Issues Archives - Page 58 of 64

December 16, 2010December 16, 2010

Dozen countries added to nations with forced child labor

WASHINGTON — The Labor Department is adding a dozen countries to the list of nations that use child labor or forced labor, as officials warn the global economic crisis could cause an upswing in the exploitation of children and other workers.

From coffee grown in El Salvador to sapphires mined in Madagascar, the agency’s latest reports released on Wednesday identify 128 goods from 70 countries where child labor, forced labor or both are used in violation of international standards.

“Shining light on these problems is a first step toward motivating governments, the private sector and concerned citizens to take action to end these intolerable abuses that have no place in our modern world,” said Labor Secretary Hilda Solis.

New to the list are Angola, Central African Republic, Chad, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The annual reports are not intended to punish or shame the countries where an estimated 215 million child laborers toil in factories, on farms or as domestic helpers. In fact, the agency says many of the countries that appear on the list are taking steps to address child labor problems. Labor Department officials say making the public aware of the problem helps promote efforts to combat child labor.

While the total number of child laborers fell by about 3 percent from 2004 to 2008, the rate of decline has slowed in recent years.

“I think the very recent picture gives us significant cause for concern,” said Sandra Polaski, deputy undersecretary for the Bureau of International Labor Affairs. “That has a lot to do with the economic crisis.”

India remains home to the greatest number of child laborers, followed by China. But smaller nations in sub-Saharan Africa have a much higher proportion of children – up to one-third of children under 14 – who go to work instead of school each day.

For the first time, the reports include a set of proposed actions for each government to consider to help reduce the problems detailed.

The agency praises India and some other countries for working to address the problem through anti-poverty programs and compulsory education. Brazil, Thailand, Jordan, Ivory Coast and Ghana also win plaudits for their efforts to combat child labor.

At the same time, the report calls out some of the worst offenders. They include Uzbekistan, where local officials require children to pick cotton, and Myanmar, where forced labor of adults and children helps produce everything from sugar and teak to rubber and rubies.

“They know what the problem is and they know how to fix it, they just need to get serious about doing it,” Polaski said.

The problem is complicated in countries like India, Pakistan and Tonga that have no legislation setting a minimum age for work. That makes children more vulnerable to being pulled into hazardous or grueling trades.

Some of the most common products produced by child labor or forced labor include cotton, sugar cane, tobacco, coffee, bricks, gold, diamonds and coal.

Since 1995, the Labor Department has spent more than $740 million in programs to help more than 80 countries combat child labor.

The agency is also working to combat instances of child labor in the United States. Last year, for example, investigators from the agency’s Wage and Hour Division found children as young as 6 working on blueberry farms in Michigan. Eight farms were fined about $36,000 for violating federal migrant-housing and child-labor laws.

Solis said inspections this year during the harvest in Michigan, New Jersey and North Carolina have yet to find child labor violations.

Labor Department: http://www.dol.gov/

December 15, 2010December 17, 2010

Will Sudan lead the way to the next big carve-up?

Charles Onyango-Obbo

Finally, the January referendum wheels seem to be turning irreversibly in Southern Sudan. There was a lot of excitement even with the registration that ended last Tuesday, by which time three million had registered.

Now it looks like the January 9, 2011, when the region is highly likely to vote to secede, will be on schedule. If not, the delay will only be by a few weeks.

So far a lot of attention has been focused on whether Khartoum will sabotage the referendum, and plunge the country back into war.

However, there is another organisation that is quite uneasy with the prospect of South Sudan independence — the African Union.

At one point the AU was categorical that it did not think secession was the best option for South Sudan. Lately, as the inevitable draws close, it has softened its position.

However, it remains mealy-mouthed.

The AU is concerned about South Sudan, because African leaders fear what effect secession will have on their own mostly poorly managed and poor nations.

Some African countries are too big for their leaders to run effectively.

For that reason, one can argue that it makes sense for Sudan, Africa’s largest country, to be split in two, even if it hadn’t endured decades of a bitter civil war.

If South Sudan’s secession creates a domino effect, it is not difficult to see which ones will fall first.

Most immediately, next door, it will help complete Somaliland’s consolidation into an independent or, at least, autonomous state.

