States to ratify and implement existing conventions that fight the scourge. "Slavery offends every value that underlies the United Nations Charter, and the Organization and all its Member States must take a strong stand against it."

The World Development Movement (WDM) has condemned the lyrics of the Band Aid 20 single “Do They Know It's Christmas?” as promoting a negative and inaccurate picture of Africa and its problems. "Such images are patronising and out of date but worst of all they present a misleading impression of why Africa is poor and discourage people from taking action. African poverty is not an unfortunate accident of geography and climate. It is largely the result of damaging policies such as free trade forced on Africa by rich countries," said the WDM.

Tony Blair's Commission for Africa will have little effect unless it tackles global apartheid. So long as global rules are made by a minority, any progress in Africa could be wiped out overnight by changes in currency, trading conditions or security as a result of decisions or neglect by the world's most powerful bodies. Unless Africans have an equal and effective voice in global decision-making, the Commission's work will be forgotten.

All other questions are window dressing.

This Commission would not be necessary if rich countries had been committed to the UN Economic Commission for Africa, founded 1958; the UN Programme for Action for African Economic Recovery and Development initiated in 1986; the Global Coalition for Africa founded in 1990, or the UN Initiative for Africa, launched in 1996. Indeed, the Commission could save money simply by updating the UN Action Plan for African, published in 1991.

The treatment of Africa and its position in global decision-making is in some respects worse than the treatment of the majority in South Africa under apartheid. Although the West condemns racism, and includes Africans and people of African descent at the highest levels of governance, the structures of global decision-making systematically prevent Africa from having an effective say in the economic and political rules which govern their affairs. As a result, African states are often treated like Bantustans, clients of Western powers, and the needs of their people are neglected.

One example of minority rule in global governance is the UN Security Council: 80% of the permanent members are white, representing less than 10% of the world population, and 60% are European. As a result, the Security Council has failed to protect Africans from the scourge of war.

The International Community would not have tolerated genocide in Rwanda if Africa had had a veto in the Security Council. The World Bank and IMF would have done more about aids, debt, famine or declining currencies and commodity prices if Africa had the same votes compared to the US. Nor would Africa have faced steep tariff barriers and dumping if it had the same clout in the WTO as Europe. The G8 would not have let Africa get into its current state if it had been a member.

How the major powers and institutions of global governance allocate and implement budgets, appoint top officials and influence national policies can encourage corruption and make it impossible for citizens to hold governments to account. As the Commission says, transparency can be a powerful mechanism both for enhancing overall delivery by government and the participation of excluded groups. But few global institutions or Africa Desks in the foreign ministries of the rich world are open and transparent.

Giving African nations an equitable and effective say in the major institutions of global governance would address one of the central questions raised by the Commission: if Africa had a veto on the Security Council, IMF, World Bank, WTO, and Bank of International Settlements, it would quickly become a domestic issue for rich countries. They would soon find the political will to make a lasting commitment to Africa's development.

If the Commission is serious about enabling Africa to solve its problems, it will:
- Review Africa's representation on the major institutions of international decision-making
- Advocate equitable representation and powers for Africa in these bodies
- Draw up principles of transparency, accountability, democracy and equitable decision-making for all institutions of global governance, as advocated by the One World Trust.

There are opportunities for reform. This week a UN High-Level Panel will recommend fairer representation for Africa and other Developing Countries on the UN Security Council.

The G8 member states have the power to propose a new global settlement on the basis of our common humanity, in which international decision-making is based on equity, transparency, democracy and accountability. If it does so, the issues facing Africa will remain the common concern of the world. If it does not, the Blair report will join the Pearson Report, the Brandt Report and many other reports in the footnotes of history, as business as usual resumes.

* Titus Alexander is founder of Charter 99 and author of "Unravelling Global Apartheid" (Polity Press/Blackwell, 1996)

* If you agree with these arguments, tell the Commission and give them specific examples about the way in which global apartheid and Africa's position in international decision-making causes harm or hinders progress. If you disagree, join the dialogue at Pambazuka News! Send your comments to

The Commission is holding a series of meetings with Africans throughout the Continent, starting this week, on 1 December, in Dakar, Senegal. Commissioners will also travel to Nairobi (6 Dec); Douala (8 Dec); Lusaka (10 Dec) and Alexandria (14 Dec). These meetings will enable representatives from every African country to comment on the Commission's work, and allow Commissioners to collect new material for their report. The meetings are being organised in partnership with LEAD International www.amref.org/speakforafrica.htm and the Southern African Regional Poverty Network http://www.commissionforafrica.org/getting_involved/consultationdocument.htm

Prepare comments in the form of a brief summary followed by up to 750 words.
Where your submission relates to a particular thematic section of the document, please indicate this in the summary.

Submissions should be sent to the Secretariat to the Commission for Africa by e-mail: [email]Africa_Secretariat@dfid.gov.uk

Mark the Subject 'Submission October-December Consultation' followed by your name or the name of your organisation. http://www.commissionforafrica.org/getting_involved/GettingInvolved.htm

* If you or your organisation has made a submission to the Commission for Africa, please send your contribution to Pambazuka News and we will include it in the newsletter. Send to

An international NGO involved in a school feeding programme has had to leave Zimbabwe because the authorities refused to renew its registration and work permits for expatriate staff. International aid agencies and NGOs must register with the government and have their activities vetted and approved.

To examine how the UN has been providing protection to internally displaced persons and how to make that response more effective, the Brookings Institution-Johns Hopkins Project on Internal Displacement and the Internal Displacement Unit of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs dispatched a team into the field. The study finds that the UN's approach to protecting vulnerable populations "is still largely ad hoc and driven more by the personalities and convictions of individuals on the ground than by an institutional, system-wide agenda."

Reporters sans frontières (RSF) has condemned the closure of "Le Quotidien", Guinea's only privately-owned daily, on 13 November 2004. The National Communication Council (Conseil national de la communication, CNC) announced the paper's "indefinite suspension" following the publication of an article entitled, "The country is in bad shape...when will the uprising take place?" RSF also deplored the threatening phone calls that the newspaper's editor, Siaka Kouyaté, has been receiving for the past week.