Weekly anb08291.txt #7

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 29-08-2002      PART #1/7

* Africa. EU refuses to back GM food for Africa  -  On 22 August, the 
European Union rejected a plea by Washington to give assurances to 
drought-stricken southern African countries about the safety of genetically 
modified emergency food relief. The US State Department had urged the EU to 
assure African states that biotech food supplies were safe, and should be 
distributed immediately to the millions of hungry people in the region. The 
dispute has erupted on the eve of the United Nations World Summit on 
Sustainable Development, to be held in Johannesburg, which is expected to 
address southern Africa's increasing vulnerability to famine as a top 
priority. But some non-governmental organisations believe the US is using 
Africa's poverty to gain greater international acceptance for GM food. 
Zimbabwe, Zambia and Mozambique have turned away food relief shipments of 
GM grain. They fear that if it finds its way into their agricultural 
systems it could blight their crop and livestock exports, particularly to 
the EU. They also believe the food may be harmful to their people. "We do 
not intend to get involved in what is a discussion between some of the 
countries of southern Africa and the US," said European Commission 
spokesman Michael Curtis. "It is our position that they have to sort this 
out for themselves." Commission officials say the US could have solved any 
problems by buying food-aid maize locally, as does the EU, to provide 
countries with non-GM maize, or by milling corn so it cannot take 
root.   (Financial Times, UK, 23 August 2002)

* Africa. Children are the hardest hit by HIV and hunger  -  UNICEF will 
encourage pharmaceutical companies to help Africa slow the spread of HIV 
from mother to child and to make drug therapy affordable, executive 
director Carol Bellamy said on 25 August. Bellamy told Reuters at the start 
of a two-day visit to Zambia that millions of children in one of the 
world's poorest regions would bear the brunt of the spreading HIV/AIDS 
pandemic, exacerbated by a food crisis and a shortage of clean water. 
"(Hunger) is exacerbated by the widespread presence of HIV/AIDS, poverty 
and the long-term effects of poor water levels," Bellamy said. "We at 
UNICEF are trying to look at how we can help to provide clean water in 
schools and dig wells," she said.   (CNN, USA, 25 August 2002)

* Africa. The "McAfrika Burger" riles aid groups  -  Humanitarian groups 
have criticised McDonalds for a new sandwich called the McAfrika, saying 
the offering is poorly timed because millions of Africans are facing 
starvation. But on 26 August, aid officials welcomed an agreement by the 
fast-food restaurant chain to inform customers about the potential famine 
in southern Africa and tell them how they can help, Tarje Wanvik of the 
group Norwegian Church Aid said on 26 August. McDonalds was stung by bad 
publicity in the Norwegian media last week when it announced that the new 
sandwich, made of beef and vegetables and wrapped in pita bread, will be 
sold in 15 restaurants in Oslo. The sandwich was advertised as being based 
on African recipes. "There was nothing wrong with the name. It was the 
timing,"Wanvik said. "They launched it just as a famine in Africa is 
starting". McDonalds Norway spokesperson said McDonalds was "very happy 
with the solution that was reached".   (CNN, USA, 26 August 2002)

* Afrique. Le rapport de Transparency International  -  Pour la huitième 
année consécutive, l'organisation internationale non gouvernementale de 
lutte contre la corruption Transparency International a publié son 
indicateur de corruption, au terme d'une étude portant cette année sur le 
nombre record de 102 pays. Cet Indice de Perceptions de la Corruption 2002 
révèle que 70% des Etats passés au crible obtiennent moins de 5 points, sur 
un score de 10 points. En d'autres termes, la corruption est perçue comme 
gangrenant la société dans plus des deux tiers des pays étudiés. Les 
situations les plus inquiétantes sont relevées en Indonésie, au Kenya, en 
Angola, à Madagascar, au Paraguay, au Nigeria et au Bangladesh, qui 
enregistrent moins de 2 points. A l'inverse, certains pays parmi les plus 
riches du monde, comme la Finlande, le Danemark, la Nouvelle-Zélande, 
Singapour ou encore la Suède, atteignent 9 points ou plus, témoignant de 
très bas niveaux perçus de corruption. Avant de partir pour le sommet de 
Johannesburg, le président de Transparency International, Peter Eigen, a 
souligné que "la corruption est extrêmement élevée dans les régions pauvres 
du monde, mais également dans beaucoup de pays dont les sociétés 
investissent dans les pays en voie de développement".   (Les Echos, France, 
28 août 2002 -www.lesechos.fr)

