wfn.org | All Africa News Agency - BULLETIN No. 30/02 August 5, 2002 (a)

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AANA Bulletin
Editor - Mitch Odero

Bulletin APTA
Acting Editor - Silvie Alemba

African Countries Ranked Lowest In Human Development

NAIROBI (AANA) August 5 - African countries continued to score the lowest 
development marks according to a United Nations report released 
simultaneously in several countries last week.

The Human Development Report 2000, the twelfth in a series produced by the 
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) stressed that human development 
can only be promoted when governance systems are fully accountable to the 
people.

There were some good credits earned. The report noted that through 
preventive measures, Uganda reduced HIV/AIDS infection rates from 14 
percent in early 1990s to around 8 percent by the end of 1990s.  However, 
"in Botswana, the most affected country, more than a third of the adults 
are sufferers from HIV/AIDS and a child born today can expect to live only 
36 years."

Kenya's income today is lower than average income between 1986 and 2000, 
the report states.   "This is a phenomenon that is unfortunately true for 
most countries in Africa,"  UNDP representative,  Mr Paul Andre de la Porte 
said in Nairobi.

He was launching the UNDP report titled Deepening Democracy in a Fragmented 
World.

The 227-page report looks at life expectancy, education and income per 
person in 173 countries  and places most countries in the Sub-Saharan 
Africa at the bottom line in development.

For example, Kenya and Uganda are at the medium level while Tanzania is at 
the lower level in development. Kenya is ranked at position 134 out of the 
176 countries. In 1990, it was ranked in position 130. The country's income 
per capita was valued at  0.513 and now, according to the report, Kenyans 
are poorer than they were in the late 1980s.

In the African continent, the leading country was Libya which with 0.773 
points  was ranked at the 64th position.

On education 51 out of the 173 countries  are on the track to achieving 
universal education by the year 2015,'' the UNDP  representative said.

The report further says that Kenya has slim chance of meeting millenium 
development goals. These include halving the proportion  of people 
suffering from hunger,  universal education for children, reducing infant 
mortality rate by two-thirds and halving the proportion of people without 
water by the year 2015.

In the report, Norway ranked tops in human development with 0.942 marks 
followed by Sweden with 0.941 , Canada with 0.940,  and Belgium and 
Australia with 0.939 each.

The last 27 bottom positions in the development ranking went to Africa, 
with Sierra Leone taking the last position with 0.275. Others in the lowest 
ranks are Niger 0.277, Burundi 0.313 and Mozambique with 0.322 points.

As regards governance, the UNDP reports states that at a time when 140 
countries out of about 200 embraced multi-party democracy,  it was only 82 
that had fully functional democracy  and observed basic human rights.

Democratic practices that dominated the globe in the 1980s had declined and 
many countries had stalled somewhere between democracy and 
authoritarianism,  says the report.

"In recent years some  of these countries have since returned to 
authoritarian rule either by military, as in  Myanmar and Pakistan, or to 
preudo-democracy as in Zimbabwe. Many other countries have stalled 
somewhere between democracy and authoritarianism,'' the report said.

The UNDP representative called on Kenya to improve its security status, the 
infrastructure and aim at combating corruption in order to ease economic 
development.

A Kenyan economist with the United Nations body said it was disheartening 
that there were no investments by the people of Africa in their respective 
countries.

Education status in the continent was going down yet the UNDP in its report 
argues that all countries should develop at almost the same pace.

"There is a great difference in development here when you compare both men 
and women. Developed countries should help  under-developed countries. The 
super-powers, able individuals and institutions should help countries still 
lagging behind development,'' said Seraphan Njagi.

Reported by Andrew Kuria

A New Peace Agreement  For Rwanda, DRC Signed

NAIROBI (AANA) AUGUST 5 - Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) President 
Joseph Kabila and his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame signed a historic 
memorandum of understanding (July 30) in Pretoria, South Africa over 
withdrawal of militia troops from each other's country.

