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Weekly anb05301.txt #9
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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 30-05-2002 PART #1/9
* Afrique. De l'OUA à l'Union africaine - Le secrétaire général de
l'Organisation de l'union africaine, Amara Essy, a déclaré le 22 mai à
Addis Abeba que le projet de transformation de l'OUA en Union africaine
(UA) est en cours et que l'UA sera lancée, comme prévu, au prochain sommet
de l'OUA à Durban. Ce sommet devra discuter de l'Assemblée des chefs
d'Etat, du Conseil exécutif (qui remplacera l'ancien Conseil des
ministres), du Comité des représentants permanents et du statut de la
Commission. (PANA, Sénégal, 23 mai 2002)
* Africa. African Union - The African Union (AU) should play a centre-stage
economic role to help African countries move rapidly towards social
progress, the Egyptian Ambassador to France, Ali Maher Al Sayed said in
Paris, on 23 May. Al Sayed, who is also the dean of the African diplomatic
corps in Paris, emphasised that only a strong economic and political union
of African States can help the continent surmount the current challenges.
"I remain deeply convinced that through unity, all 53 countries of the
continent will be able to make important accomplishments for themselves and
for their peoples,", he said. The Egyptian diplomat described NEPAD (New
Partnership for Africa's Development) as an initiative that would enable
Africa to organise its priorities better and make external contribution
more efficient. Africa is not looking for charity from the rest of the
world, Al Sayed observed, saying that development partners who accept to be
involved in NEPAD "will be helping themselves". (PANA, Senegal, 23 May 2002)
* Africa. COMESA leaders adopt protocol for Free Trade Area fund - Leaders
of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) ended their
7th summit in Addis Ababa on 23 May after adopting a protocol establishing
a fund that will provide budgetary support to countries which have joined
its Free Trade Area (FTA). The summit, which ended a day earlier than
scheduled, appealed for international support towards the fund that will
compensate and assist member countries to meet transitional costs that may
hamper the implementation of the FTA. The fund will also support priority
infrastructure developments in the region. According to a final communiqué,
the leaders asked non-FTA member states to indicate when they intend to
join the preferential trading arrangement, including their timeframe for
reducing tariffs before the end of the year. The deadline for joining the
FTA is December 2004. Just nine of the 21 COMESA member states have joined
the FTA since its creation in October 2000. (PANA, Senegal, 23 May 2002)
* Africa. Children in need - (N.B. ANB-BIA's Supplement (issue 435) has as
its theme: "Africa's children"). Nigeria: "Harvest-Time Ministries", a
non-profit-making organisation, has introduced a children's project called
the "Salama Children's Project". Salama African children are those orphans,
or children coming from traumatized or depressed families, who have
suffered during religious, ethnic or political crises. The Project's aim is
to help raise these children in a peaceful and religious atmosphere,
despite their previous experiences and setbacks. In a pilot project,
twenty-five of these children come together twice a week to learn to praise
and worship God. Use is made of indigenous musical instruments. Zambia: In
a joint study funded by the United States Agency for International
Development (USAID), the United Nations Childrens Emergency Fund (UNICEF),
the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA), and the Republic of
Zambia, the conclusion arrived at, was the state of Zambia's children is
bad. The study reveals the urgent necessity to address this situation. The
fact is, only about 6,000 orphans in Zambia are being cared for. This
suggests that many are homeless, living on the streets or in disused
buildings. One expert working for an NGO has even gone so far as to declare
the state of children in Zambia to be a "national disaster". Many of these
children are left homeless because their parents have died from AIDS. (K.
