EU/Africa summit in december

The Joint EU-Africa Strategy is planned to be adopted at the Lisbon Summit. It is the second ever Summit between heads of state and government from EU and Africa and is planned to be held in Lisbon on 8-9 December, 2007. The first summit was held in Cairo in 2000.

The European Union and the African Union have in the past years strengthened their relations and participated in a structured dialogue since the first EU-African Summit in Cairo in 2000. Africa is a priority of the European Union as stated in the EU strategy for Africa adopted in December 2005 by the European Council and now both continents are heading towards a second EU-Africa Summit that should take place in Lisbon at the end of 2007.

The European Union and the African Union have thus decided to further strengthen the ties linking both continents by developing a co-owned ‘joint strategy’ which reflects the needs and aspirations of the peoples of Africa and Europe. The purpose of this joint strategy is to develop a political vision and practical approaches for the future partnership between the EU and Africa, based on mutual respect, common interests and the principle of ownership.

A public consultation was launched by the African Union Commission and the European Commission at the beginning of February. The aim was to gather civil society recommendations on the joint EU-Africa Strategy to be approved at the planned EU-Africa Summit in December 2007. The first phase of this consultation lasted until the end of April, with the approval of an outline of the future joint Strategy on 15 May by the joint EU-Africa Ministerial Troika Meeting.

The first phase of the consultation was mainly carried out through an Internet consultation on this website, open to all Europeans and Africans. It also comprised a seminar organised by the African Union Commission (AUC) for a number of representatives of African civil society in Accra, Ghana, on 26-28 March and a conference co-organised by VENRO and ECDPM in Bad Honnef, Germany, on 23-24 April.

In the second phase, ECDPM will focus on sharing information on the official negotiations, on related events and positions of civil society representatives as well as provide some analysis on the progress of the negotiations. The website will thus be more geared towards information sharing than towards moderating on-line discussions as was the case with the Internet consultation until May 2007. Contributions and position papers will be published, and shared with the officials and all interested actors.

MORE INFORMATION
http://www.europaafrica.org

Democracy in Dakar project

The Democracy in Dakar Project is an interactive multi media project founded by Nomadic Wax/Notable and co produced with Sol Productions.

Its goal is to document the democratic process as it unfolds on the Streets of Dakar through documentary film, audio recordings and ethnographic research. From February 14th to March 12th, the production team will be in Dakar working with local activists, politicians, journalists and artists. A mixture of journalism, academic inquiry, internet reality TV, and hip hop activism, the Democracy in Dakar project will document this historic period of time in its entirety.

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African Underground

Ban Ki-Moon to Sudan

UN Secretary-general, Mr. Ban Ki-Moon will travel to the conflict zone in Sudan, Libya and Chad next week to try to push the peace process forward.
- I want to go and see for myself the very difficult conditions under which our forces will operate. I want to know, first hand, the plight of those they seek to help.

Last month the UN Security Council made the decision to send 26 000 peacekeeping forces to Sudan to provide basic security as a foundation for a long-lasting peace.

World Bank supports African energy

Much of Africa still goes dark at night as reliable electricity continues to be out of reach for most people. The World Bank now hopes to change that with its new Lighting Africa plan, which aims at providing clean-energy lighting to 250 million Africans by 2030.

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The Independent

The new Swedish development aid focus

 The work against poverty in Africa will be the focus of the Swedish development aid. Focuses will the stronger on reform work in Eastern Europe, on peace/security, democracy and human rights.

- The focus will be on Africa where the needs are the highest, says the Swedish minister of development aid, Gunnilla Carlsson.

The focus will be on 30 countries:

Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Bangladesh, Cambodia and Bolivia will get a long-term bilateral support.

Burundi, Congo, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Afghanistan, Eastern Timor, Iraq, Palestine, Colombia and Guatemala will get a conflict support to build poverty reduction and a peace process.

Albania, Bosnia, Georgia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Moldova, Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine will get support from the Eastern Europe division.

The Director of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, Göran Holmqvist, welcomes the initiative.

- Sida welcomes the Government’s work to reduce the number of countries in which we have development cooperation. For a long time we have communicated to the Government the need to make development cooperation more effective.

