weekly anb03164.txt #7

[anb-bia <anb-bia@village.uunet.be>]

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 16-03-2000      PART #4/7

* Madagascar. Severe flooding  -  10 March: The UN says it is
deeply concerned about severe flooding in Madagascar, as aid
workers try to reach remote villages cut off by floods. The UN
World Food Programme (WFP) will begin an airlift operation today
and the UN Secretary-General says an official appeal will be
launched shortly. A UN representative in Madagascar, Sergio Soro,
says the island is not getting the same media attention as
Mozambique, despite being hit by the same storms. Torrential rains
and high force winds reaching up to 200 km per hour brought by
Cyclones Eline on 17 February and Gloria on 2 March, caused loss of
life, severe damage to infrastructure, and left over 10,000 people
homeless. Preliminary indications point to almost total crop losses
in low-lying areas. 10 March: The WFP appeals for helicopters to
help distribute food and relief supplies. 13 March: A French
helicopter carrier, the Jeanne D'Arc, has reached Madagascar to add
impetus to the relief effort. French navy helicopters have flown
over north-eastern Madagascar to assess the damage. The WFP is
sending two cargo planes loaded with emergency relief supplies to
the north-eastern town of Sambava. 14 March: The captain of the
French helicopter carrier says the damage, although bad, falls
short of the devastation in Mozambique. 15 March: The estimated
number of people needing urgent help has doubled to 40,000. The UN
says it is now moving the relief operation from an acute emergency
phase to rebuilding and rehabilitation. There has also been a sharp
rise in the number of deaths caused by cholera which appears to
confirm fears that the cyclone and tropical storms have helped to
fuel an epidemic.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 16 March 2000)

* Malawi. "Giving the little we have to Mozambique"  -  The
government of Malawi, local non-governmental organisations and
Malawian individuals have donated assorted items to flood victims
in neighbouring Mozambique. The items include food (maize flour and
beans), toiletries, blankets, plastic plates and medicines. The
donation followed an appeal from President Bakili Muluzi to all
Malawians, to donate whatever they could manage to help alleviate
the suffering of Mozambicans, following the devastating floods that
hit the country. Malawi's First Lady, Madame Patricia Shanil
Muluzi, personally handed over the donations to Mozambican
officials and some victims in Beira on 12 March In her speech,
Madame Muluzi thanked all Malawians who contributed to the
donation. "Malawi is a very poor country but we could not just sit
back when our friends in Mozambique are in such problems. We
decided to give the little that we could manage," said Madame
Muluzi while encouraging Malawians to continue with the love they
have shown. Malawi was the fist country, after South Africa, to
assist the flood victims. It sent two helicopters and men from the
Malawi army who have helped in the evacuation process and are
currently helping in food distribution. The Mozambican Ambassador
to Malawi, Mr. Matius, told the press in Blantyre recently that his
country is very grateful for the assistance that Malawi has given
to Mozambique during this trying time.   (Hastings Maloya, ANB-BIA,
Malawi, 13 March 2000)

* Malawi. Touche aussi par les inondations  -  Au moins 1.500
personnes appartenant a 300 familles ont ete deplacees et d'autres
ont ete coupees de la terre ferme dans le district de Chikwawa, au
sud du Malawi, a la suite de tres fortes pluies qui ont inonde la
region depuis le 12 mars. Les pluies qui ont commence a tomber le
11 mars, ont gonfle le fleuve Lalanje, qui a deborde de ses rives
et envahi de vastes etendues de terres. Plusieurs villages sont
completement envahis par les eaux.   (D'apres PANA, 15 mars 2000)

* Malawi. Archbishop Chiona under probe  -  The head of the
Catholic Church in Malawi, Archbishop James Chiona is under probe
by Malawi's Office of the Ombudsman, for allegedly holding property
of a deceased Roman Catholic priest for more than 10 years. The
investigations follows a complaint by Telephonia Chilola, a sister
to the deceased priest, Father Phillip Katsetse, who died 12 years
ago while serving as a priest at Namulenga Parish in Mulanje
District in Southern Malawi. The Archbishop's hearing was scheduled
to take place on 10 March, but was adjourned by the Ombudsman,
Enock Chibwana, because the Archbishop failed to turn up. The
Archbishop did not even send a representative. The Ombudsman said
Telephonia Chilola is complaining that the property of her late
brother, Father Katsense, was given to other people and not the
relatives of the deceased. The Ombudsman said his office wrote to
Archbishop Chiona, twice, with a copy of the complaint's letter. He
said his letters were replied to by the Vicar General of Blantyre
Diocese, Monsignor Simbota, who explained that all the priests are
under the Archbishop and the Archbishop is the one who looks at
after all the property for priests. Mgr. Simbota also stated that
the Archbishop is the one who decides whether such property for a
deceased priest should go to the relatives or the Church. He said
the Archbishop had not make any order on the property of the
deceased priest, because he died a poor man and the little he had
was given to the poor. The inquiry was adjourned to 12 April.  
(Brian Logomeka, ANB-BIA, Malawi, 14 March 2000)

* Mali. Trouble flares in the north  -  14 March: The French
charity, Action against Hunger, says it is suspending work in
northern Mali, after three Dutch tourists were murdered there last
week. The charity, which had received threats, said it suspected
that former Tuareg rebels might have joined forces with
fundamentalist groups in Algeria. Other agencies, such as USAID,
are said to have withdrawn too after a meeting yesterday. Mali's
security minister has been holding emergency talks in Algeria since
late last week with his counterparts from Algeria, Niger and
Mauritania to discuss the border area which has become a major
smuggling route.   (BBC News, 14 March 2000)