* Africa. Tackling corruption  -  Corruption is worsening in many 
industrialised and developing countries, according to a closely-watched 
league table published today. This year's corruption perceptions index, 
compiled by the Berlin-based watchdog Transparency International, shows 
that about 70 of the 102 countries listed scored fewer than five out of the 
possible 10 points allocated to "highly clean" countries. Last year 55 of 
the 91 countries listed scored fewer than five points. Peter Eigen, 
Transparency International chairman, said: "The picture of widespread 
corruption is continuing, with public officials misusing their power to 
corrupt ends." Mr Eigen said several countries, including Slovenia and 
Russia, had improved their standing this year. "Slovenia is the leading 
European Union membership candidate when it comes to tackling corruption," 
he said, now outranking EU members Italy and Greece. Russia's fight against 
corruption was welcomed, although Mr Eigen was cautious about reading too 
much into it until anti-money laundering and other laws became fully 
established. Bangladesh was listed as the most corrupt country, followed by 
Nigeria, Paraguay, Madagascar, Angola, and Kenya. Among developing 
countries, Botswana and Namibia had done well, he said.   (Financial Times, 
UK, 28/29 August 2002)

* Afrique. Sommet de la Terre  -  Du 26 août au 4 septembre, se tient à 
Johannesburg (Afrique du Sud) le plus grand sommet de l'histoire des 
Nations unies, qui rassemblera 189 pays, représentés par plus de 100 chefs 
d'Etat et de gouvernement et quelque 7.000 ONG engagées dans un 
contre-sommet. L'ambition de Johannesburg: améliorer la qualité de la vie 
sur terre en tenant compte des trois dimensions économique, 
environnementale et sociale. Cette volonté englobe à la fois la mise en 
oeuvre des 2.500 recommandations de l'agenda 21 du sommet de Rio, des 
objectifs du Millénaire sur la réduction de la pauvreté et des cinq 
priorités fixées par les Nations unies (eau, énergie, agriculture, santé et 
biodiversité). Mais l'ébauche du plan demeure un catalogue d'intentions 
sans engagements précis. Les dernières négociations à Bali, en juin, se 
sont soldées par un échec. Et l'absence délibérée du président américain 
Bush est de mauvaise augure. De son côté, dans une note du 27 août, le 
correspondant du Monde souligne le coût du Sommet qui, estime-t-il, coûtera 
à l'Afrique du Sud 33 millions d'euros et à l'ONU 47 millions d'euros, soit 
au total 80 millions d'euros. Cette somme représente 67% des dépenses de 
santé du Mali (11 euros pour chacun des 11 millions d'habitants, selon la 
Banque mondiale), ou encore le raccordement à l'eau potable de 80.000 
personnes dans une ville telle que La Paz (Bolivie) ou Manille 
(Philippines), selon la firme Ondeo. La partie sud-africaine des dépenses 
d'organisation de la conférence est assurée par une compagnie privée, la 
Johannesburg World Summit Company, qui a trouvé l'essentiel de ses fonds 
auprès de grandes entreprises locales comme Eskom, South African Airways ou 
la Standard Bank. -- 27 août. Au lendemain de l'inauguration du sommet, on 
a abordé un des dossiers les plus brûlants des négociations: les 
subventions accordées par les pays riches, notamment à leurs agriculteurs. 
A quoi bon en effet, aider les pays en développement, si c'est pour 
neutraliser cette aide financière par des subventions agricoles, dont le 
montant total ($350 milliards) est six fois plus élevé? Combinées aux 
barrières douanières, ces mesures disqualifient les produits des pays 
pauvres. La disparition de ces subventions à l'échelle de la planète 
entraînerait, estime Oxfam, un afflux de 100 milliards de dollars vers les 
pays en développement. La question est particulièrement vitale pour 
l'Afrique, puisque l'agriculture y représente entre une quart et les deux 
tiers de sa production. Mais ni les Etats-Unis, ni l'Union européenne ne 
semblent disposés à faire évoluer leurs positions. -- 28 août. Le sommet a 
commencé par les discussions sur l'eau, dont un cinquième de l'humanité est 
encore privé. 1,3 milliard d'humains n'ont pas accès à l'eau potable. L'eau 
contaminée tue chaque année 5 millions d'habitants, davantage que le sida. 
Mais à l'instar de la plupart des grands dossiers mis sur la table des 
négociations, celui de l'eau est, sans surprise, loin de faire 
l'unanimité.   (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 29 août 2002)