There are, indeed, Somali academics who claim that the UK, for one, wants Somaliland, which was once a British protectorate, to break away.

In the long run, depending on how the February 2011 elections and next five years turn out, northern Uganda — where there have already been secessionist rumblings — could look to form a loose federation with Southern Sudan and the Lendu of the DR Congo in a bigger “Lendu Republic” as hardline Sudanic/Luo chauvinists in East Africa sometimes refer to that political project.

Sooner than that, DR Congo could follow Somaliland.

The DRC is likely to split into four; the western part will be one block, then the eastern “Kiswahili region” will break up into three.

One, further south, will be a Rwanda sphere of influence. The middle portion could be a Uganda-allied state. And the northern bit would walk off to be part of the Lendu Republic.

The one that would really shake Africa would be Nigeria. Indeed, the eccentric Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi (the man with the “voluptuous blonde” Ukrainian nurse), has suggested that Nigeria be split into north and south, as one way of stopping the periodical orgies of Christian-Muslim slaughter.

The Nigerian government was outraged, but that is a popular view in the oil-rich south, which thinks the north are a bunch of freeloading gun-toting Muslim extremists.

Back in the East African Community, the Zanzibar Isles, which have never been quite happy in their marriage to mainland Tanzania, could swim off to relish the pleasures of their spices without the overlordship of condescending Dar es Salaam.

*Charles Onyango-Obbo is Nation Media Group’s executive editor for Africa & Digital Media. E-mail: cobbo@ke.nationmedia.com

December 14, 2010December 15, 2010

A critical look at the Ivorian post-election crisis

Ivory coast election crisis

Kwadwo Appiagyei-Atua

(Due to space only part of the original article is being published here)

All too soon, an unpleasant but familiar scenario is brewing in African politics: An incumbent has lost power through constitutionally-organised elections supervised by the international community and declared to be free and fair, but has decided not to give up power.

This time it’s not Zimbabwe or Kenya, but Cote d’Ivoire. But certainly, the orchestrator of the plot is following the bad example set by the African Union (AU) and exploiting a loophole which still exists in spite of the negative experiences in Zimbabwe and Kenya. The situation in Cote d’Ivoire, therefore, again exposes the weaknesses in the AU and Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS) position on collective recognition and the urgent need for review.

INTERPRETATION OF GBAGBO’S ACTIONS

According to the Lomé Declaration for an Organisation of African Unity Response to Unconstitutional Changes of Government, Gbagbo’s actions amounts to an unconstitutional change in government. The Declaration provides that an unconstitutional change in government is deemed to have occurred when one of the following events takes place:

a military coup d’etat against a democratically elected Government;
intervention by mercenaries to replace a democratically elected government;
replacement of democratically elected governments by armed dissident groups and rebel movements;
the refusal by an incumbent government to relinquish power to the winning party after free, fair and regular elections.

The African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance, a treaty adopted by the 8th session of the African Union Heads of State and Government Assembly in 2007, but yet to come to force, adds a fifth criterion under its article 23(5). That is where ‘[a]ny amendment or revision of the constitution or legal instruments, which is an infringement on the principles of democratic change of government.’

This is interpreted to refer to acts of incumbents changing the terms of elections to cover a third or indefinite term in office. A good example is what happened in Niger when Mamadou Tandja doctored the constitution to enable him to run for a third term and which resulted in his overthrow.

In the event of unconstitutional change of government, the AU is expected to issue a condemnation of the act, which amounts to non-recognition of governments in international law. Recognition in general refers to a unilateral act acknowledging the existence of a government or state by another state or government or international organisation. Recognition by a state or government is a political act, which does not necessarily take into account the legal context in which a state or government comes into being. However, when it comes to international organisations, recognition follows certain laid down principles and norms agreed to by the organisation, either in its constitutive treaty or another document, be it a declaration, decision or resolution. Thus non-recognition means that the government that purports to be in existence is not in existence, legally speaking.

The next step is for the AU and ECOWAS to recognise the government de facto. De facto recognition means that the new regime is still deemed illegitimate, but because it is the one that is in control of the country at that moment, it needs some form of recognition while the situation is being monitored to see how the change in government would affect the peace and stability of the country.

