wfn.org | All Africa News Agency Oct 27 03 Features

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

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

SPECIAL FOCUS ON RAISER TRIP

Raiser Stresses Need For Good Governance In Africa

LUANDA (AANA) October 27 - World Council of Churches General Secretary, Rev 
Dr Konrad Raiser has advised Angolan church leaders not to allow political 
formations to divide them.

Facilitating a seminar in Luanda, Angola, for church leaders and regional 
pastors on October 13, Rev Raiser stressed that the whole body of the 
Church should at all times stand up in the interest of the people.

Speaking on Healing the Land, he said: "Healing in our context today is not 
repairing what has broken, to function again, neither is it simply 
restoring normalcy and going back to business as usual.  The trauma that so 
many in Angola have gone through will not just disappear with 
mediation.  The process of healing goes through stages."

He explained that the first stage relates to "acute attack", when emergency 
care has to be applied.   Angola has been through that, when people 
struggled during civil war, he observed, noting that many people were, 
however, "still struggling to survive although the signing of peace accord 
signalled the end of emergency period, as it heralded the promise of new 
life..."

Angola, he said, was now in the second phase, which is consolidation of 
peace.	"Peace cannot be taken for granted.  Consolidation of peace means 
strengthening the conditions for peace to prevail," he explained.

"The virus of division, suspicion and of fear are still present.  The 
demons are still there and must be prevented from becoming active again. We 
have to learn how to deal with threats of armed conflicts by not responding 
to the threat of violence by violence," he underlined.

The third phase, which Angola is yet to reach, is re-convalescence, "when 
people are released from ICU (Intensive Care Unit). You still need medical 
attention at this stage but not continuous medical care.  What you need is 
to stimulate inside body energy", he said, explaining that the principal 
aim of this stage is to empower the people, especially the majority youth.

"They (the youth) have enormous energy.  They know what they want to do and 
they are ready to act.	What they need is an opportunity and resources," he 
underlined.

Healing of Angola, Rev Raiser went on, does not need massive injection of 
outside resources.  There is constant production of wealth within 
Angola.  It is a question of whether the resources are being re-directed to 
benefit the majority.

The Angolan priorities should include reintegration, attending to the 
displaced people and re-establishment of a sense of dignity of the people 
to be able to sustain their lives, so that they do not have to depend on 
food aid.

Rev Raiser pointed out that re-convalescence "means transformation of the 
mentality of the people from protecting oneself to going out to be active 
and productive".

"Re-convalescence aims at stimulating the confidence of the people to lead 
their lives again, while transformation also means change of mentality of 
those in power," he noted.

The process then moves from re-convalescence to the phase of 
rehabilitation, when changes in the public culture become critical.

"Change from culture of protecting power positions and the secrecy about 
handling of public funds, to a culture of transparency and accountability 
of those who exercise power.  This is what NEPAD (New Partnership for 
African Development) document calls good governance," advised Rev Raiser.

Rehabilitation includes transition, and here, the Church will have a 
critical role in promoting voter education.

He said the role of the Church in furthering the process of healing is 
important and success will require determined approach by all churches.

Reported by Mitch Odero

  Peacemaking In Africa Is A Major Ecumenical Challenge

YAOUNDE (AANA) October 27 - An appropriate economic order should be 
"economy for the people and not people for the economy".  General Secretary 
of the World Council of Churches, Rev Dr Konrad Raiser, affirmed at a 
public lecture in Yaoundi, Cameroon.

Making a presentation on October 15 on Challenges of Ecumenism and 
Reconstruction, Rev Raiser observed that while Africa "has not been allowed 
to break with its colonial past, it is now suffering from conditions of 
neo-colonialism "of which Angola was becoming a theatre for big powers".

His audience included church leaders, academicians, diplomats and
politicians.

He noted as encouraging, that African renaissance, African reconstruction, 
New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), and African Union, have 
become catchwords for a design to project a new vision for Africa.

"The most important lesson from 40 lost years is that rebuilding of 
sustainable African communities can only be achieved with the people and by 
the people and not against the people," Rev Raiser underlined, adding that 
decision making has to come from the people.

The process of peace-building and national reconstruction, he noted, were 
part of the ecumenical challenges. Reconciliation, moral and spiritual 
development call for faith, hope and forgiveness. "They cannot be imposed 
from above," he added, noting that churches have to play leading roles.

"Churches can play an important role by opening spaces for the stories from 
both sides (of the civil war) to be heard so that distorted images of each 
other can be corrected as well as elimination of fears of each other," he 
pointed out.

Churches, he observed, can also help promote reconciliation by supporting 
"spirituality of forgiveness", which is not a legal or political function 
to be ordered.