The government of Rwanda reaffirmed its readiness to withdraw from the 
territory of DRC as soon as effective measures that address its security 
concerns, in particular the dismantling of the ex-FAR (Rwandan Armed 
Forces) and Interahamwe (Rwanda Hutu Militia forces in DRC.

Under the agreement, DRC is to round up and extradite an estimated 12,000 
Hutu militia troops said to be hiding within DRC territory within 30 days, 
to be followed 15 days later by Rwanda's withdrawal of 30,000 of its 
troops, now inside DRC. The withdrawal is meant to be completed within a 
45-day period.

The Interahamwe and ex-FAR armed groups fled to various countries, 
including the DRC, after participating in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. In 
the memorandum of understanding, DRC stated that it did not wish to have 
these armed groups present in their land. "The DRC government does not want 
its territory to be used as a base for attacks against its neighbouring 
countries," said the memorandum.

DRC government said it was ready to collaborate with MONUC (Hutu militia 
forces to the UN mission in the DRC), the Joint Military Commission (JMC) 
and any other force constituted by the third party, to assemble and disarm 
the ex-FAR and Interahamwe in the entire DRC.

The agreement, which was described as "a big milestone" in efforts to end 
the war that has destabilised the Great Lakes region and left many dead, 
was signed after a week-long consultation between officials from DRC and 
Rwanda.  It was chaired by South African Deputy President Jacob Zuma.

War broke out in the Congo in August 1998 when Uganda and Rwanda supported 
Congolese rebels seeking to oust the then president Laurent Desire Kabila.

The two parties agreed to put into place a mechanism for the normalisation 
of the security situation along their common border. This mechanism may 
include the presence of an international force to cooperate with the two 
countries to help secure their joint border.

They established that a bilateral team facilitated by South Africa and the 
UN Secretary -General, work on a detailed calendar to implement this 
agreement. The two nations committed themselves to accept the role and 
findings of the third party in the process of implementing this memorandum, 
and to further accept that the commitments and agreements reached in the 
accord are binding.

President Kagame termed the agreement 'a big step' and called on other 
countries involved in the war to co-operate, so that the people of Congo 
could rebuild their country.

However, sources say the Rwandese rebels have maintained that they will not 
recognise the agreement since they were not consulted.

Though the peace pact is highly welcome, critics say they doubt if it will 
be implemented, since previous peace agreements, such as the Lusaka 
Ceasefire Agreement of 1999 that set out modalities for the tracking down 
and disarmament of Rwandan troops, have in the past been violated.

Reported By Herman Kasili

Don't Shun Environmental Reports, Media Are Told

KAMPALA  (AANA) August 5 - Media in East Africa consistently ignores 
environment stories that  would otherwise point to dangerous environmental 
developments and conditions that have negative effects on human life. This 
is because such stories do not sell media products.

This was said by the Ugandan Minister of State for Energy and 
Mineral  Development, Daudi Migereko during the launch of a regional 
training program in 'environmental journalism and communication' in 
Entebbe, 40 km from here.

There are numerous environmental issues affecting people in the region, 
such as deforestation, water contamination, soil erosion and over-fishing, 
the Minister said. However, "media have not provided adequate coverage, 
mainly because editors do not consider such stories attractive for their 
market," he said.

With this kind of programme in place, the Minister expressed the hope that 
in the next few years, East Africa will have a crop of home-grown 
environmental journalists who are able to digest and communicate these 
issues in a way that will attract attention.

The programme is funded by the Swedish International Development Agency 
(SIDA) and involves a postgraduate diploma in environmental journalism and 
communication awarded by Makerere University. The university's department 
of  mass communication will host and coordinate the programme.

Other regional partners include St Augustine University of Tanzania (SAUT); 
University of Nairobi's School of Journalism, National University of 
Rwanda's School of Journalism and Communication, and the Press House, 
Burundi. Participants in the program will be drawn from Uganda, Kenya, 
Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi.

The programme which is aimed at improving the media's contribution towards 
addressing environmental problems facing Lake Victoria and the Great Lakes 
Region will also offer certificate courses in the same field.