The AU and ECOWAS would then ask the government to return the country to constitutional rule within a particular time-frame, that is, six months. An added rule is that the de facto regime should not take part in the elections it would organise to return the country to constitutional rule. This rule was applied to Moussa ‘Dadis’ Kamara in Guinea, who took over the reins of power in Guinea in December 2008 following the death of Lansana Conte.

When talking about recognition by states, usually two types of recognition may run concurrently. De facto recognition may be given to the government that usurped power while de jure recognition, or recognition according to law, is given to the ousted regime which may decide to form a government in exile. With time, de jure recognition may be withdrawn from the ousted regime and given to the de facto regime. This usually occurs where the de facto regime is able to attain effective control of the state, and the people generally succumb to, or approve of its authority; and, thirdly, where the new regime generally abides by international law and treaty and other obligations of the state. At this point, the ousted regime withers away.

The AU and ECOWAS, however, generally do not accord de jure recognition to ousted regimes. An exception was the case of Ahmed Tejan Kabbah of Sierra Leone who, though ousted in a military putsch by the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council, continued to be recognised as the legitimate government by the AU and ECOWAS while in exile in Guinea.

In most cases, however, the AU and ECOWAS will simply condemn the act and ask the new regime to return the country to constitutional rule. This approach, however, is considered a major weakness in using the tool of recognition to end unconstitutional changes in government in Africa.

What has happened in Cote d’Ivoire is not a case of a coup d’etat. It involves the refusal of an incumbent to give up power after losing an election. If the AU and ECOWAS reaction to coups d’etat has not proven effective, it has been worse with this scenario.

There are two examples to guide us: the situation in Kenya and Zimbabwe.

In both situations, the call for a return to constitutional rule is rendered practically impossible as it is not able to resolve the following questions, among others: Should the illegitimate government also be given six months to re-organise elections? Would organising two elections within six months not pose too much of a burden for a developing country? Can there be guarantees that the de facto government will not be allowed to take part in the elections again? Can there be guarantees that a puppet would not be groomed to take over?

Perhaps without expecting such questions to arise, or without anticipating such a scenario and without any clear-cut guidelines to follow, power-sharing was adopted as an ad hoc or stop-gap measure. One may call it ubuntu, but it is certainly unAfrican to share power in that manner. We need to place the discussion in its proper legal context and simply describe it as an unconstitutional act and a slap in the face of the right of a people to self-determination.

According to articles 31 and 32 of the Constitution of Cote d’Ivoire, sovereignty resides in the people and they determine, in the exercise of that sovereignty, the sole right to elect their own leaders through free and fair elections: suffrage is universal, free, equal and secret.

What Kibaki did in Kenya, Mugabe in Zimbabwe and now Gbagbo in the Cote d’Ivoire was and is illegal and unconstitutional. In the case of Kenya, the constitution had to be amended to create the position of Prime Minister for Raila Odinga, who should have been the legitimate leader of Kenya. A similar situation occurred in Zimbabwe. Clearly, Gbagbo is exploiting this loophole. And the scenario is likely to repeat itself in other countries if the loophole is not plugged now by the AU and ECOWAS.

Multi-National Corporations play it ‘dirty’ in Africa

Former US Vice President and CEO of Halliburton

Corruption is a worldwide problem. For convenience sake, it has been widely associated with developing countries for the most part. It would be dishonest on my part to defend the developing world against charges of corruption. But the story is never complete when we only call the developing country like Ghana or Nigeria corrupt. That means we are only looking at one side of the coin.

Multi-national Corporations (MNCs) with roots in the developing world have a dominating role in propagating this disease in the developing world.

Last week, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) of Nigeria announced plans to charge Dick Cheney, former Vice President (VP) of the US, with corruption. Mr. Cheney acted as the CEO of Halliburton from 1995 to 2000. Documents coming to light reveal that during that time, the company participated in corrupt and fraudulent activities in Nigeria. One source states that about $180 million was used by Halliburton to bride its way to acquire lucrative natural gas contacts in Nigeria.
[ad#Adsense-200by90]
This is just one example of large companies who have the resources to hire experts who can cope with the bureaucratic hurdles normally characteristic of most African countries and obscure rules of play.