KIVA - Loans that change lives

Much too often reality of the world looks dark. We are watching the news and looking at the world, feeling that our arms are tied. As if the events on this planet are out of our control. Our planet is just too big and the problems far too irresolvable.

There are those however, who KNOW that they can make a difference, who know that it´s possible, who know that change is just beyond our reach. Some of these individuals started the organization Kiva. Kiva lets you connect with and lend money to unique small businesses in the developing world. By choosing a business on Kiva.org, you can “sponsor a business” and help the world’s working poor make great strides towards economic independence. Throughout the course of the loan (usually 6-12 months), you can receive email journal updates from the business you’ve sponsored. As loans are repaid, you get your loan money back. Thanks to the life changing technological progress we have made, also known as the Internet, Kiva can make, what used to be expensive and complicated, very simple and inexpensive.

People do want to make their own money and create their own life, their own happiness. And there are capable. Only in certain cases, just wanting it and being capable isn’t really enough. This is the reason I have fallen in love with this organisation. It is so simple. So easy. It’s actually so easy that I feel people could do it every day. I don’t how much the loans can affect people’s lives and their businesses in the long run, no one can guarantee that a business will continue to be successful. But without these loans a lot of them might never even have a chance to be.

The other day I got in to a discussion about the meaning of life…Just a simple lunch conversation. Those conversations often lead to more anxiety than anything else, however they get you thinking…And we do need to think about our world. Often. Life flies by and no one can really guaranty what happens next. But don’t we want to feel like we made a difference and made something good in our lifetime? This I guarantee: You CAN change the life for at least one person somewhere in the world. You could be the difference between happiness and misery. You could give love and support, which will lead to someone’s happiness. That, if nothing else, gives a major meaning to your life.

There is just enough happiness, food, money and much else…for each and every one of us. If only we make some efforts. There is absolutely nothing more worth it.

Quotes from loan givers:

“I loan because I can. Kiva makes possible and easy what was not, and I hope this can encourage more humanity in the world.”

“I loan because I want you to have the same opportunities as I do. Opportunities to build a future for my family in a way that will also benefit the community I live in.”

Mia Masnic

More information at http://www.kiva.org.

Stop Donegal International

‘Vulture fund’ Donegal International has been suing Zambia for a staggering $55 million off the back of $3.3 million of ‘bad’ debt! Thankfully their award was reduced to $15 million, but that’s still rich pickings from a poor country where people live on less than $1 a day.

Donegal International may claim a partial victory in court, but there’s an overwhelming moral case to answer. Oxfam, together with the Jubilee Debt Campaign, is calling on Michael Sheehan, the man behind Donegal to do the right thing, and not make Zambia pay up. You can make a difference - join our call.”

If Zambia needs to pay this money, they will have to take away free education for 30 000 children and medical treatment for another 100 000 people, and instead give this money to a private company and their already rich shareholders.

Read more about the issue here.

New government in Sierra Leone

All Peoples’ Congress presidential candidate Ernest Bai Koroma

FREETOWN. The main opposition in the Sierra Leone election, All Peoples’ Congress (APC) won 59 of the 112 seats in the Parliament, leaving the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) with just 43 seats, down from 83 in the previous assembly.

In the presidential election, early results showed that APCs candidate Ernest Koroma was first with 44 percent ahead of Vice President and SLPP candidate Solomon Berewa with 38 percent. They will go to a second round next month.

Most of the then 5000 international and local observers who watched the poll declared the voting as generally free and transparent. Turnout was a record 75.8 per cent.

The civil war between 1991-2001 to control the diamond fields left around 120 000 dead and many more mutilated.

Finding Inspiration in the Gambia

What does it mean to think globally, but act locally? Joel Andersson, a dedicated volunteer and fundraiser for UNICEF, does just that. Imagine the sense of gratification you might feel investing a few hours a week raising funds and awareness to help others in countries where many families survive on less than €1 a day. Now think of how it would feel to be chosen to travel as part of a committee to understand how your work actually impacts those in the cities and communities in one country.

Joel Andersson, an active Gothenburg UNICEF volunteer, was selected to travel to the Gambia from the 27th of April to the 3rd of May. Andersson, accompanied by five other Swedish volunteers and officers from the Stockholm UNICEF office, had the chance to explore the Gambia, visit villagers and townspeople throughout the country, learn how NGOs implement the projects that UNICEF sponsors, and experience the positive changes taking place in the Gambia.

