wfn.org | All Africa News Agency March 3, 2003 (a)

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

AANA BULLETIN No. 08/03 March 3, 2003 (a)

ALL AFRICA NEWS AGENCY
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AANA Bulletin	-  Acting  Editor -Elly Wamari				     
  
Bulletin APTA -  Acting Editor - Silvie Alemba

Release Of Videos Heralds Breakthrough In War On AIDS

MAUN, Botswana (AANA) March 3 - In a move considered a breakthrough for a 
country with high levels of stigma and discrimination over HIV/AIDS, 
Batswana on  antiretroviral drugs have come forward to tell their stories 
in a series of educational videos released last week.

The Patient Education videos are a collection of three 15-minute tapes 
aimed at educating people about the impact of  HIV/AIDS antiretroviral 
therapy on their lives.

120 hospitals and clinics with video facilities will receive the videos, 
which will be played in patient waiting rooms.	They are expected to form a 
cornerstone in health education discussions.

Since January 2002, the government of Botswana has undertaken a campaign to 
provide antiretroviral drugs to all its HIV-infected citizens.

To date, only four percent of the 110,000 eligible people have enrolled in 
MASA, the country's national antiretroviral therapy programme. Masa is a 
Setswana word for 'new dawn'.

Because of stigma and denial, few people are participating in the treatment 
campaign.  "Those real life stories will encourage more people to feel a 
part of what we are doing and then come forward," Prathima Naidoo, MASA's 
information and education consultant, told AANA.

The videos, she said, are also aimed at educating people on treatment. They 
focus also on the importance of knowing one's HIV status, the need to 
always use a condom when having sex, the hope antiretroviral therapy offers 
and the responsibility to adhere to the therapy regimen for the rest of a 
patient's life.

In one of the videos, the cast explain how they started treatment and what 
antiretroviral therapy means. Another video deals with staying healthy and 
living positively with antiretroviral medication.

The video documentaries complement Batswana tradition of oral communication 
and education on health matters.

"It makes a difference when you see a person from your own culture, 
speaking in your own language, telling you how to get support to live with 
HIV/AIDS," said Stephen Ssebaggala of the Botswana Network for People 
Living with HIV/AIDS. "This is how we as Batswana, are used to getting our 
information," he added.

Tiny Mmotlano (37) decided to appear on one of the videos after witnessing 
people dying from HIV/AIDS without any support. She is a mother of four and 
was diagnosed as having HIV in 1996.

"I want to help people understand what HIV is and to show them that they 
can live with it," she told AANA, adding, "I have been taking the pills 
since February 2002, but you need food to take them."

For non-governmental organisations fighting the HIV pandemic in Botswana, 
the videos are a symbol of hope. Latest statistics from UNAIDS say 39 
percent of the 1.6 million population's 16 to 49 age-group are HIV positive.

"Now ordinary Batswana like us are saying we have a problem and we can do 
something about it," said Frank Tumuliso of the Botswana HIV/AIDS Support 
Network.

Reported by Rodrick Mukumbira

Disputed Areas To Top Agenda For Next Round Of Peace Talks

NAIROBI (AANA) March 3 - Peace talks between the Khartoum government and 
rebels in southern Sudan are due to resume here on March 4, Sudanese 
ambassador to Kenya, Ali Abdelrahman Nimeiri, has disclosed.

This time, the focus will be the three disputed areas of Southern Blue 
Nile, Nuba Mountains and Abyei, the envoy said in an interview with AANA.

The talks between the government and the Sudan People's Liberation Army 
(SPLA) began last year, and are seen as offering the best chance of ending 
the 20-year conflict that has seen around two million people dead in 
Africa's largest country. "This is the first time we are meeting over the 
three areas," Nimeiri added.

The disputed areas are key to an overall peace deal in Sudan. The 
government insists that because they are geographically located in the 
north, they will not have the option of self-determination.

Nimeiri said the IGAD talks could only deal with southern Sudan, a region 
where civil war has raged since 1983 "while other areas, including Abyei, 
Nuba and Ingessena, will be dealt with separately from the IGAD process."

Nimeiri said the third round of peace talks, which ended on February 5, saw 
much progress since many agreements were reached. He expressed hope that 
this month would see peace in Sudan.

"We have made much progress on the issues of wealth and power-sharing 
compared with the previous round of talks in November 2002," he said, 
adding that the fourth round of talks is expected to fine-tune the details 
on power and wealth sharing, including that of presidency.

The ambassador said Kenyan special Envoy for peace in Sudan, Lazarus 
Sumbeiywo, arrived in Khartoum last Saturday (February 22) and engaged 
authorities in Khartoum in discussions ahead of the next round of peace 
negotiations.

He said it was imminent the 20-year old civil war in his country was almost 
over, and noted that with the rebels' positive attitude at the talks, peace 
was looming. "I truly feel the chance for peace is closer now than ever 
before," he observed.

Reported by Makur Kot Dhuor

Uganda To Develop National Action Plan On Small Arms

KAMPALA (AANA) March 3 - SaferWorld, a UK-based non-governmental 
organisation, is helping Uganda to set up a national action plan that will 
minimise smuggling of small arms into the country.

