From the programme of economic and financial recovery launched at
the departure of former President Senghor to the structural
adjustment plans initiated in the mid 80s under the Abdou Diouf
regime, to poverty-reduction strategies, a variety of phenomena
accompanied the deconstruction of the social and economic sector. The
supposed solutions across different policies put in place by
international financial institutions have never generated the growth
expected as a driver of development. Worse, the "less State" from
which "better State" was expected to follow, simply created a vacuum
tending to nullify all public services and social policy.

It was the cult of the private sector above everything. Not even the
most strategic state enterprises were able to resist this logic. This
is the case of Senegal's national water company (SONEES). Thus, the
symbolic image of water as a universal resource belonging to everyone
but not to any one private individual, carried no weight against the
hunger for privatisation. Privatisation, it was said, would be the
solution to the well-known dysfunctionality of the sector which was
unable to meet populations' growing needs. But instead of addressing
the many well-reported barriers to access to water and electricity,
these privatisations only served to render more precarious the
position of the most disadvantaged in society. Access to water and to
electricity has become more chancy, exacerbated by exorbitant rising
costs.

Seen as the repository of all evils, public services and the notion
of public good were supplanted by the cult of profit, assets and
productivity. The most elementary rights of citizens, including the
right to natural resources and to have a say in their form of
management were flouted. Negotiations and decisions were made over
their heads, so much so that that one can speak of the diktatof the
World Bank and the International Monetary Fund imposed on States and
political leaders who have no control over their destiny.

Established as a slogan during the 1980s, "a smaller state equals a
better state" had practically become an incantation in the mouths of
rulers. A formula on everyone's lips, it appeared all the more
scandalous in being a deliberate denial of the pauperisation and
misery in which these policies plunged the most disadvantaged social
strata. It was like an inevitable process, an ineluctable logic.
Between "liberalisation" and "privatisation" fetishised language
littered the discourse of decision-makers while at the same time
creating a living death for whole populations.

In Senegal, as in almost all the other poor countries forced to
undergo this "treatment", the international financial institutions in
the form of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund had a
ready-made mechanism: the quasi systematic conditionality attached to
the awarding of loans. These required first the restructuring of the
public sector and national corporations and then the privatisation of
state holdings. As a result of this restructuring , thousands of
workers found themselves on the streets. To reduce the overall salary
total, unemployment was encouraged. To make enterprises more saleable
it was necessary to reduce the size of their workforce. To absorb the
fiscal deficits arising from these enterprises there was no
hesitation in passing on their profit and loss accounts. At the same
time, the State abrogated its role as provider and turned its back on
its social responsibilities. Crucial sectors such as education and
health were starved of subsidy, following the received economic-
political wisdom which encouraged the State to invest as little as
possible.

In what follows, we will consider further the issue of water
privatisation and its socio-economic implications for Senegal.

In 1995, in accordance with the instructions of the World Bank,
Senegal undertook privatisation of its water sector. As a result, the
national water company (la Société Nationale d'Exploitation des Eaux
du Sénégal (SONEES)) was divided into two organisations: the
Senegalese national water company (Société Nationale des Eaux du
Senegal (SONES)), the holding company, and the Sénégalaise des Eaux
(SDE), the operating company, a private enterprise. The purchaser was
SAUR, a subsidiary of the French Bouygues Group. SAUR retains a 51%
share, the remaining 49% being divided between the Senegalese state
(5%), private Senegalese individuals (39%) and the employees of the
defunct SONEES (5%). SONES is responsible for the management of
national water resources and all State holdings pertaining to this
sector, while SDE retains the exclusive monopoly for commercial
exploitation. Under this arrangement, the latter makes the profits
and must pay dues to SONES.

The most ludicrous aspect of this affair is that the contract between
SDE and SONES and, by extension, the Senegalese State, only relates
to commercial exploitation of urban water resources. This
demonstrates how far considerations of financial profitability were a
priority. The billing and collecting of water rates were considered
more likely to be effective in an urban environment where users would
be more financially solvent, but also where the means of coercion
would be more effective in case of non-payment of bills. It was thus
"logical" for urban centres to benefit from the majority of SONES
investments to improve infrastructure and guarantee a good system for
recovery of rates. So, although consumers living in urban centres
benefited to a certain extent from better services (modernisation of
infrastructure, improvement in water quality), those living in rural
areas were left out in the cold. At the level of the overall
operation of the State this gave rise to serious implications: it
created a dichotomy in the allocation of services across the national
population which was based on financial advantages to multinational
companies.

It is important to recall that SAUR is fundamentally a capitalist
enterprise - a multinational which has spread its tentacles
throughout the world and which is motivated only by profit. Whether
in Senegal or in any other country in which it has bought out the
water sector, its relationship to this resource is the same as it
would have had with any other commercial product. The worst of it all
is that our States are irresponsible and that they have no
consideration for the cultural and social relationships that their
populations have to the utilities that they are manipulating.

How else can one understand their decision from one day to the next
to transfer the operation of a utility which, since time immemorial,
has been considered a public good in the popular imagination, and
around which many societal processes cohere, handing it over to
operatives unfamiliar with the social context, without even
considering it necessary to draw up a code of conduct taking account
of local conditions?

Both in the villages and in the poorest areas of the towns, a
widespread quasi-institutional practice had been established of
erecting fountains where local populations without domestic water
supply could receive free water. To rationalise usage and avoid
wastage, local community leaders or others in whom local populations
had confidence were given the responsibility of managing these water
supplies. Timetables were agreed with neighbourhoods to enable local
people to build up their reserves, usually early in the morning and
late in the afternoon. In addition, special treatment could be given
to such institutions as schools and Koranic teaching institutes,
mosques and other such bodies so that they would receive water either
free or at special rates.

Privatisation did away with all such allowances. It became necessary
to spend money to drink! Similarly for water for food preparation,
making one's toilet and doing housework. Tariffs were established and
water had to be bought by the basin or the bucket in the case of
local fountains. Prices varied according to location. Moreover,
neighbourhood fountains were condemned to disuse, the aim being to
oblige each home to have a connection to SDE with a corresponding
billing system. Those bodies which had benefited previously from
preferential treatment were required to subscribe through a billing
system under which they paid bi-monthly bills in the same way as
other users.