UNICEF has, since WWII, worked specifically with children who are victims of poverty and hunger. Today UNICEF’s objectives are linked to the United Nation’s Millennium Goals, including gender equality, AIDS/HIV education and prevention, and protection from disease and exploitation.

In February 2007, UNICEF volunteers from throughout Sweden were invited to take part in a visit to the Gambia with staff members representing the Swedish National Committee from the Stockholm office. Andersson was one of the three chosen participants. The experience, he said, was “fantastic,” especially “to see that the money that we have collected can make such a difference.”

Andersson, 23, is currently a student of International Relations at the School of Global Studies, Peace and Development Research Institute in Gothenburg, and will continue his studies at Lund University where he studies Fire and Safety Engineering. He began volunteering at UNICEF as a junior high school student in Sundsvall, his hometown, when his teacher encouraged him to attend the ten-year anniversary conference of the Convention of the Child in Helsingor, Denmark. He and his friends became involved in the Sundsvall UNICEF group, and since then he has been involved for a couple of years as a volunteer. In October 2006 he initiated the Lund UNICEF volunteer and fundraising group for community members and students at Lund University with another student, and is currently volunteering in Gothenburg at the local level to raise money for international projects funded by UNICEF Sweden.

During the trip, the UNICEF group visited the capital city of Banjul, the city of Basse, and a few villages including Fatoto and Medina Koto. Each stop was a different experience. Outside of Basse, in the poorest and most distant part of the country, they met with representatives from the NGO, TOSTAN (meaning “breakthrough” in Wolof, one of the biggest languages in the Gambia). TOSTAN is a non-formal education program that educates and empowers women about democracy, civil rights, health, literacy, and micro-credit training. TOSTAN’s goal is to help communities improve their standard of living and bring about positive, sustainable development.

“The main reason that we visited this organisation’s program is because it has proven very successful in ending the practise of female genital cutting/mutilation [FGC], something that many organisations and programs have not been successful with,” said Andersson. “Instead of beginning with criticisms about FGC, the organisation takes a more general approach and is successful in its approach to eliminate it.” Records, in fact, show that FGC had decreased by 40% since 1997 in the villages in Senegal where the program began and has been implemented for some years.

The Swedish UNICEF group visited the Catholic Development Office (CaDO) in Basse that helps orphans and other vulnerable children (OVCs). Many of the children there are infected with HIV and/or have a parent that had or had died from AIDS. CaDO then finds homes for the orphans and does house visits to find more families in need of help. Once a month every child in the program comes to the facilities in Basse and plays, watches educational television programs and talks to a nurse and a social worker about their physical and social health, family situation and school. UNICEF Gambia sponsors this program with backpacks, uniforms, shoes, lunch money and schoolbooks so that every child can go to school. Andersson noted that one of the most memorable moments about the trip was giving the simple gift of a soccer ball to the children at the OVC in Basse and watching them play.

The group also visited The Faji Kunda Health Center outside of the capital, Banjul, which specialises in births. There, Andersson said, was one of the most inspiring people: “A nurse who put her soul into her work. She chose to stay in Gambia, while 26 of the 28 of her graduating classmates left to work in the United Kingdom.” The Faji Kunda Health Center consults pregnant women and gives information on family planning and STDs. If the woman is tested positive for HIV, they give her medication so that the virus won’t be transmitted to the child. “The work is very important, because then there’s a much better chance of eliminating HIV,” he added.

Andersson is unsure about working in Sweden with UNICEF at the office due to the lack of need for staff in Stockholm. “The real work is done abroad,” he added. “Hopefully one day.” He is currently seeking an internship or work abroad to learn more about international organizations and how they implement projects. He said the best thing about visiting the Gambia was that it was “interesting and exciting to see how the work that I have promoted is actually implemented. But money itself doesn’t solve the problems. There have to be devoted people and functional organisations as well.”