I’m very much aware of the situation in Ghana. Local entrepreneurs fight and give up in securing land and other licenses to start operating businesses while International Corporation can work around the system overnight and be in business the next morning. They have the means to “oil” the administrative machinery and speed up long drawn-out decision-making processes.

These corporations are not only infecting our system with the disease that we’ve been fighting for decades, in fact, some of them are directly or indirectly responsible for civil unrest and wars.

In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), it is estimated that nearly five million people have died in wars, the primary drive of which is the fulfillment of the Western economies and people’s unquenchable craving for high-quality jewels and precious minerals such as diamond. Where do the rebels get their arms from? They’re surely not locally made.

The educated elite in Africa benefit from this serfdom. This has become a war of attrition. The system of corruption propagated by MNCs in collaboration with African politicians has become a type of civil war in which the man or woman on the street cannot distinguish between a friend and a foe. They know that these corporations and their local leaders are making fortunes but they see none of the benefits in their everyday lives. Gold and diamonds from Ghana, diamond from the DRC, oil from Nigeria, cocoa from Ivory Coast and the list goes on, but a tin of milk is a luxury to most families.

It is easy for richer countries to attribute African development problems to corruption by African leaders. That is just part of the story. The role multi-national Corporations play should be addressed by their respective governments if these governments really care about Africa. The Western media needs to do a better job covering their corporations doing business in Africa.

I trust that the Nigerian EFCC hold Halliburton according to the very letter of the laws of the land. I’ll also have my ears widely open with regard to what steps the US Department of State takes. If I find something that I think will interest you, I’ll report it as usual. After all, that’s the very purpose this website was built to serve. Please check back

December 8, 2010January 24, 2011

I will be US President in Eight Years

jay z

Jay-Z has shown his political ambition by claiming he will replaced Barack Obama as president of the US by 2018.

The rapper, who was a vocal supporter of Obama during his election campaign, told BBC Newsbeat that he would love to have a go at running the country.

Discussing Obama’s time in power, he said: ‘In order to judge someone, you have to judge what they inherit. He [Obama] inherited the worst economy, war, just a horrible time in American history.’

‘Give me a chance. Maybe in eight years, I’ll be the president,’ he added.

December 7, 2010December 12, 2010

Endgame in Sudan

George Clooney and John Prendergast

Africa’s next deadly war does not have to happen. In little over a month, the people of Southern Sudan will vote for independence, taking with them up to three-quarters of the country’s known oil reserves and placing millions of civilians in the potential path of war.

They’ve done it before. The north and the south fought a 20-year civil war that ended in 2005 only after 2 million people were dead.

We recently spent time in Sudan along the border between the north and south and saw what a return to war could look like. Not On Our Watch and the Enough Project team made this video from our trip to highlight the challenges Sudan faces as it works toward holding a peaceful referendum and avoiding a return to civil war.

Nicholas Kristof premiered this video on his New York Times blog. He wrote, "Let’s hope that the alarms, and the latest burst of diplomacy and spotlight on South Sudan, are enough to avert a new war."

There’s only one month left. It’s frighteningly late, but not too late, to stop the next round of bloodshed before it starts. Renewed war in Sudan is not inevitable. A complex but workable peace can be brokered if all interested parties become more deeply involved, and the US maintains its recent focus on contributing to a solution.

Your voice in support of US diplomacy is key. There is no time to wait. This is happening now. Visit Sudan Now to get involved.

We were late to Rwanda. We were late to Congo. We were late to Darfur. We can’t afford to be late again. This is our chance to actually stop a war before it starts.

George Clooney is an actor and co-founder of the NGO Not On Our Watch. John Prendergast is co-founder of the Enough Project and co-author of The Enough Moment: The Fight to End Human Rights Crimes in Africa.

[youtube]fCjWO146kPc&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

December 7, 2010January 6, 2011

Malian officials in trouble: Global Fund suspends malaria

While global campaigns are gathering momentum to raise funds for malaria research and prevention, Malian officials have their own plan. Read on.

(AP)

BAMAKO, Mali — The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria said Tuesday that $4 million meant to fight disease in Mali has been misappropriated, prompting them to halt three grants.

The announcement came two days after Malian Health Minister Oumar Ibrahima Toure resigned without explanation on Sunday.

The Global Fund said Tuesday that Malian officials have arrested 15 people suspected of committing fraud; those include several senior health ministry officials.