For many people, this new regime resulted in a penny-pinching use of
a utility which had suddenly become scarce; or in recourse to
alternative sources of water such as rivers. This water, which was
not intended for drinking, gave rise to public health problems in
poor homes where it was used in food preparation. It is not too much
to suggest a causal link between limited access to water and the
proliferation in recent years of diseases such as cholera in Senegal.
Known also as the "dirty hands disease" precisely because it is due
to a lack of cleanliness, cholera epidemics continue to break out in
a variety of locations. Experience has shown that this happens almost
exclusively within populations which only have very limited or no
access to drinking water.

Furthermore, it is quite usual to encounter educational
establishments whose water has been cut off due to their inability to
pay their bills. In such cases, students fall back on local houses
during their breaks to request a glass of water or to use the toilet.
In this way, an unexpected vulnerability has opened up in this
sector. The collateral risks of such measures are real ones. Children
are exposed to a variety of dangers, including being given non-
drinking water or, for little girls, the risk of sexual abuse.

Moreover, many other social benefits linked to the use of
neighbourhood fountains are denied to women for whom this represents
an essential aspect of their social lives. Being able to gather every
morning and afternoon at the fountain enables them to meet friends,
to discuss recent happenings in their lives, and, in short, to escape
briefly from the daily grind. The "commodification" of water favours
an entirely different relationship with water and with the act of
fetching it.

The proponents of privatisation pride themselves on bringing out its
positive aspects, such as infrastructure modernisation, distribution
of better drinking water or further reduction of wastage at the
fountains. For example, in relation to access to water, Ndaw believes
that ' the balance sheet for the programme after 8 years [ie from
1995 to 2003] shows that it fits perfectly with the implementation
strategy for the Millenium Development Objectives for urban areas. In
fact, figures for coverage of the Dakar region show that the
proportion of the population served increased from 80.3% in 1995 to
96% in 2004 (76% by means of domestic connection and 20% by means of
local fountains), ie 620,000 additional service users. For other
urban centres (amounting to 1,9 million individuals) the level of
reasonable access to water in 2004 is 84% (57% through domestic
connection, 18% through local fountains and 9% through modern wells),
ie 400,000 additional service users'.

These arguments have been seriously called in question by numerous
studies showing that the privatisation of the water sector has not
given rise to a significant number of additional domestic
connections. Aide Transparence's inquiry disagrees, as it reveals
that 'the number of connections in the perimeter has increased from
203,902 in 1996 to 26,4161 in 2002, ie an increase of 60,259 over 6
years. For a population of 10,000,000 inhabitants, this does not seem
to represent a significant achievement. (...) The level of service in
the perimeter rose from 72.5 in 1996 to 83.1 in 2001, although it was
supposed to reach 95% according to the contract between the State,
SDE and SONES'.

Nor has privatisation solved the problem of water quality. The Aide
Transparance report shows that consumers often complain about a
reduction in water quality and, from time-to-time consumers'
organisations campaign for improved services. It is undeniable that
consumers do not have confidence in the quality of the water that
comes from the taps. Indeed, the use of mineral water has never
before been so widespread in Senegal. Anyone who can afford this
luxury now prefers to use bottled water - to such an extent that the
sale of mineral water has become a very profitable sector. In the
space of two to three years, at least three new companies producing
mineral water have been set up and are showing an impressively
healthy balance sheet. Originally seen as a privilege reserved for
the comfortably off who used it to signal their material wealth,
mineral water consumption is now seen as a means of avoiding a health
risk.

Long periods during which water supplies are cut off in certain areas
or at certain points in the year are legion. It can happen that in
these areas, there is no tap water for a whole day or even for
several days. A frequent scene is of large groups of women, basins in
hand, wandering from one area to another in search of water for
drinking and for preparing family meals. Observation has shown that
the hottest period in the year is the worst in terms of water supply.
It has also been demonstrated that the water supply infrastructure is
not capable of meeting consumers' needs because, as soon as there is
a significant concentration of population in a given location, the
SDE cannot satisfy the increase in demand. Such is the case during
religious festivals which bring together large groups of the
population for a specific period. This has resulted in real anguish
among local communities and "pilgrims" in the run-up to religious
celebrations.

All this goes to show that even the promised technical improvements
have not lived up to their promise.

A further crucial is that of the cost of water. There is not a shadow
of doubt that the privatisation of water has brought with it an
increase in prices. The Aide Transparence inquiry tells us that this
increase was around 40% in 2003. This is exorbitant! The following
passage shows how, in a subtle fashion, SDE considerably increased
the costs for each of the tariff packages. 'Analysis of the different
tariff packages offered between 1995 and 2003 shows that the SDE's
tariffs for social consumption (i.e consumption of between 0 and 20
m3) grew from156.7FCFA in 1995 to 191.32FCFA on 1 January 2003. At
the same time the full tariff grew from 534.48 in 1995 to 629.88 for
consumption of between 20 and 41 m3, and from 534.48 to 629.88 for
consumption of between 41 and 100m3, on 1 January. Combining all
these increases shows an average hike of nearly 40% on the price of
water between 1995 and 2003'.

From whatever angle one considers water privatisation in Senegal,
one constant remains: the priority given to the profit and loss
aspects of the business. The process of privatisation has resulted in
the right of access to water for each individual and concern for
social justice in giving each member of society the same chance to
make use of State-provided services, being relegated to a lower level
of priority. The poor are the rejects of the different policies
instigated by international financial institutions and applied by
those who govern us, who have no remedy for the suffering of
increasing numbers on the margins of society.

Hawa Ba works for Fahamu and is Pambazuka News West Africa Regional
Correspondent.