* Maroc. Le statut de la femme  -  Le statut de la femme divise les
Marocains. Depuis un an, le gouvernement a elabore un "plan
national d'action pour l'integration de la femme au developpement".
Un grand nombre de mesures contenues dans ce plan, visant a
encourager l'insertion des femmes dans la vie active, ne sont pas
contestees. Par contre, celles visant a faire evoluer la mudawana
(le code du statut personnel qui definit les droits et les devoirs
de la femme) -- notamment le relevement de l'age du mariage des
filles de 15 a 18 ans, la suppression de la polygamie, la
substitution du divorce judiciaire a la repudiation, le partage des
biens entre epoux en cas de divorce -- ont provoque un violent
debat entre "modernistes" et "islamistes". Chaque groupe a appele
a manifester, le 12 mars, le premier a Rabat, le second a
Casablanca. La, entre 100.000 et 200.000 islamistes ont defile,
scindes en deux avenues, femmes d'un cote, hommes de l'autre, sous
des slogans comme "pour le respect des valeurs musulmanes" et
"emancipation de la femme oui, alienation non". A Rabat, les
manifestants, moins nombreux, denoncaient "la violence et
l'exclusion" qui frappent les femmes. Le Premier ministre Youssoufi
s'est decharge sur le roi de la responsabilite de trancher dans
cette affaire, ce que le Palais ne semble guere apprecier.   (ANB-
BIA, de sources diverses, 13 mars 2000)

* Morocco. Women's rights opposed  -  On 12 March, hundreds of
thousands of Islamists, many of them veiled women, took to the
streets of Casablanca to protest against Moroccan government plans
to give women more rights. The rally dwarfed a march by women in
the capital Rabat, where fewer than 40,000 took to the streets to
mark Women's Day and to support a draft plan by the Socialist-led
government to enhance women's position in Morocco's male-dominated
society.   (Financial Times, UK, 13 March 2000)
* Mozambique. Un pays a reconstruire  -  9 mars. De fortes pluies,
qui ne devraient pas s'arreter avant plusieurs jours, ont entraine
l'annulation des vols de secours. Quant a l'avenir, le secretaire
executif de la Commission economique des Nations unies pour
l'Afrique (CEA), M. Amoacko, a estime que le Mozambique aura besoin
d'un "plan Marshall" pour soutenir son programme de reconstruction.
La CEA envisage d'envoyer une equipe d'experts afin de determiner
l'impact des inondations sur l'economie et de definir un programme
de rehabilitation. A Maputo, on estime que $65,5 millions seront
necessaires pour entamer les premieres phases de reconstruction. -
12 mars. Le gouvernement mozambicain a annonce l'entree du pays
dans la phase de stabilisation des populations et de
reconstruction, alors que se confirme partout -- sauf dans le
bassin du Zambeze -- que le eaux sont en baisse. Le gouvernement
voudrait s'atteler a l'identification des zones sures ou la
population pourrait, sans risques futurs, se reinstaller. -15 mars.
De fortes pluies qui pourraient continuer plusieurs jours, font
craindre de nouvelles inondations. D'autre part, le Club de Paris
a annonce sa decision de differer tous les paiements dus par le
Mozambique au titre du service de sa dette, jusqu'a l'annulation
prevue dans le cadre de l'initiative sur la dette des pays pauvres
tres endettes. (Les membres du Club de Paris creanciers du
Mozambique sont l'Allemagne, l'Autriche, l'Espagne, les Etats-Unis,
la Russie, la France, l'Italie, le Japon, le Royaume-Uni et la
Suede).   (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 16 mars 2000)

* Mozambique. Flood relief  -  9 March: US troops, helicopters and
equipment land in the port of Beira. After long delays caused by
technical and logistical problems, a force of about 50 men and
three Black Hawk helicopters, half the planned number, arrive to
join Germans, Malawians and South Africans already working from
Beira. Heavy rains today, paralyse relief efforts. All civilian and
military aircraft at Maputo Airport, the hub of the international
relief effort, are grounded by the weather which is cutting
visibility to dangerous levels. Government officials say fresh
rains have knocked down telecommunication links with in central and
southern Mozambique. 14 March: The WFP is launching an appeal for
nearly $30 million to help flood victims. The WFP estimates that
650,000 people who have lost homes and farmlands will need to be
fed for the next six months. The agency says about 55,000 tonnes of
food will be needed for the duration. Hundreds of thousands of
people are still living in about 100 temporary camps, but as they
seek to return to their home districts there will be increasing
need for repairs to the devastated road network. Southern African
leaders are meeting in Maputo for emergency talks on the Mozambique
disaster. They call for the cancellation of all of Mozambique's
foreign debt. 15 March: The Paris Club of creditor nations, an
informal group which meets regularly in Paris with debtor nations,
announces: "To help Mozambique face its current exceptional state
of emergency following the flood it suffered, the Paris Club will
defer all payments due by Mozambique on its external debt until the
cancellation under the initiative of the Heavily Indebted Poor
Countries". That debt cancellation is expected later this year. The
US government authorises US $37.6 million to be used by its
military personnel in the on-going relief operations in Mozambique. 
 (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 16 March 2000)

Weekly anb0316 - End of part 4/7