According to latest information, the action plan will be ready by June this 
year. It is being developed from an assessment conducted by SaferWorld and 
SafeAfrica researchers from November 2002.

The assessment is the first ever of such kind in Uganda. The researchers 
interviewed police, army, customs officials and local government personnel, 
who provided information on their daily experiences on small arms flow.

They returned last month and completed a public opinion survey on February 
23 in Arua district in north-west Uganda. Names of experts involved in the 
project have been withheld.

SaferWorld is concerned that Uganda is becoming a major weapons transit 
point for arms destined to trouble spots.  It notes Uganda's proximity to 
unstable and war-torn neighbouring states, its turbulent history of 
insurgency and rebellion and the presence of refugees, as some of the 
factors contributing to firearm related instability in the country.

The group has already conducted a similar project in Tanzania, which has 
led to Tanzania becoming the first East African Country to develop a 
national action plan for arms management and disarmament. Kenya will be 
tackled next.

"Civil society involvement is advanced in Kenya and Uganda, where there is 
a vibrant civil society and a history of engagement with the state than 
other countries," read part of a SaferWorld report published in January.

SaferWorld is building on experiences from East Africa to see how it can 
establish similar structures in West Africa.

European Union (EU) development planners, who now are re-orienting their 
programmes to prevent violent conflicts, have already recognised SaferWorld 
activities.  In this regard the Netherlands and Swiss governments have 
granted #685,000 and #40,000 respectively.

Reported by Crespo Sebunya

Communities In West Africa Seek Participation In NEPAD

ACCRA (AANA) March 3 - The Fellowship of Christian Councils and Churches in 
West Africa (FECCIWA) want the New Partnerships for Africa's Development 
(NEPAD) to embody democracy and human rights protection.  They also want 
leaders of NEPAD to encourage participation of communities in its programmes.

At a workshop held in Accra, February 21, participants asked NEPAD leaders 
to develop clear standards of accountability, transparency and 
participatory governance at national and sub-national levels.

The four-day meeting, organised by FECCIWA, with support from Church World 
Service (CWS), brought together participants from The Gambia, Liberia, 
Ghana, Togo, Cote d'Ivoire, Benin, Nigeria, Burkina Faso and Niger. The 
meeting was aimed at empowering local communities on the NEPAD initiative.

Participants, who included the civil society and church leaders, criticised 
African governments for failing to define clear roles for women, youth and 
civil society in NEPAD.

Keynote presentations were delivered by Associate Executive Director of the 
Ghana Centre for Democratic Development, Dr Baffour Agyeman-Duah, and Dr 
Francis Appiah of the NEPAD secretariat in Ghana.

In a communique signed by the Secretary General of FECCIWA, Mr Baffour 
Dokyi Amoa, participants resolved to formulate national action plans that 
will inform and educate church leaders about NEPAD.

"Representatives will report to their institutions about strengths and 
weaknesses of NEPAD. [They will also engage in various activities] to 
improve and democratise the NEPAD process," said Amoa.

The meeting underscored the need for the Church to ensure that future 
discussions on NEPAD addressed issues affecting the region such as justice, 
peace making and peace building.

"Justice discussions should focus on good governance, including corruption, 
multiparty elections and civic education. Peace building should also focus 
on, among other things, ... effective communication of issues to the public 
in the sub-region," Amoa further said.

Participants observed that proper implementation of NEPAD policies could 
significantly improve the economic, political, cultural, social and 
spiritual welfare of the people of Africa.

Reported by Joyce Mulama

A New Spirit Of Ecumenical Collaboration Is Launched

NAIROBI (AANA) March 3 - A new spirit of effective co-operation and 
meaningful collaboration within the ecumenical movement in Africa was 
launched last weekend (February 22-23) in Nairobi.

At a meeting hosted by the All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC), 
representatives of all sub-regional Christian fellowships in Africa and the 
World Council of Churches (WCC) Africa Desk, resolved to strengthen their 
working relations and to ensure that "the ecumenical family is visibly seen 
as working together".

The crisis facing the ecumenical movement in Africa was identified as one 
of the common denominators affecting all the ecumenical institutions, while 
a sense of hopelessness brought about by poverty and other social ills, was 
seen to be among contributing factors to the mushrooming of sects in Africa.

Other threats to the ecumenical movement are the growth of 
denominationalism on one hand, while on the other hand, "growth of ethnic 
churches have become phenomenal, such that today, tribal churches and 
tribal political parties mark the African scene," participants of the 
meeting observed.

The host, Mr. Melaku Kifle, Interim General Secretary of AACC, stressed 
that the reality of the oneness of the Spirit "has to correspond with a 
visible one ecumenical movement"

Participants felt that despite the crisis facing the ecumenical movement, 
often, opportunities emerge from crises.

They resolved to collectively avoid duplication of activities and 
programmes as a way of optimising resource utilisation.

SOURCE: AACC Information Desk