This article was first published in the French edition of Pambazuka
News, no 7:  http://www.pambazuka.org/fr/category/features/34815




source: Pambazuka News

CONTENTS: 1. Highlights from this issue, 2. Features, 3. Comment and
analysis, 4. Letters, 5. Blogging Africa


1 Highlights from this issue of Pambazuka News

FEATURED THIS WEEK

PAMBAZUKA NEWS: warns of identify theft
FEATURED: Our most essential basic requirement for survival, water,
is being privatised. Hawa Ba describes the Senegalese experience
COMMENT AND ANALYSIS:
- The World Bank is always quick to take the moral high ground by
pointing fingers at corruption. Gail Hurley says that Wolfowitz lack
sincerity about dealing with the Bank's own complicity.
- Eve Odete reports back on SOAWR's interventions at the Banjul
Summit of the African Union
- A new vision for gender activism is called for, says Ann Kithaka
- The unwillingness of governments, multinationals and others to
promote rudimentary democracy in Zimbabwe is obvious, writes Patrick
Bond
- Stephen Lewis calls for an international agency for women
LETTERS: Football, politics and Africa - readers respond to last
week's articles
BLOGGING AFRICA: Sokari Ekine rounds up the African blogosphere


2 Features

WATER PRIVATISATION IN SENEGAL

(see above)

3 Comment and analysis

CORRUPTION AND THE WORLD BANK

Gail Hurley

The World Bank, under its president of the last year Paul Wolfowitz,
has been talking tough in the fight against corruption. But how
sincere is Wolfowitz when it comes to dealing with the World Bank's
role in financing corrupt regimes of the past and the cancellation of
these illegitimate debts? The answer is simple. He's not, says Gail
Hurley.

One could be forgiven for thinking that Paul Wolfowitz has spoken
about corruption and nothing else during the year that he has held
the post as World Bank President. Although his predecessor, James
Wolfensohn, also highlighted corruption as a serious obstacle to
development, Wolfowitz has significantly elevated the issue as a
World Bank priority. Wolfowitz's anti-corruption rhetoric has
captured media headlines. But how comprehensive, consistent and
effective are the plans and actions behind the talk? How far can the
Bank really go with this agenda, in particular where the Bank itself
has been the cause of corruption, and odious and illegitimate debts,
in the past?

It appears as though the Bank's focus on anti-corruption looks set to
continue. In February, the World Bank, in cooperation with other
multilateral development banks and the IMF, agreed to create "a
framework for preventing and combating fraud and corruption". It is
to be ready for the Bank/Fund Annual Meetings in September in
Singapore. On a recent trip to Indonesia, Wolfowitz presented a "long-
term strategy" for using the Bank's money and expertise to help
developing countries rid their governments of bribe-taking and other
dishonest practices. A key component will be the deployment of anti-
corruption teams in many World Bank country offices. At the World
Bank's 2006 Spring Meetings, Wolfowitz correctly acknowledged that
"for every bribe-taker, there is a bribe-giver, and often, that comes
from a developed country" and any thorough approach to corruption
must examine corruption by companies and individuals in the North,
not just the South. In a recent leaked paper obtained by Eurodad, the
Bank claims to be "raising the bar on governance and anti-corruption"
even further. The paper, entitled "Raising the Bar on Anti-
Corruption: Improving Governance and Accountability, Fostering
Development" outlines possible ways forward for the Bank, including
promoting good governance and accountability and supporting
international efforts for the repatriation of stolen wealth.

The story presented so far however focuses very much on the
"corruption of today" and pays scant attention to the "corruption of
yesterday". Remarkably absent from the anti-corruption strategy
presented by officials so far is any critical examination of the
Bank's lending practices to poor countries in the past. The World
Bank has over the years been involved with and lent to some of the
world's most notorious and despised regimes such as Mobutu Seke Seso
of Democratic Republic of Congo and Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines.

Bank documentation at the time of these transactions, or published
shortly afterwards, confirms that many Bank officials - at both
country-level and in Washington DC - were perfectly aware of the
nature of the regimes in place and that many loans were simply
transferred into the bank accounts of the dictators and their
generals. It was plain therefore that they did not reach the poor or
foster economic development. Despite their odious and illegitimate
nature most of these debts continue to be serviced today, at the
expense of essential investments in poverty reduction and economic
development.

How can any approach to weed-out corruption be successful or
comprehensive if it does not look critically at the lending practices
undertaken by the institution in the past? The Bank should learn the
lessons of the past, accept co-responsibility for its mistakes and
agree to cancel Bank debts resulting from loans where Bank officials
knew much of the money would be diverted by corrupt elites. Wolfowitz
says the real issue at stake is "how to promote good governance and
accountability". Accountability must begin at home, by addressing the
mistakes - and in some cases downright negligence - of the past.

A serious inquiry into past Bank lending practices and the problem of
odious and illegitimate debt will likely be resisted by Wolfowitz
(who said as much at the Spring Meetings when I challenged him on
this point). He argued that the governments represented in the Bank
would not be happy if he raised this issue. But Wolfowitz has already
challenged the Bank's members on a number of issues. And we have seen
the Bush administration acknowledge the odiousness of Iraq's debt
burden.

Iraq is a country with a very significant burden of odious and
illegitimate debt, a clear case study of lending for geopolitical
strategic and ideological purposes rather than any concern for the
welfare of the overall population. The US government indeed
acknowledged this in 2003 when United States Treasury Secretary John
Snow remarked to Fox News that "certainly the people of Iraq
shouldn't be saddled with those debts incurred through the regime of
the dictator who is now gone".

Another country which Wolfowitz knows well is Indonesia, where he
served as US Ambassador from 1986-1989 during the General Suharto
years. His recent visit to Jakarta provided the World Bank President
with an excellent opportunity to pledge to examine Indonesia's case.
Respected Indonesian NGO, the International Forum for Indonesian
Development (INFID) argues that "it is widely known that
approximately 30% of the World Bank loans during the reign of Suharto
were corrupted". Moreover, the debts were accumulated by an
authoritarian regime and no public consultation took place. For
years, the World Bank continued making transactions with Indonesia.
The Bank supported and strengthened the authoritarian regime, says
INFID.

A leaked 1997 World Bank report supports these allegations. The
report found that as much as 20 to 30% of the budgets linked to
development funds were embezzled and World Bank loans were clearly
involved. Other internal reports attest to staff knowledge of the
regime in place and the fraud taking place. Despite this clear
awareness, loans increased. There was also an increase in World Bank
loans to the Indonesian Government during the occupation of East Timor.