Dareng - Nigeria; J. Mupundu - Zambia. May 2002)
* Africa. Children are victims of slave traffickers - The number of people
forced into slavery around the world has risen to 27 million, according to
a report published by an international human rights group. The study --
released to coincide with a special UN session on slavery -- says millions
of girls working as domestic servants are forced into sexual slavery. The
trafficking of child camel jockeys to the United Arab Emirates, bonded
labour in Pakistan and forced labour in Sudan are also highlighted. Slavery
is fuelled by "poverty, vulnerability and lack of political will",
Anti-Slavery International says. Last week, the US endorsed a report drawn
up by an international group of "eminent persons" which concluded that
slavery existed in Sudan. The report recommended that the Sudanese
President, Omar Hassan al-Bashir, take the lead by launching an
anti-slavery campaign and calling for the release of all slaves. The
Sudanese Government comes in for criticism from Anti-Slavery International,
which accuses it of "failing to take adequate steps to end raiding and
slavery". Between 5,000 and 14,000 people are said by the group to have
been abducted into forced labour in Sudan since 1983. There are also
problems of forced labour in Mauritania where, the London-based rights
group says, little has been done to secure the release of slaves or punish
those who use them despite the abolition of slavery in 1981. (ANB-BIA,
Brussels, 27 May 2002)
* Africa. World Cup preliminaries - Cameroon: On 23 May, Cameroon's World
Cup trek ended when the squad finally touched down in Japan after a 60-plus
hour journey. The Indomitable Lions' arrival also ended the long wait of
their hosts in the tiny Japanese village of Nakatsue. Cameroon's journey
began after their friendly against Denmark in Copenhagen the previous
Friday. After the game, a row over players' bonuses initially delayed the
squad by 48 hours in Paris. Following a stop in Bombay, the squad's charter
plane was forced to make an emergency landing in Bangkok after failing to
gain permission to fly over Cambodian, Vietnamese and Philippine airspace.
Following another six-hour delay, the plane was allowed to leave Japan
after obtaining clearance. Cameroon's embarrassing delay risked a loss of
goodwill after local residents in Nakatsue were forced to cancel several
events, including a welcome ceremony and a practice match with local high
school students. Lateness is rarely tolerated in Japan and some considered
Cameroon's tardy arrival an insult. Nakatsue, with a population of 1,400,
has spent a considerable sum of money on improving lodging and training
facilities for the visit of the Olympic and African champions. Despite the
delay, the Japanese hosts were still preparing to roll out the red carpet
in the small hours of the morning. -- On 26 May, Cameroon held England to a
draw 2-2, in a friendly warm-up. Nigeria: Nigeria's World Cup team will
receive substantial financial rewards if they reach the finals of the
tournament, the Nigeria Football Association (NFA) has said. Largely made
up of overseas-based players, Nigeria's team has a history of pay disputes
before and during major tournaments. There were huge arguments over bonuses
and allowances during the Super Eagles 1994 and '98 World Cup outings. At
the last African Nations Cup tournament in Mali, players protested against
the non-payment of air fares. -- Defender Celestine Babayaro has arrived in
Japan and begun full training, relieving doubts that he might have had to
withdraw from the squad. He survived his first training session with his
team-mates on 28 May with no ill-effects from an injury that had kept him
out of all Nigeria's warm-up matches. It means the Nigerians now have a
full strength squad from which to choose their line-up their opening match
against Argentina on 2 June. Senegal: Senegal's top striker El-Hadji Diouf
was the star of the show as the Dakar Lions triumphed over Ecuador in their
last warm-up game before the World Cup. Diouf showed great touch throughout
the game and set up the winning goal. He created panic in the Ecuador
defence with a well-placed cross that was turned into his own goal by
defender Augusto Porozo on 69 minutes. The goal came only a minute after
Diouf could have opened the scoring himself. He feigned to go outside
before cutting back inside and curled a shot from long-range past Cevallos
that bounced off the post. After the match Senegal boss Bruno Metsu singled
the Lens player out for praise. South Africa: After the doubts that
surrounded South Africa's build-up to the World Cup, it has become quite a
job to wipe the smiles off the faces of coach Jomo Sono and his players.