The international fund said in a statement Tuesday that two malaria grants would be temporarily suspended and a tuberculosis grant would be terminated. Together the grants are worth $22.6 million. The fund has approved some $128 million in assistance for Mali since its creation in 2002. This has come in the form of eight grants – six of them administered by the government.

“The Global Fund tolerates no fraud, and we take public action to stop it, recover lost money and establish new and trustworthy channels for resources so they can reach those in need,” said Michel Kazatchkine, the fund’s executive director

Toure, the health minister, did not respond to requests for comment on Tuesday, nor did Malian government officials. But he had faced several public calls to step down over the Global Fund investigation, and Mali‘s president Amadou Toumani Toure vowed earlier to seek those responsible.

“Whenever someone is accused of wrongdoing, we will do what’s needed so that justice is done,” the president said Saturday. “We must not condemn people too quickly, however. It’s my desire that everyone arrested in connection with this affair has the chance to defend themselves, protect themselves and possibly prove their innocence.”

The fund said the $4 million appeared to have been skimmed through false invoices, fake bid documents and overcharging for goods and services.

The grants provided anti-malarial bed nets, malaria drugs and tuberculosis treatment for prisoners, people in mining communities and patients with multidrug resistant TB.

The fund says the malaria grants will be transferred to another recipient in Mali and treatment will not be interrupted. The tuberculosis patients helped by the other grant will also continue to receive assistance, the fund said.

The poor, landlocked West African nation relies on international donors to fund its health system. In August another international body, the GAVI Alliance, which helps get vaccines to developing countries, also froze the funds it gives to Mali because of corruption fears.

December 6, 2010December 6, 2010

African Development Bank Positioning Nigeria among the Strongest Economies in the World in 2020

Africa Business Communities

The African Development Bank (AfDB ) President, Donald Kaberuka, just completed a two-day official visit to Nigeria (23-24 November 2010). During this visit, he met with Goodluck Jonathan, President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, who reiterated his congratulations and support.

“Nigeria is at your side to support you to continue the reforms you have undertaken,” said President Jonathan Goodluck. In order to better understand Nigeria’s needs and assess the prospects for future AfDB Group operations in the country, the AfDB President also held talks with Vice-President Namadi Sambo, Senate President David B. A Mark, parliamentarians, the chairman of the Finance Committee of Parliament, the Minister of Finance Olesegun Agang, government officials, bankers, experts and business people.

“I’m leaving Nigeria’s satisfied with the quality of the discussions I had at all levels. Nigeria is a large country with huge potential, an economy that plays a leading role in the West African region. Like most African countries, Nigeria is suffering from a large deficit in infrastructure, particularly in energy. The AfDB is prepared to lend its support to resolve this problem, in close collaboration with the Nigerian private sector”, said the Bank Group President during a press briefing concluding his visit.

During a meeting with the principal architects of Vision 2020, held at the Presidential Palace under the chairmanship of Vice-President Sambo, the Bank Group President took note on the needs expressed by the Nigerian authorities. These requirements extend to all sectors, especially infrastructure (airports, roads, railways, ICT, energy), capacity building, industry, agriculture and rural development, governance, climate change, integration at federal and regional levels.

Vision 2020 aims at positioning Nigeria among the top 20 world economies. However, to achieve this goal, Nigeria must ensure an average in energy generation of 40,000 megawatts per day. To date, total electricity generation in Nigeria is 3,500 megawatts / day, against an estimated demand of 15,000 megawatts per day. The estimated investment in this sector to fill the gap amounts to the equivalent of USD 4 billion/year over the next 10 years.

Areas of intervention involved in Vision 2020 in Nigeria are in line with the AfDB Group Medium-Term Strategy. “I welcome the farsighted vision of the Nigerian authorities and the proper articulation of Vision 2020. The AfDB Group and Nigeria will work together for its realization, “said President Kaberuka.

Nigeria is a founding member of the AfDB. The country has access to both non-concessional (ADB) and concessional (ADF) resources. The AfDB has an office in Nigeria as part of its decentralization policy.

(Africa Business Communities)

Ivory coast election crisis Kwadwo Appiagyei-Atua

Ivory coast election crisis

Kwadwo Appiagyei-Atua