Indonesia's total external debt stands at US$134 billion. Of this
sum, public and publicly guaranteed debt amounts to US$ 80 billion.
To pay this debt, the government put aside 26% of the 2006 state
budget. In contrast, education was allocated only 5% and health 2%.
Poverty levels are high and increasing in Indonesia: 50% of the
population lives in poverty and earns less than US$ 2 per day. The
World Bank is one of the country's largest creditors with
approximately US$12 billion in claims.

Instead Wolfowitz chose not to use this opportunity to critically
reexamine the loans that Indonesians argue involved corruption and
fraud and yet which they are required to service under the current
system.

One World Bank shareholder which is taking action on this is Norway.
It is one of the first Northern countries to open dialogue on odious
and illegitimate debt and to call for an international focus on this
critical issue. Firstly, Norway has asked the World Bank to undertake
a study of odious and illegitimate debt and has put money aside to
support this research. Secondly, Norway's Development Minister Erik
Solheim has committed to more closely examine the illegitimate debts
claimed by Norway, notably those incurred through the Shipping Export
Credit Campaign of the 1970's.

The débacle involves the export of Norwegian ships to developing
countries (such as Ecuador, Peru and Jamaica) between 1977 and 1980.
It exported these ships mainly to secure employment for a ship-
building industry in crisis. In the case of Ecuador, the Norwegian
authorities demanded state guarantees for the ships and when, after
the first four years, the company stopped paying the remaining debt
was transferred to the state. Ecuador has been servicing the debt for
16 years and its value today is five times the original amount.
Minister Solheim has made the very welcome statement that he wishes
to draw a line across this mistaken and damaging low point in
Norway's development cooperation policy and in the context of next
year's budget will look to take unilateral action to cancel these
claims, citing the lending as irresponsible. All eyes will be on
Norway over the coming months to see if the country will indeed
cancel these claims and NGOs will push for a clear and public
acknowledgement of the injustice and illegitimacy of these debts.
Kjetil Abildsnes of the Norwegian Debt Campaign said in a recent
statement to the press: "It remains to be seen if Solheim is tough
enough to declare these debts illegitimate. We hope to get an answer
[soon]. Norway can then become the first creditor in the world to
recognise parts of developing country debt as illegitimate."

The World Bank - and other bilateral and private creditors - should
take a leaf out of Norway's book and take a critical look at the
past. The Bank in particular has no excuse: Norway has put aside
money to support research into this issue and it would seem to fit
logically and perfectly within the anti-corruption theme that
Wolfowitz is so keen to take forward. Indeed Wolfowitz must recognise
that any comprehensive approach to corruption must necessarily
involve a frank and open critique of past Bank lending practices
leading to the cancellation of debts found to be odious and
illegitimate.

Cancellation of odious and illegitimate debts has the power to
transform the lives of the world's poor as well as foster reform of
an international financial architecture skewed in favour of
creditors. Developing countries such as the Democratic Republic of
Congo, the Philippines, Indonesia and others continue to service
debts of highly questionable origin when the benefits of debt
cancellation have been clearly recognised.

Wolfowitz and World Bank Executive Directors need to place this issue
firmly on the Bank Board agenda. NGOs will continue to press the Bank
to do so and we hope that Norway will also do the same in particular
because Minister Solheim has stated that "there can be no doubt that
Norway wishes to be in front on this issue". In the meantime,
Wolfowitz should stop labelling his approach to the corruption
problem as comprehensive. It is not.

It is not a question of being "stuck in the past": the debt service
on illegitimate loans has an impact on poor people today. Urgent
action is needed at the international level. The funds the Norwegian
Government has pledged to the World Bank and UN to support further
research should not sit idly in the coffers of either the Norwegian
Treasury or the World Bank but be put to good use to develop an
international consensus - in equal partnership with relevant
stakeholders - on how to tackle the issue of odious and illegitimate
debt.

* Gail Hurley is with the European Network on Debt and Development
(Eurodad)  ghurley@eurodad.org


SEVEN DAYS IN BANJUL: CHAMPIONS FOR THE PROTOCOL

Eve Odete

Eve Odete, part of the SOAWR coalition delegation, reports back on
the events in Banjul where Niger's rejection of the AU Protocol on
the Rights of Women in Africa is roundly condemned. Despite that set
back, support for the protocol grows, boosted in particular by the
launch of the joint publication from SOAWR and the AU Commission of
'Breathing life into the African Union Protocol Women's Rights in
Africa'.

The Seventh Summit of the African Union and its preliminary sessions,
the Executive Council and Permanent Representative Council, has just
ended in the Smiling Coast, the Gambia. As I look back at the press
coverage during the summit, I scan a rainbow of grandiose arrivals
including the outgoing Secretary General of the UN, Koffi Anan, the
President of Libya, Muammar Gaddafi, the President of Iran, Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad, the Thai diplomat, and the Chinese investor. Beyond the
official Summit theme, Rationalization of Regional Economic
Communities and Regional Integration, and the evidently charged geo-
political agenda, did anything else happen?

Niger in Focus

'The action by the national Parliament of Niger to reject, in its
entirety the AU protocol on the Rights of African Women sets a
dangerous precedence for the rest of Africa' lamented Madame Djatou
Traore, president, CONGAFEN Niger. Such was the clarion call by
Solidarity for the Rights of Women in Africa, SOAWR, throughout the
Summit, and it resonated among key policy makers. Caroline Osero-
Agengo of SOAWR in congratulating the Gambian National Assembly for
lifting the reservations on the Protocol called on the Vice-President
Vice President and Secretary of State for Women's Affairs the Gambia
to use the opportunity of the AU Summit to urge her counterpart in
Niger to take steps to reverse the recent decision by the National
Assembly of Niger. She said "for the millions of women and girls that
continue to be stalked by the female genital mutilation and other
harmful practices across Africa, the Protocol offers an opportunity
to rectify the absence of laws against the harmful cultural
practices'' Is it the spirit of the Summit that generates an
immediate commitment by Her Excellency Dr. Isatou Njie-Saidy to urge
the Speaker of the National Assembly of Niger to revisit the issue?