Answering a question, he underlined, however, that churches should be 
careful against aligning themselves with political parties or allowing 
leaders to use them for political gains.

Reported by Mitch Odero

  Fundamental Justice Is A Must For Consolidation of Peace

LUANDA (AANA) October 27 - Fundamental justice must be addressed if peace 
is to be consolidated in Angola, World Council of Churches (WCC) General 
Secretary, Rev Dr Konrad Raiser, has told Angolans.

Delivering a sermon on October 12 at an ecumenical worship in Luanda, 
Angola, on the theme Healing the Land, he observed: "The land is being 
exploited of its riches, but the people are deprived of its true benefits."

He added: "Healing the land calls for patient efforts of moral formation, 
planting the seeds of a new consciousness of values into the hearts and 
minds of the people of the land."

Rev Raiser, who was addressing an estimated 12,000 worshippers at a 
national gymnasium, underlined that faithfulness were the foundations of a 
sustainable and durable peace.

"When those in public authority enjoy the confidence of the people, when 
they uphold justice and defend human rights, then peace can grow and the 
wounds of the land can be healed," he stressed.

He observed that in Angola, the land had suffered together with the 
people.  "The land had been entrusted to the care of the people to sustain 
their lives.  War and landmines have disfigured the land as they have 
destroyed peoples lives," he pointed out.

Rev Raiser stressed that "the wounds of the land will require intensive 
care, even beyond the first successful harvest in peace times".  He pointed 
out that among knowledge gathered in the ecumenical movement was that 
"justice, peace and integrity of creation were inseparably linked with one 
another".

The WCC general secretary was leading an ecumenical delegation on a 
pastoral visit to express solidarity with the Angolan people and with 
Christian churches in the country.

He explained: "We seek to understand the current situation and development 
in Angola, to learn about the process of consolidation of peace and 
discover how the ecumenical community can accompany the churches in their 
efforts of healing the wounds of war and rebuilding the country."

The delegation comprised Rev Jose Domingos Caetano, member of WCC Central 
Committee, Rev Dr Andre Karamaga, WCC Secretary for Africa, and Mr Mitch 
Odero, representing the All Africa Conference of Churches (WCC).

Reported by Mitch Odero

  FEATURES  SECTION

Re-union Hopes For Troubled Sudanese Women

The ongoing conflicts in Sudan have largely interfered with family 
cohesion, with most men going into permanent hiding to avoid execution or 
conscription into enemy forces. There is now hope, however, for the 
abandoned women, following last week's affirmation that a final deal, which 
could end the 20-year-old civil war, may be arrived at by the end of this 
year. AANA Correspondent, Oscar Obonyo, reports.

A
t only 22 years of age, Angeline Ismail has experienced a fair share of 
earthly anguish. The mother of four recently gave birth to a baby in a 
swamp, while in flight for her dear life, and buried another five months 
later.

Her beloved husband is unaware of the latest developments in his household. 
He fled to an unknown destination when the enemy forces struck in December 
2001.

Now Angeline and the children are in deep suspense and anxiety. She could 
as well be a widow by now.

Angeline is part of a group of 80 lonely women who have been separated from 
their spouses because of the ongoing conflicts in Sudan. The women are 
currently settled at a special camp for the Internally Displaced Persons 
(IDPs) in Mabia, southern Sudan.

The ongoing conflicts have largely interfered with family cohesion in most 
parts of the region.

Usually, when the enemy strikes, the family scatters into different 
directions, with the men, in particular, fleeing to far off places or going 
into permanent hiding to avoid being executed or forcefully conscripted 
into the rival forces.

For Angeline, it all started one Monday morning when warplane bombardments 
in northern Raga County intensified. She and her husband hurriedly packed a 
few of their belongings. Then he dashed out to assess the situation.  He 
never returned.

"He could have fled to an unknown place, following thunderous blasts that 
were heard soon after, or was captured and conscripted into either of the 
rival armies," she speculates.

Visibly, she is yet to come to terms with this episode, and may never. The 
young woman appears to be in her thirties. She has a frail body and cracked 
lips. Clad in a pair of warn-out sleepers and a loose wrapper, she itches 
repeatedly from swellings all over her body.  She is clearly not in good 
health.

But albeit this fagade, Angeline manages a smile quite often - a sign of 
optimism and strong will.

Indeed, there is renewed hope for her and her lot. Their hopes rest in the 
current high-level round of peace talks between Sudan's Islamist government 
and the main southern rebel group, Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army 
(SPLM/A), which have been going on in Kenya for more than a year now.