If you feel the urge to get up off the couch and volunteer with your local UNICEF group, visit www.unicef.se or e-mail Volunteer Coordinator Ulrika Sundler Lycke on usundler-lycke [at]unicef.se . For more information about or to donate to the organizations mentioned in this article, please visit www.unicef.org , www.ungambia.gm/unicef/ , and www.tostan.org.

Anne Arnold

Drama and music fight against gender-based violence in all forms

Every year, across the globe, thousands of women and girls are being trafficked and sold into virtual slavery.

What if it happened to you or someone in your family?
What will you do about it if it does?

These are some of the questions that Khuluma Afrika!, a community theatre production created by Community Media for Development/ CMFD Productions and the Alertas da Vida youth group, asked audiences in South Africa.

CMFD productions and the Alertas group, working with the International Organisation for Migration’s (IOM) Southern African Counter-trafficking Assistance Program (SACTAP), created the dynamic production to conduct outreach around issues of human trafficking and migration among the Mozambican community in South Africa.

Performed in Portuguese, with some dialogue in Shangaan, English, and Zulu, the production aimed to raise awareness about human trafficking, make people aware of the IOM hotline number, and encourage people who may have been trafficked or potential whistleblowers to seek help.

The trafficking of women and girls between Mozambique and South Africa is a significant problem. Recruiters promise lucrative sounding jobs in South Africa, and assist them in crossing the border, either by legally obtaining travel permits, or by smuggling them across. This, in itself, can be an arduous process that may involve walking for long hours through the bush alongside a border post in order to avoid being caught by border guards. Once victims are across the border, they find the promises made by recruiters are false. The trafficked women and children are forced to work for low or no wages, or are sexually exploited. Victims feel isolated, trapped, and alone, as they often cannot speak any South African language, do not know anyone, are unable to access services and do not know where to go for help. The IOM estimates that around 1000 people are trafficked from Mozambique every year.

Khuluma Afrika!, workshopped and rehearsed over a two month period by the Alertas group, tells the story of two Mozambican sisters, drawn to South Africa by false promises of a better life. Separated, desperate and exploited, the two girls seek solace in letters to one another that express their hardships, hopes and dreams of home. The main drama is accompanied by comedy skits, also created by the group, that talk about life in the mines, being far from home, migration and discrimination. The show, which toured mine hostels, public spaces,like parks and busy street corners, and churches incorporates drama, song and dance. Since it has minimal technical or set requirements, it has the unique ability to be performed anywhere from an auditorium to a public park.

Though the production focuses on trafficking and migration, it incorporates a variety of related issues such as women’s rights, gender and migration, HIV/AIDS, etc. Each performance, where appropriate, is followed by a post-performance discussion and evaluation, where audience members have the opportunity to ask questions and get more information.

Feedback from the production has been overwhelmingly positive. One audience member at a drop-in centre for sex workers in inner-city Johannesburg remarked that the show reflected her own experience of coming to the city from a rural area, saying that she had been told someone was arranging a job for her. When she arrived, she was brought to a brothel and forced into sex work.

An interesting spin-off in the project messaging was that people from various audiences also took an anti-discrimination message from the play. In post-performance discussions, and in written evaluations, many people gave comments like, “no matter where you come from we [are] still all the same,” and “we should help each other as Africans.” Without expressly intending to do so, the production engendered a pan-African sense of caring for each other together as equals, as well as raising awareness of trafficking and migration issues. This strengthened the overall message of the play, and, though it was originally targeted at the Mozambican community, this additional message gave a heightened relevance to non-Mozambican audiences.

In addition to the theatre production, CMFD and Alertas da Vida were awarded a grant from the Global Fund for Women to add a music component to this project. The music was developed to deliver messages about gender-based violence, human trafficking and migration. It was also developed with a particular focus on production value, on creating music that people listen to because it is good, not just because it contains a message. The CD, entitled Humbanane, loosely translated as ‘caring together’, will be distributed to radio stations across the country. The music was also added to the performance line-up to increase audience interaction.

Currently the only theatrical initiative dealing with these issues in South Africa, Khuluma Afrika completed its 20-performance tour amid several requests for an extended run, including a Mozambican tour. Though presently unable to fulfill these requests, CMFD and the Alertas group hope that one day they will be able to take the show further, encouraging communities across Southern Africa to work together to end human trafficking and violence against women in all forms.

Tonya Graham