It is June 25 and the plenary room at the Kairaba Hotel is filled
with over 100 women and men under the banner of the Solidarity for
the Rights of African Women Coalition for a public symposium. I see
faces from the previous day's public forum also hosted by the African
Center for Democracy and Human Rights. One after the other,
participants dissects the Protocol. We hear painful stories of an
aunt having to dissuade her niece from disfiguring herself through
FGM and the joyful stories of a female excisor change profession to
become a tailor. ''Nowhere is the dividing line between the past and
the future more clear than the struggle to eradicate harmful cultural
practices and to expand the power of women over their own bodies,
assets and relationships.'' Says Irungu Houghton. I note the
sustained participation of the Special Rapporteur on Women's Human
Rights, Angela Melo, and hear her commit her good offices to urge
member states to accelerate the ratification of the Protocol.
Commissioner Melo singles out the National Assembly of Niger,
deploring their recent action to reject, by a close vote in
parliament, the Protocol in its entirety. She pledges to send a
mission to Niger to persuade the government to rescind the decision.
Commissioner Melo further deplores the lack of political will in
Africa in advancing Protocol.

The long awaited, high profile public launch of the joint AU
Commmission / SOAWR publication, and 'Breathing Life into the AU
protocol on Women's Rights' is here [1]. The ceremony attracts over
100 citizens and dignitaries from The Gambia and elsewhere in Africa
attending the 7th Ordinary Summit of the African Union. In Launching
the book, Her Excellency Dr. Isatou Njie-Saidy, calls for urgent
public information campaigns for the women to understand and demand
protection under the provisions of the Protocol. She commends the
book to everyone present, all Government departments, NGOs,
institutions of learning and individual women and men. 'I encourage
the organisers to translate into local languages and distribute the
book far and wide' She says.

In her speech during the launch, Winnie Byanyima, director, AU
Gender, Women and Development Directorate, and moderator of the
session, emphasizes the significance of the Protocol to the life of
women in Darfur and reiterates the commitment of her Directorate to
take into consideration their plight.

Ambassador Said Djinnit, Commissioner for Peace and Security Council
applauds the ardent campaign by the women's movement towards the
development and the ultimate ratification of the Protocol. He
reiterates his call to both men and women to sustain the efforts, and
his firm belief in the rights of women and gender equality. He traces
his personal experience as OAU Assistant Secretary General of working
with women civil society leaders and Ambassadors to negotiate the
adoption of a progressive and visionary Protocol. He closes by
arguing, "You cannot transform a continent while keeping women away
from decision-making. We need to develop alliances with each other."

The book makes a clarion call for the universal ratification,
domestication and implementation of the Protocol and is available
from SOAWR members and the African Union Commission.

Common advocacy front is negotiated

The culmination of the AU pre-Summit Women's Forum is a resolution
adopted by the forum stating key policy messages for consideration by
the AU [2]. The resolution is further strengthened when a joint AUC,
SOAWR and FAS meeting agrees to consolidate their positions into one
Resolution for submission to the Summit (see below). Adopted on 27
June 2006, the resolution addresses among others, the enforcement of
the principle of gender parity in all key AU organs, the acceleration
of the ratification of the AU protocol on the Rights of women, and
the enhancement of human security in situations of conflict.

Further discussions with the Gender Directorate agree the
consolidation of a common advocacy platform for the women's movement
in subsequent summits to ensure effective influencing of the AU
agenda. Winnie further urges the women's movement to strive to
influence the summit agenda more proactively by negotiating common
positions in line with the summit themes. A way of working to this
end was agreed. I can't agree more.

The visibility of the campaign during the summit is enhanced by
several national and regional media hits following three well-
attended press conferences and coverage of the high profile events.
To cap this, and widely televised, is a green card issued to the vice
president of the Gambia in honor of the exemplary role of the
National Assembly in lifting all reservations to the Protocol.

In spite of my frustrations with flight connections to Banjul and the
helicopter ride in Sierra Leone, I return home satisfied that the
list of champions on the Protocol has grown.

* Eve Odete is Pan Africa Policy Officer for Oxfam GB.



[1] Breathing life into the African Union Protocol on Women's Rights
in Africa is published jointly by SOAWR and the AU Commission, and
can be ordered at  http://www.africanbookscollective.com/

[2] Resolution Adopted at the pre-Summit Women's Forum in Banjul:

 http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/35712



GENDER ACTIVISM IN KENYA: WE NEED A NEW VISION

Ann Kithaka, Advocate, Kenya

see:  http://www.all4all.org/2006/07/2623.shtml


CRYING NEED FOR INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S AGENCY

Remarks by Stephen Lewis to a High-Level Panel on UN Reform

Stephen Lewis

There is a crying need for an international agency for women. Every
stitch of evidence we have, right across the entire spectrum of
gender inequality suggests the urgent need for a multilateral agency.
The great dreams of the international conferences in Vienna, Cairo
and Beijing have never come to pass. It matters not the issue:
whether it's levels of sexual violence, or HIV/AIDS, or maternal
mortality, or armed conflict, or economic empowerment, or
parliamentary representation, women are in terrible trouble. And
things are getting no better.

This Panel can create such an agency and show fundamental courage by
doing so, or it can tinker at the edges of 'gender architecture' and
consign the world of women, yet again, to perpetual second-rate status.

I'm not going to equivocate about my expectations: I expect the Panel
to take the road of least resistance, and come up with some high-
sounding scheme, probably with a few choice rhetorical morsels about
'gender-mainstreaming' and expect that that will do the trick. It
won't. If that's the chosen path, I can confidently predict that
we'll be back again, less than ten years from now, driven by a new
impetus for UN reform, the Millennium Development Goals unmet in a
majority of countries, and the lives of women will be every bit as
hazardous, compromised, marginalized and desperate as they are today.

Stephen Lewis is UN Special Envoy for AIDS in Africa


The full text of this statement is available at the link shown.

 http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/35715

PRESSURING MUGABE: CAN ACTIVISTS REPLACE COLLUSIVE STATES AND BUSINESS?

Patrick Bond

The unwillingness of governments, multilateral bodies and big
business to promote rudimentary democracy and social justice in
Zimbabwe is now glaringly obvious. Renewed solidarity initiatives can
be taken with more confidence by grassroots activists on both sides
of the Limpopo River and beyond, writes Patrick Bond.