Unlike the previous round of negotiations, the present phase is being 
attended by Sudan's First Vice-President  Osman Mohamed Taha, and Dr John 
Garang de Mabior, leader of SPLM/A.

A crucial deal to end the 20-year-old civil war is anticipated by the end 
of this year.  Last week, the negotiating parties re-affirmed their 
commitment to realising a final peace agreement by December.

The two leaders on opposing sides did this in the presence of the US 
Secretary of State, Colin Powell, who had made an appearance at the talks 
in Naivasha, some 85 kilometres from Kenya's capital, Nairobi.

If well concluded, the talks could end one of Africa's longest and 
bloodiest conflicts that has claimed lives of over two million people.

The conflict broadly pits Sudan's Islamist government in the north against 
rebels from the mostly animist and Christian south.  It revolves around 
economic and socio-political issues such as wealth distribution, race, 
religion and ethnicity.

If a final peace deal is clinched, Garang believes Angeline and her lot 
will be among the first real beneficiaries.  "We hope that this process 
will finally normalise the situation and allow free movement of our people, 
some of whom have been separated from their children and spouses for 
decades," the SPLM/A leader was recently quoted to have said.

The separations have caused many couples untold agony. Apart from the 
challenges of raising the children single-handedly under the volatile war 
environment, most of the women have had their love life completely shattered.

Despite her tender age, Angeline, for instance, may never enjoy a normal 
and happy marital or even sexual life again.  According to the customs of 
her Mengeyet community, she may not even get remarried in the near future 
or relate with any man intimately, unless her husband is confirmed dead.

These women have, however, found solace in some of the Operation Lifeline 
Sudan (OLS) humanitarian aid agencies. Most of them, particularly CARE 
International, have played a lead role in supplementing their needs.

On arrival at the Mabia camp, CARE provided the IDPs with land clearing 
tools, including hoes, and a special kit containing an assortment of basic 
household utensils.

Says Angeline: "CARE has been more or less like my husband, and since I 
can't get remarried, I hope they will continue offering me foodstuffs and 
other kits as they have done to keep me and my children going."

As for Benta Okring, then an 8-month expectant mother of two other children 
aged below five, the trek to Mabia was a torturous experience she would 
want to forget.

"My condition not withstanding, I had to carry one of my children on my 
back and at the same time balance a basin of our belongings on my head," 
narrates Benta.

As the journey progressed, she grew weaker and her labour pains 
intensified. She believes they were mainly triggered by the two-week-long 
tedious trek. Her hungry state did not make the situation any better.

A few months later at Mabia, after arrival, Benta's new-born baby developed 
high fever one morning, and passed away the same day in the evening.

"May be I did not do much to save my child's life. I had a younger one and 
the rest to take care of, not to mention, my exhaustion. If only my husband 
was available, we would have jointly handled the situation," she tearfully 
regrets.

For two decades, Sudan has experienced its worst instance of instability. 
In a rare combination of sorts, internal strife, natural disasters, and 
famine, plagues parts of the country, condemning it to an endless spell of 
humanitarian aid dependence.

It is, however, the warfare that has almost brought the giant nation to its 
knees, splitting the country right in the middle.

Refugee Crises: Is Africa Being Short-changed?

"The dichotomy of how refugees were treated in say, Guinea, versus how 
those from Kosovo were treated was totally unacceptable; unacceptable to 
spend less than US$ 20 million on 500,000 refugees from Sierra Leone and 
then ask for US$ 240 million for an equivalent number in Kosovo."  These 
were words of a former US Secretary of State, complaining about double 
standards employed against African refugees.  In this write up, AANA 
Correspondent, Janet Adongo, highlights the situation.

T
here was anxiety when the US-led forces  launched attacks on Iraq in mid 
March. The world stood watching, waiting, hoping for the best, yet deep 
down, expecting the worst.

Prince and pauper shared views on the possible outcome.  Many anticipated a 
compact resistance by Iraqi soldiers, expressing fear for a resultant 
vicious war.  However, a month later, the war was officially declared over.

But in anticipation of a long war, the UN had launched an appeal for U$ 2.2 
billion for humanitarian assistance in Iraq.

On the desert periphery of the country, thousand of huge tents awaited an 
envisioned influx of displaced persons.  They never arrived.

Meanwhile, across the globe, tens of thousands of refugees fleeing war in 
the West African state of Ctte d'Ivoire, received low levels of attention 
and media coverage.

At the time of the UN appeal for assistance for Iraq in the looming crisis, 
other fundraisers made a parallel request for funds to assist the 4.6 
million African refugees currently under the care of UNHCR.