After all the doom and gloom following poor performances in recent
friendlies, the euphoria in the camp is understandable following their 2-0
win over Turkey on 23 May. That victory meant they lifted the Reunification
Cup in Hong Kong with a game to spare in the tournament. The euphoria in
the team should however, not be misplaced. It was, after all, a warm-up
friendly and the Turks used no fewer than nine substitutes. Nevertheless
the victory would have given the team a tremendous psychological boost
ahead of next weekend's opening game against Paraguay. The important thing
is that they have scored four goals in their last two games without
conceding any. On 26 May, South Africa defeated Vissel Kobe 3-0, in a
friendly warm-up match. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 28 May 2002)
* Africa. Action against the Media. - The Gambia: On 27 May, Article 19
expressed concern over the excessive control of the public media in The
Gambia by the government. Malawi: On 23 May, Reporters sans Frontières
(RSF) condemned the actions taken by Dumbo Lemani, an advisor to the
President. He assembled a group of between 1,000 and 3,000 militant members
of the ruling United Democratic Front (UDF) on 20 May in front of the
publishing firm Blantyre Newspaper Limited, which publishes two
pro-opposition newspapers, the Daily Times and the Malawi News weekly. He
then incited the crowd to threaten two journalists, Mabvuto Banda, and
Akimu Kaingana, who had written articles opposing President Muluzi's
candidacy for a third presidential term in 2004. Niger: On 23 May, RSF
protested the arrests of Abdoulaye Tiémogo, publication director of the
private weekly Le Canard Déchaîné, and Abarad Mouddour Zakara, publication
director of the private weekly La Roue de l'Histoire. Rwanda: On 19 May,
the Ugandan editor of the independent privately-owned weekly, Rwanda
Herald, Asuman Bisiika, was deported by the Rwandan authorities, to Uganda.
Somalia: On 27 May, RSF protested against the shutting down of the
privately-owned Somali Broadcasting Corporation by the authorities of
Puntland. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 27 May 2002)
* Africa. Statistics - On the occasion of the Meeting of Superiors of
Missionary Institutes being held in Rome, the following statistics have
been published concerning Africa: Population: 756.9 million (65% rural, 35%
urban); Life expectancy: 50.7 years; Religions: Catholics -- 14.9%; Other
Christians --31.6%; Muslims -- 40.5%; Traditional African religions and
others: 13%. (Fides, Vatican City, 28 May 2002)
* Afrique. Bilan 2002 d'Amnesty - Dans son rapport 2002, rendu public le 28
mai, Amnesty International (AI) dresse un sombre bilan du monde de
l'après-11 septembre. Les attentats du 11 septembre, "crimes contre
l'humanité", appellent "la justice, non la vengeance", avertit AI. Sous
couvert de sécurité, les démocraties ont restreint les espaces de liberté
et les droits des personnes par des législations draconiennes, alors que
les régimes autoritaires en ont profité pour écraser leurs opposants ou
relancer les opérations contre les minorités. En Afrique, AI épingle
notamment l'Afrique du Sud et l'Egypte. En annexe de son rapport, AI a
ajouté un chapitre "Bonnes nouvelles"; pour l'Afrique, y est notée la
libération d'Alpha Condé en Guinée. (D'après Le Monde, France, 29 mai 2002)
* Afrique. Appel de la BAD - L'Afrique est la seule région en développement
qui risque de ne pas atteindre la croissance voulue pour diminuer de moitié
la pauvreté la plus grave d'ici à 2015, a indiqué le président de la Banque
africaine de développement (BAD), M. Kabbaj, lors de l'ouverture, le 28
mai, de la réunion annuelle de la banque. Environ 30 des 53 pays africains
qui ont établi, il y a deux ans, un plan de développement avec les Nations
unies et la BAD, atteindront partiellement le niveau prévu; pour les
autres, les prévisions sont mauvaises. En Afrique, quelque 340 millions de
personnes (environ la moitié de la population du continent) ne disposent
même pas d'un dollar par jour, la limite de la "pauvreté absolue". M.
Kabbaj a lancé un appel à la communauté internationale pour qu'elle double
l'aide au développement de l'Afrique afin de pouvoir réaliser l'objectif de
croissance économique prévu de 7%. (D'après De Standaard, Belgique, 29 mai
2002)
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