Item: Kofi Annan appears to have been intimidated into not taking a
trip to Harare, after Thabo Mbeki raised expectations he would
achieve a breakthrough.

Mbeki last week passed the buck to Annan and Robert Mugabe: 'It's
best left to them, to the UN and the Zimbabwean government and
hopefully that will produce its outcome so that we remove this
particular matter from the international agenda.' Mugabe simply
refused to give Annan an audience.

Item: Last Friday, the head of the European Commission's Harare
mission and the Austrian ambassador to Zimbabwe wrote a letter to the
Herald newspaper firmly stating, 'There are no economic EU sanctions
against Zimbabwe. There have never been economic EU sanctions against
Zimbabwe.'

The bureaucrats were right, and they pointed out that for the latest
year data are available, 2004, 'Zimbabwe had a trade surplus of E261
million [R2.23 billion] with EU states.'

Item: A few days earlier, South African Foreign Minister Nkosazana
Dlamini-Zuma told parliament that Pretoria would not wield targeted
'smart' sanctions against Zimbabwe's rulers: 'It may not be a very
useful tool to use right now because it doesn't seem to be yielding
results, even in the hands of the most powerful block in the world.'

Of course not, but for a simple reason: Pretoria is a smart-sanctions
'buster' by permitting the Zimbabwe elite's shopping visits, real
estate speculation and illicit financial holdings. If Pretoria joined
in imposing smart sanctions, the results would be immediate and
formidable.

Item: big business is again hopping into bed with Mugabe, according
to Dianna Games of the SA Institute of International Affairs writing
last week in Business Day: 'Many South African companies believe that
Zimbabwe is still a better and easier place in which to do business
than many other African countries because of its strong business
culture, diversified industrial base and relatively good
infrastructure. And many companies are still making good, albeit
often declining, profits.'

Pointing out that more than two dozen large SA corporations employ
about 20 000 Zimbabweans in mining, retail, franchising, commercial
agriculture and banking, Games concluded, 'There may be no better
time for investors to take a long, hard look at the opportunities
that Zimbabwe presents right now.'

That was also a point made last year by Tony Hawkins, professor of
business studies at University of Zimbabwe and well known to
Financial Times readers: 'South Africa has gained market share in
exports, tourism and services. SA's share of investment in Zimbabwe
has also risen as there has been an element of bargain-basement
buying by some mining and industrial groups.'

Added Hawkins, 'SA is also taking significant skills from the
country, especially scarce black skills in health, education,
banking, engineering and IT. It would be too much to say that SA has
benefited in net terms, but there is a good deal of evidence to
suggest that it is securing some gains from the crisis.'

Reflecting business confidence in Mugabe's ability to hold on, two
large multinational firms - South Africa's Implats and the French
bank BNP Paribas - last week announced, respectively, a R1.7 billion
platinum investment (36% of which represents a gift to government for
crony 'empowerment') and a R332 million credit secured by future
nickel export revenues.

Another new Mugabe ally is the brutal dictator of Equatorial Guinea,
Teodoro Obiang Nguema, who visited Zimbabwe in March and whose
country's oil began flowing to Zimbabwe last week. Nguema wants the
British mercentary Simon Mann extradited from Harare, where Mugabe's
forces are holding him after he transited Harare in a 2004 attempted
coup bid.

Is pressure being applied by the West, as Mugabe often claims? Aside
from an arms embargo on the government, the EU's smart sanctions
apply to just 100 key ZANU(PF) leaders, and take the form of travel
bans and a threat to freeze any assets they place in European banks.
There are similar provisions in the US, but these countries together
provide in excess of R1 billion in aid to Zimbabwe, largely for food
and humanitarian relief.

No one calls for that aid to be turned off because it feeds millions
of people for whom Zimbabwe's own farms - especially the small-scale
and peasant sectors - generated maize surpluses, prior to the more
general meltdown of the country's agricultural infrastructure. The
starvation threat has less to do with the takeover of white farms and
more to do with the general lack of access to rural transport, fuel,
pesticides, fertilizers, farm implements, electricity and the like.

What about a renewed diplomatic initiative from the West? A good
reflection of the US imperial agenda in Zimbabwe may be last week's
report in a Harvard University journal authored by Todd Moss and
Stewart Patrick of Washington's Centre for Global Development.

Moss and Patrick argue against existing sanctions: 'The US and EU may
need to review their sanctions legislation to ensure that it does not
create a legal problem or disincentive for re-engagement or private
investment.'

They also argue that a post-Mugabe Zimbabwe government will 'have to
deal with an inherited external debt of some $5 billion. Clearing
arrears will be the first step, but the arrears accrued within the
past few years account for nearly half the current debt stock,
suggesting that some special dispensation may need to be found with
the multilateral institutions and the Paris Club of creditors.'

In contrast, the position advocated by civil society campaigners,
such as the Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development and Zimbabwe
Social Forum, is that the vast but useless 1990s loans advanced by
the International Monetary Fund and World Bank should be completely
cancelled.

Indeed, following the lead of the Archbishop of Bulawayo, Pius Ncube,
Zimbabwean civil society may need to more publicly advocate serious
sanctions, given the lack of pressure from opportunistic politicians
and businesses.

Patrick Bond, director of the UKZN Centre for Civil Society in
Durban, is coauthor of the book Zimbabwe's Plunge - and author of
Uneven Zimbabwe. This article first appeared in The Mercury on June 7.)

* Please send comments to editor at pambazuka.org or comment online at
www.pambazuka.org





4 Letters

AFRICA AND THE WORLD CUP (1)

Alfred Mafuleka

I cannot agree more with Tajudeen Abdul-Raheen's views regarding
Africa's participation in the World Cup. The positive of it
especially the 2006 is that all the African countries that were there
did play the best they could with Ghana giving excellent account of
what African football is all about. Pity, none of them could reach
the last stages but Ghana made all of Africa proud by reaching the
last 16 group stage. Disparities in terms of economic status is so
glaring in the World Cup, the results speak for themselves!

With Brazil failing to ignite the scene and being edged out by a not-
so-convincing France spelt disaster for the third and developing
world. It is true African players shine as individuals or when they
play for their high paying European teams or those adopted (new form
of colonialism) by these countries! France is the case in point!