However, this desperate appeal fell on deaf ears.  Traditional donors 
declined to commit to other goals until it was clear which direction the 
war in Iraq would take.

One European delegation reportedly remarked that "Angola is a country rich 
enough to fund its own repatriation", referring to Angola's 421,000 
refugees, who had started returning home after the signing of a peace 
accord in early 2002.

Back to Iraq, the US last week made a strong appeal for assistance in 
rebuilding the country.  The physical rebuilding will probably cover 
structures and other infrastructure destroyed during and after the war.

"Consequently, if there were returnees, houses, food rations, and 
resettlement packages, would be thrown in as a bonus," observed a political 
analyst.

In much of Africa however, returnees go back home to face worse conditions 
than they did in the country of refuge.

In April 1999, during the Yugoslavian ethnic cleansing crisis, about 
640,000 refugees fled Kosovo.

An aid official, who worked there after the refugees return, and is now 
based in Sierra Leone, was appalled by the difference in the housing 
structures built in the West African country.

Albanian returnees got a permanent house, complete with electricity, water 
and basic furniture. In Sierra Leone, a returnee's house will at best be a 
renovated structure, most-likely grass-thatched. The resettlement package 
will include, blankets, mats, a lamp, soap and a six-month food ration.

Kenneth Conteh, a protection officer at UNHCR in Sierra Leone contends that 
the returnees package is justifiable.

"The UN and other aid agencies cannot give returnees more than what [other 
members of the community] have.  We cannot build mansions for returnees in 
a country where most houses are small, semi-permanent, grass-thatched 
ones.  It is but an equitable solution," he underscores.

Again, while Somali refugee children play in the flooded waters that 
uprooted structures they live in  in Dadaab, northern Kenya, Iraqi refugee 
children  smile at a summer camp in Lebanon, a place that they can call home.

According to an issue of Refugees magazine, in Dadaab, where temperatures 
can reach 40 degrees Celsius, refugees currently receive 17 litres of water 
per day, but they are also expected to feed their livestock from this amount.

Still in Dadaab, there is only one toilet available for every 275 students 
at school, which is way beyond a requirement of one for every 20.

Besides, there are 144 children per classroom, a situation that makes 
teaching and learning a nightmare.  Basic items such as blankets and 
kitchen utensils were last distributed on a large scale seven years ago.

The World Food Programme (WFP) Executive Director, James Moore, estimated 
that while 40 million Africans faced starvation, each family in Iraq at the 
start of the US-led attack on the country, already had one month's food 
supply.

He too, noted that there was a double standard applied when it came to 
Africa. "How is it we routinely accept a level of suffering and 
hopelessness in Africa, (that) we would never accept in any other part of 
the world?"

Interestingly, in 1955, out of 2 million refugees globally, none were in 
Africa.  Currently, there are an estimated 15 million uprooted persons 
throughout the African continent. The 4.6 million under UNHCR care have a 
budget set at about US$ 400 million

According to Ray Wilkinson, the Editor of Refugees magazine, comparing how 
much money is spent on each refugee in different parts of the world can be 
a slippery business, and may not necessarily reflect the actual amount of 
help each person receives.

He nevertheless accepts that Africa has often received a comparatively low 
attention on refugee matters.

Says he: "However, UNHCR has approved a minimum standard of assistance 
every refugee should receive, and even these benchmarks covering such 
necessities as food, water and shelter are regularly breached in Africa 
because of lack of adequate financial and manpower resources."

This breach have been attributed to donor fatigue, arising from protracted 
and prolonged crises on the continent.

In 2000, the then Assistant US Secretary of State, Julia Taft commented: 
"The dichotomy of how refugees were treated in say, Guinea, versus how 
those from Kosovo were treated was totally unacceptable; unacceptable to 
spend less than US$ 20 million on 500,000 refugees from Sierra Leone and 
then ask for US$ 240 million for an equivalent number in Kosovo.  It is not 
fair and it is not right."

  Alarming Case Of Increasing Child Prostitution

In Bulawayo, young girls of even below teenage have thronged the streets 
with ingenious innovations, elbowing their older counterparts in commercial 
sex work.  The situation, blamed on worsening food shortages in Zimbabwe, 
is alarming, yet neither the government nor the various civil society 
organisations have managed to devise ways of discouraging the small girls 
from engaging in sex work, reports Oscar Nkala.

D
ropping the flimsy wrapping cloth around her buttocks, Sandile walks into 
the dazzle of the headlights of an approaching car. The lights reveal a 
semi-nude, very young girl, with several others behind her. She darts 
across the road to the car that has just stopped, negotiates with the 
driver, and gets in.