* Africa. World Summit on Sustainable Development  -  23 August: Police in 
South Africa have arrested at least 77 people campaigning for landless 
people's rights in the run-up to next week's World Summit on Sustainable 
Development. In a related case, an American land rights campaigner was 
arrested when she tried to visit the detainees at a Johannesburg police 
station. The authorities say they intend to deport the woman -- Ann Eveleth 
-- for immigration offenses. The arrests followed a demonstration in the 
city on 21 August, attended by about two-thousand people. -- About 20,000 
delegates have registered to attend a week of briefings, debates and 
conferences, centred around sustainable development. Estimates are that at 
least 60,000 people will file through the Sandton Convention Centre, which 
will become UN territory on 25 August. Day One --26 August: The World 
Summit officially gets under way in Johannesburg today, with negotiators 
still said to be far apart on a plan of action to present to the heads of 
state and government arriving next week. Delegates are trying to settle 
major differences between rich and poor nations over issues such as trade, 
which environmentalists say are a distraction from the real business of the 
summit. The 10-day conference aims to reach agreement on reducing poverty 
in developing nations by fuelling environmentally friendly economic growth. 
South African President Thabo Mbeki welcomed guests yesterday after a 
musical extravaganza by comparing the gap between the rich and poor with 
the now-defunct apartheid regime in his own country. "Out of Johannesburg 
and out of Africa must emerge something new that takes the world forward 
away from the entrenchment of global apartheid to the realisation of goals 
of sustainable development," he said. Mr Mbeki also played down pessimism 
about the summit's chances of success, saying it was time for "hope, not 
despair". While clashes between police and demonstrators at the weekend did 
not spoil the inauguration party yesterday, there are fears of further 
unrest during the week. Today, President Thabo Mbeki calls for greater 
solidarity with the world's poor. He tells the first session that "a global 
human society... characterised by islands of wealth, surrounded by a sea of 
poverty, is unsustainable". Day Two -- 27 August: Agriculture heads the 
agenda for the second day of debate. Intense negotiations, however, are 
continuing behind closed doors on several contentious issues, including the 
use of cleaner energy and access to clean water for the developing world. 
Summit delegates heard a call on Monday from South Africa's President Mbeki 
for them to come up with practical ways of tackling poverty and ending a 
world order based on the "survival of the fittest". Debates on health and 
biodiversity also began on Monday for the 40,000 delegates set to stay in 
Johannesburg for another nine days. It is already apparent that the broad 
agenda of this summit is creating almost endless scope for disagreements 
and is also making consensus very difficult to achieve. Delegates from the 
European Union have complained that their American counterparts are not 
prepared to sign up to specific targets on issues such as energy and water, 
arguing that instead of new targets countries should try to keep to 
existing commitments. -- Researchers at the science and technology forum at 
the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg call for a new 
"cold war" on climate change. The call comes after delegates reached 
agreement on ways to tackle the world's fisheries crisis. US researcher 
Berrien Moore said that political interests had dominated research agendas 
on climate change for too long. He added that the irreversible changes 
humans had wrought on the environment, including the felling of large 
swathes of forests, meant that policy makers could no longer ignore the 
dangers. The fisheries deal -- the first substantial one reached at the 
summit -- envisages restoring most of the major global fisheries to 
commercial health by 2015. Day Three -- 28 August: Nelson Mandela urges 
politicians to make access to clean water a basic human right, and to put 
water and sanitation much higher up the political, economic and social 
agenda. The UN says the lack of fresh water and sanitation is the greatest 
obstacle to sustainable development and the most visible symbol of the 
growing gap between the rich and the poor. -- World business leaders launch 
a programme to promote grater investment by multinationals in developing 
countries. Day Four -- 29 August: Western Governments at the Summit are due 
to announce a series of partnerships with businesses and communities in 
developing countries.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 29 August 2002)

* Africa/USA. Bush to offer $4 billion in health and economic aid  -  The 
Bush administration, seeking to soften the blow of President George W. 
Bush's decision to skip a global development meeting starting next week in 
South Africa, will propose spending more than $4 billion over the next 
several years to improve health and economic development in Africa, 
officials say. The money, much of it diverted from existing programs, is on 
top of a separate proposal to provide as much as $5 billion a year to 
developing countries that adopt sound economic policies and attack 
corruption. Officials said Wednesday that the new proposals to reduce 
disease, provide clean water and conserve resources were part of a broader 
plan to work closely with developing nations to provide the foundation for 
greater prosperity. "We've begun a process months before in which we have 
placed a premium on partnerships; partnerships among governments, among 
governments and the private sector," Undersecretary of State Paula 
Dobriansky said. Secretary of State Colin Powell will lead the US 
delegation to the UN-sponsored World Summit on Sustainable Development 
--though just for the last two days of the 10-day conference --before 
heading to Angola and Gabon.   (Int. Herald Tribune, USA, 23 August 2002)

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