I doubt if honourable Bhamjee's expulsion has racism undertones, I
think he committed big error of judgment, or fell into a trap he
should not have. But the speed with which he was dealt with, leaves
one wondering if the world body (Fifa) is really this swift and
efficient in dealing with misdemeanors in all cases?

I will generally agree that racism is still a huge problem, despite
attempts to stem the tide. How do you explain the malicious rumours
that circulated in SA this past weekend hinting that "Fifa was going
to take the right of hosting the 2010 World Cup by SA away and award
it to Australia" because of crime and lack of preparedness etc? Of
course LOC CEO, Danny Jordaan dismissed that as "nonsense", but it
makes one wonder who is behind such a rumour.

AFRICA AND THE WORLD CUP (2)

Alan Stanley

Thank you for a really interesting article, a new contribution to
what seems to be a growing area of discussion which uses football as
a means of examining the wider forces of globalisation. I covered
some research by World Bank economist Branko Milanovic recently which
took a slightly more positive view of FIFA's regulation of player
movement between clubs and infact looks towards football for possible
lessons on how poor countries can harness the forces of
globalisation. His paper ( http://www.eldis.org/cf/search/disp/
docdisplay.cfm?doc=DOC20718&resource=f1)(2005) looks at the rules
FIFA have used to sanction the free circulation of labour (i.e.
player transfers) in the club game whilst keeping restrictive rules
governing player selection for national team competitions such as the
World Cup (i.e. players can only play for the country where they were
born). Free circulation of labour, he finds, produced better club
teams but also greater inequality between rich and poor clubs.
Experience gained by players at club level, however, has helped to
reduce inequality and raise standards in the national game, hence the
increasingly strong showing by poorer footballing nations in the
World Cup. This, Milanovic argues, shows "how forces of efficiency
but also inequality unleashed by globalisation can be harnessed by
the existence of global institutions to help improve the outcome for
poor countries". He doesn't, however, provide a great deal of detail
on exactly how this might work. You can read my article at: http://
community.eldis.org/webx?14@@.ee9593d!discloc=.eed0bf7

CHINA DIALOGUE

Interesting site

Akwe Amosu

If you're interested in China, the environment and/or tech stuff, you might like to take a look at this new site,  http://www.chinadialogue.net (sorry to spam you if you're not interested!). It's a project of www.opendemocracy.org edited by Isabel Hilton. It's interesting for a number of reasons, not least that it's worked out a comfortable way to use chinese and english on the same page, but also because it's the only site i've seen that actively seeks to host a conversation between non-official China and the outside world. One reason that's rare is because of the translation costs implied. Anyway - take a look.



5 Blogging Africa

AFRICAN BLOGOSPHERE

Sokari Ekine

African Painters - African Painters (http://
africanpainters.blogspot.com/2006/06/suzanne-ouedraogo-from-burkina-
faso.html) comments on the work of Burkina Faso artist, Suzanne
Ouedraogo who uses her art as a way of protesting against the
practice of female circumcision. Her paintings present are a
courageous, powerful picture of this horrendous violation of the
female body. He accompanies the paintings with a poem on female
circumcision by Nigerian poet, Chinwe Azubuike.

Egyptian Chronicles - Egyptian Chronicles (http://
egyptianchronicles.blogspot.com/2006/07/bravo-aisha-first-egyptian-
minister-to.html) writes in praise of Egypt's Minister of Labour and
Employment, Aisha Abd El-Hady, a woman she had formerly thought of as
a hypocrite. So why the change in attitude towards the Minister?

"Abd El-Hady presented her resignation from her position as a
minister for Labour and Employment in the ministry to the Prime
Minister Ahmed Nazif as she can't work anymore in this Cabinet who
doesn't care for the 5 million workers who are going to lose their
jobs because of the privatisation policy . The man who is responsible
in privatisation in Egypt now is Minister Mahmoud Mohi El-Din,
minister of investment , he is working on selling 365 public
companies to the private sector. Already Abd El-Hady accused Mohi El-
Din to ignore President Mubarak 's orders in protecting the workers
rights".

Abd El-Hady is an interesting woman. She only completed her education
up to primary school level yet was able to hold her ground amongst
the higher educated members of the Cabinet. She worked her way up
starting as a factory worker which was one of the reasons why many
Egyptian workers were disappointed with her previous lack of interest
in their plight.

The Moor Next Door - Moor Next Door ( http://wahdah.blogspot.com/
2006/07/spirits-of-63.html) returns to the Algerian revolution that
took place between 1955-1962 and celebrates the country''s
independence on the 5th July 1962.

"The Algerian Revolution was a revolt against exclusion, under-
representation, racialism, displacement, colonialism, ignorance and
all the other pretty words that come with battles in the name of
rights. Algerians today, hold all of these notions close to their
hearts, no matter what their political persuasion may be. The
Revolution was a diverse one, claimed by former "assimilationists"
fed up with the inability of the colonial system to extend the rights
of man to Algerian Muslims, pan-Arab nationalists, socialists,
Marxists, communists, Islamists wishing to reinstate the Islamic
political order in a Muslim land, Amazigh Berberists wishing to bring
equality and prestige to their people, the everyday men and women of
Algerian wishing to finally know what equality and opportunity felt
like, and many other interest groups."

He writes that although the Algerian revolution could be described as
a "Jihad" it was not one of those Jihad's or "mass murder, rape,
pillage, and bigotry that have ravaged the world in recent years." It
is a revolution based on patriotism and nationalism driven by an
intense desire for independence and freedom.

Sotho - Sotho ( http://sotho.blogsome.com/2006/07/01/francais-et-
immigres/) writes a piece on the racist language used by the media
when speaking about French immigrants and Black French people. He
uses the commentary on the world cup to explain his point.

"Paper and television personalities are regularly accused of saying
things like, "the Frenchman came from behind to win the race," but
"the Guadeloupean fell behind and never posed a threat to his
opponents." And they'd be talking about the same person, albeit at
different times. It is surely subconscious but nevertheless shows
deep-rooted ill-feeling toward the concept of fraternité."

He goes on to give a number of examples of specific comments made
about the Tunisians, Ghanaians and the French team which has mostly
Black players.