Representatives from Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi said the programme was 
timely. Countries in the region were trying to address the environmental 
challenges caused by civil strife, influx of refugees and resettlement of 
displaced people, they said. Environmental degradation around Lake Victoria 
and in the Great Lakes region in general is believed to have worsened by 
wars that continue to ravage parts of the region.

Reported by Robert Kizito

Somalis Are Hungry For Peace

NAIROBI (AANA) August 5 - After touring Somalia early last week, the United 
Nation Children Fund (UNICEF) goodwill ambassador, Ms Tetsuko Kuroyanagi 
from Japan said the local people were hungry for peace.

She witnessed scars of the suffering from internal conflict spanning more 
than a decade, extreme poverty and physical destruction.  Ms. Kuroyanagi, 
said the conflict should be stopped at all cost. This is her 20th mission 
to conflict hit countries of the world since 1994, of which 12 missions 
have been to Africa.

"The situation in Somalia needs immediate intervention to save live of 
children and their mothers.   They suffer from malnutrition, lack water and 
medical services. But the greatest need for everybody in that country is 
peace," said Kuroyanagi at a press conference in Nairobi (July 30).  "The 
war should be stopped for the sake of children. These children have no 
fault. All of the ones I met were cheerful, lovely and have hope, despite 
their condition."

At a camp of internally displaced persons, Ms Kuroyanagi explained how the 
2,300 people in the camp were suffering from hunger and disease due to 
absence of food.

During her Somalia visit, Ms. Kuroyanagi travelled extensively in the 
northwest of the country, visiting communities in Hargeisa, Burao and 
Boroma.The visit involved touring remote rural locations such as watering 
points, where nomads from hundreds of kilometres brought their camel, goats 
and sheep for water.

The acclaimed Japanese actress, and Japan's popular television personality, 
who is also an author, was on trail to raise funds for Somali children. 
Through talk shows in Japan, she said she would raise a certain amount that 
she could not specify.

UNICEF goodwill ambassadors are renowned personalities who volunteer their 
time and talent to draw the world's attention to the needs of children in 
developing countries. They earn a salary of one dollar a year.

Meanwhile, an American actress and also a UNICEF goodwill ambassador Mia 
Farrow will begin a one week tour of Angola today (August 5) to bring hope 
to the country's children and to put a spotlight on the dramatic challenges 
- and opportunities - that face a nation emerging from over two decades of war.

Ms. Farrow will journey to four of the most war-affected provinces, 
including the notoriously ravaged town of Kuito in the central highlands of 
Angola, which saw some of the heaviest fighting during Angola's years of 
civil conflict.

She will visit a variety of sites that represent the complex issues facing 
Angola today. Among these will be a camp housing thousands of displaced 
civilians; a quartering area for newly de-mobilised troops and their 
families; HIV/AIDS prevention projects supported by UNICEF; land-mine 
awareness programs for children; intensive feeding centres for malnourished 
youngsters; and UNICEF-sponsored immunization efforts that will soon 
include a national measles campaign.

Ms. Farrow will also meet with government leaders and UNICEF staff who are 
involved in efforts to register unaccompanied children and to trace and 
re-unite families. The Angolan government estimates that 100,000 children 
have been separated from their families by war, and that as many as 700,000 
children have lost at least one parent. The births of more than 
three-quarters of Angola's six million children are thought to be 
unregistered, leaving them without any official identification.

The UNICEF Representative in Angola, Mario Ferrari, said he hoped that Ms. 
Farrow's visit would highlight the dramatic plight facing children and 
women, but also the hope that exists as the country takes its first steps 
toward reconstruction and recovery.

"Although Angola is suffering, it is also entering a time of renewal," 
Ferrari said from Luanda. "The peace accord signed 16 weeks ago symbolises 
a momentous historical shift; the storm has passed. The world must see that 
Angola is no longer a doomed vessel, and that with the right assistance, 
children of this country have a future."

He added that he warmly welcomed the visit of Ms. Farrow, who he said would 
have a "powerful and inspiring effect on those she meets. Her eyes will be 
the world's eyes."

Reported by Fredrick Nzwili and Unicef