With her, the car disappears into the evening hustle and bustle of 
Bulawayo, Zimbabwe's second largest city.

Sandile is one of the hundreds of young girls aged between 12 and 17 who 
have taken to the bars and hotels to become pacesetters in the latest 
innovations in the world's oldest profession. They are now trading sex for 
groceries.

As the economic meltdown worsens and hard cash becomes scarce in the 
country, the little girls, who have now elbowed their elder counterparts 
off the streets, have devised the new system of payment "to beat the cash 
shortage among customers".

Social commentators view the proliferation of young girls bartering their 
bodies for food and groceries  as a sign that the extended family network 
has been stretched beyond limits, to a point where families  can no longer 
care for even the closest of their own kins.

"Pushed out of their families by worsening hunger and the realisation that 
their parents can no longer afford to put the next meal together, the new 
generation of commercial sex workers have 'colonised' every [nightspot], 
and linger around major hotels in search of customers," says an  observer.

Sandile and her friends argue that groceries have become the most popular 
method of payment because "the money ends up buying food after all."

Says Sandile: "It is true that many of the girls here would rather have 
groceries for sexual services. There is nothing surprising about that 
because everyone wants something to eat at the end of the day. The money we 
get from here ends up buying food, so why not demand the food if the 
customer can provide?"

Five of her companions concur with her.  They say that payment with 
groceries for sex has been necessitated by "customers" who claimed to have 
cash, only to pull out "unchangeable" travellers' cheques after a sexual 
encounter.

"There have been many cases of men taking the girls from here and giving 
them fake cheques. So we thought we should devise a more tangible method of 
payment," says a 15 year old sex worker, preferring to be called Portia 
Gumede.

As Sandile puts it, the desperate search for food is the major factor that 
drives the young girls into pubs frequented by the few remaining affluent 
persons in the city.

Like all major urban centres in Zimbabwe, Bulawayo has been hard hit by a 
worsening food shortage. By the end of August, the city's directorate of 
public health services had reported about 80 hunger-related deaths.

The city's figures of malnutrition started ballooning in April when some UN 
agencies briefly withdrew relief assistance after the government announced 
that most parts of the country had received a good harvest resulting from 
Cyclone Eline-induced rains that had hit the country in March.

The new generation of commercial sex workers patrolling the streets of 
Bulawayo are thus, adolescent victims of food shortages.  Operating in 
loose gangs of up to 10, the young girls say they do not care who they 
sleep with as long as they get paid in the manner agreed.

"These are not normal times. If I had all the support of a family, I would 
not be on the streets so late into the night. So, whoever comes along and 
proves that he has the agreed mode of payment is a customer, whether he is 
the same age as my father or ten years
younger than me, " says another young commercial sex worker.

But there is one thing the young queens of the night show concern about - 
the AIDS virus. So conscious are they for the need for protection that each 
one carries a handbag full of condoms to give to customers who may not have 
brought their own.

"Yes, survival is tough, but I resorted to this business to survive, not to 
die.  I consider as dangerous any client who wants services without a 
condom. So I carry my own and any man who refuses to wear them should take 
their money or groceries and leave. It is never a deal without condoms," 
says Jacqueline (not her real name).

She concedes, however, that there are a number of girls who find themselves 
in engaging in unprotected sex, mostly with foreign men and black market 
cash dealers, who have also quietly taken control of the city's underworld.

Says Jacqueline: "Local men are conscious of the AIDS threat. But Nigerians 
and Zambians, always loaded with US dollars, have enticed a number of girls 
into having unprotected sex for fees that are a bit higher than what local 
men can offer."

The young commercial sex workers is a cause of concern among anti-AIDS 
activists, who confess that most of their programmes are not tuned to 
address the risks of the young sex peddlers.

Said an advocacy officer with one of the various anti-HIV/AIDS 
organisations: "Our major weakness in mitigating problems related to 
teenage sexual activity is that we only work with teens at school and 
suburban AIDS action clubs through our New Start AIDS counselling and 
testing services.

"We are, however, aware that the people who are already in the commercial 
sex business are not members of any group, since they are mostly school 
drop-outs. Because of the nature of their activities, they cannot be seen 
[in] the day like most teenagers.

The government-run National AIDS Council (NAC) has also failed to come up 
with programmes for dealing with the problem of teenage prostitution, 
partly because of lack of funds.

In the meantime, the precarious food situation in the city has hardened the 
attitude of teenagers in the city, with some of them making a dicey choice 
between starving or facing the consequences of a busy promiscuous life.

As one Sandile's companion puts it, "the immediate question is whether I 
get the food or money to buy it. What follows will be dealt with when it 
comes. Do I have a choice?"