French right wing National Front leader Jean-Marie Le Pen also made a
comment about the number of Black players in the French team to which
one player responded. We are French. We won the World Cup and the
European Cup and we did it for France so what is the point of your
comment.

afrika-aphukira - Afrika-aphukira ( http://mlauzi.blogspot.com/2006/07/
african-football-global-inequality-and.html) also comments on the
World Cup and the African media's response to why no African teams
progressed beyond the early stages of the tournament. He believes the
analysis used reflect the usual two themes reflected in Africa's
media: self-blame and awe of Europe.

"Virtually no analysis I have so far looked at mentions broader
issues of global, historical and political injustice and inequality,
in how world cup berths are allotted in the different FIFA
confederations. In fact, a Rwandan columnist repeats a common refrain
about how Africans always blame colonialism for their ills, when no
such thing has even been mentioned in any of the analyses and
comments, whose uniting feature has been blaming African teams for
lacking self-confidence and resources. Such is the strength of the
reluctance to examine African problems in their broader context that
blaming colonialism is considered not only taboo, it is brought up
even when nobody mentions it."

He believes there is a need to look at the way the World Cup is
organised particularly the allocating of slots and the fact that all
World Cups with the exception of Japan and Korea in 2002 have been
played either in Europe or South America. For example

"The continent of Europe has 51 national football associations, and
has 14 (15 in 2002) world cup finals slots. Africa, which has 52
member associations, has only 5 slots, an improvement from 1978 when
Africa was accorded only one slot. "

And so it continues. However I believe one of the main issues for
African teams in the World Cup is that many of Africa's best play for
European teams having gained citizenship of various countries. In
addition the financial resources and therefore the training
facilities are totally inadequate. In the case of the African Nations
Cup many of the Africans playing in Europe did not even want to leave
their league teams to come and play for their countries. Could one
imagine a European or South American player acting in this way? I
doubt it.

Building the Nation - Building the Nation (http://
2bnileavenue.blogspot.com/2006/07/comment-4-dennis-thoughts-on-
gay.html ) responds to a post on Ugandan blog, Country Boyi in which
he writes a vitriolic piece on homosexuality in Uganda with the usual
comments on it being "un African" and "gay people are headed for
hell". Building the Nation writes

"Firstly, because Dr. Sylvia Tamale advocates for the rights of
people who are gay does not make her gay, period. It does not mean
she wants to fuck another woman, to borrow a phrase from you. It just
means she's standing up for what she believes to be a marginalised
section of society. Something we all should do for people we
personally believe to be marginalised. For example, I am a proponent
of the - now stillborn - Domestic Relations Bill (DRB). Does that
make me a woman?"

It is excellent that this debate on homosexuality is taking place in
the African blogosphere. Previously there have been discussions in
the Kenyan and Nigerian blogospheres and now in Uganda. Let us hope
the discussions continue as it is only through debate on the issues
that transformation will take place eventually.

Harowo.com - Harowo.com ( http://harowo.com/2006/07/03/somalia-
washingtons-warlords-lose-out) comments on the role of the USA in
supporting the coalition of warlords under the name of "Alliance for
the Restoration of Peace and Counterterrorism (ARPCT).

According to the writer, the CIA have been paying the Alliance
between $100,000 and $150,000 a month via their Nairobi office. He
explains the response by the people of Somalia to the victory of the
Islamic Courts Union (ICU)

"Somali reactions to the ICU's victory have been mixed. On one hand
there is relief at the prospect of a respite from constant battles in
the capital, but for some this is tempered by fears of the imposition
of draconian interpretations of sharia (Islamic) law. .....
Among many though there is hope that the ICU will at least provide a
degree of stability in a country that has been gripped by violent
conflict between rival warlords since the 1991 ouster of military
dictator Mohammed Siad Barre. He took power in 1969 and had
originally aligned Somalia with the Soviet Union, but the alliance
was broken when Barre came into conflict with Ethiopia in 1977.
Washington stepped in to fill the gap and supported Barre until he
was toppled in 1991 by rebel forces led by General Mohammed Farah
Aidid, Barre's former intelligence chief. In the wake of Barre's
overthrow, the country was carved up by rival warlords. Under the
guise of a UN-backed "humanitarian mission", Washington dispatched
20,000 US troops to Somalia in 1992."

The fact that the CIA website lists Somalia's resources as uranium
plus other natural minerals does of course question the motives
behind the involvement of the USA in Somalia both now and in the past.

Black Looks - Black Looks ( http://www.blacklooks.org/
2006/07/1906-2006_-_history_still_repeats_itself_.html ) builds on
last weeks interview withGeorges Nzongola-Ntalaja in Pambazuka News
in which he spoke on the "strategic importance of the DRC" and on the
probable outcome of the elections at the end on this month. Black
Looks takes an historical route based on the political biography of
Patrice Lumumba and returns to 18 and the beginnings of Leopold of
Belgium's rule in the Congo around 1906 when he first invited and
international monopoly capital to the country and sold off mineral
mining and agricultural rights.

"Firstly land was given to the mining companies; secondly land was
used for the creation of a system of national parks; thirdly huge
tracks of farmland were given to white settlers. But ultimately it
was the mining sector that took control of the country and remains in
control today. Two regions, the Katanga and Kivu provinces most
affected by the above distribution of land have also been the most
affected by war and conflict throughout the history of Congo."

She concludes that Nzongola-Ntalaja's prediction that nothing will
change is a correct assessment of the post election period. The
multinationals will continue to exploit the country, the corrupt
leaders to exploit the people and the people to remain in poverty and
victims of the various marauding militias wondering the countryside.




PAMBAZUKA NEWS IS PRODUCED AND PUBLISHED BY FAHAMU
Fahamu - Networks For Social Justice
 http://www.fahamu.org
 http://www.fahamu.org.za

The authoritative electronic weekly newsletter and platform for
social justice in Africa

Pambazuka News is the authoritative pan African electronic weekly
newsletter and platform for social justice in Africa providing
cutting edge commentary and in-depth analysis on politics and current
affairs, development, human rights, refugees, gender issues and
culture in Africa.

Pambazuka Newsletter
To view online, go to  http://www.pambazuka.org