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Abstract: This paper proposes a framework for the study of the role of armies in elite bargaining and state building. The author accepts that the institutionalisation of the army and its subordination to the political elite has proved a successful path for most western democracies, but argues that this same path may not be attractive or feasible for ruling elites in every circumstance, particularly in fragile or developmental states. The paper describes a range of alternative approaches and highlights the trade-offs implicit in each of them. In particular, it focuses on the incorporation of armies to the elite bargain as the
main alternative. The hypothesis which we tested in our series of case studies is that in
contexts of state formation and in the early stages of state building, the integration of the army
into a country’s elite bargain is a key factor in preventing military interventions. The author draws on examples from a wide range of countries studied during the Centre's second phase of work, including Afghanistan, Colombia, DRCongo, Pakistan, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.
Abstract: Access to justice is an important tenet of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and
the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Article 16 of the 1951 Convention
Relating to the Status of Refugees gives refugees equal access to host-state courts as nationals.
Nevertheless, many refugees do not have access to, or choose not to utilize, the host state justice
system.
Camps and settlements are often characterized by a plurality of legal institutions, with the host
state, UNHCR, NGOs and refugees themselves all playing a part in justice administration. Like
the Sudanese Bench Courts in Kakuma, these institutions do not necessarily comply with
international human rights or host state legislation, leaving refugees without the equal protection
of the law.
The existing body of academic and practitioner literature on justice administration in refugee
camps and settlements is very limited and has largely focused on procedural and legalistic
questions. Researchers have been concerned with how different informal and formal institutions
operate; whether women and minorities are involved in decision-making; the types of decisions
reached, as well as the availability of legal counsel.
Almost no attention has been paid to the voices and agency of refugees: what are the crimes and
conflicts of greatest concern to them, what justice institutions do they believe to be available,
how do they view these institutions, what costs and benefits determine which institutions they
use, and what are their objectives in pursuing justice?
My goal is to go beyond the procedural, rules-based analysis of past works and to undertake a
socio-legal analysis that captures the voices and agency of refugees and engages with justice
systems as dynamic social institutions that are heavily influenced by popular perceptions and
actions.
Abstract: Military interventions seem endemic in sub-Saharan Africa. Presenting data for the period
between 1956 and 2001, Patrick McGowan counts a total of 80 successful military coups
along with 108 failed coup attempts and 139 coup plots. 62.5 percent of all
states in sub-Saharan Africa have experienced at least one successful coup and 37.5 percent
have even suffered multiple coups. 41 out of 48 states (85.4 percent) have had either coups or
failed coup attempts. Only six countries have remained completely free of all three types of
military intervention events.1 Interestingly, military interventions have remained pervasive
over time. Since the first coup in the Sudan in November 1958 there has been no single year
without coup activity by African militaries. The period from 1958 to 1979 witnessed 47
successful coups, 46 failed coups and 66 coup plots, while there were still 33 successful
coups, 62 failed coups and 73 coup plots between 1980 and 2001. Even the democratisation
trend from the early 1990s did not lead to a significant reduction in coup occurrence. Against
this background, Clarks’s thesis that democratisation has facilitated ‘the decline of the
African military coups’ seems premature.
Abstract: This paper considers the reasons behind Zambia's avoidance of civil war, despite persistent regional instability, focusing on the inclusiveness of the country's 'elite bargain', i.e. the inter-group distribution of access to positions of state power. The author hypothesizes that, although colonial rule left Zambia with high levels of social fragmentation - evident in pronounced tribal, linguistic and class cleavages - the country's post-colonial governments have all managed to accommodate the colonial legacy of high social fragmentation by forging and maintaining inclusive elite bargains. The paper argues that this achievement can be directly related to the avoidance of civil war since independence in 1964.
Abstract: Southern Africa has embarked on one of the world’s most ambitious security co-operation initiatives, seeking to roll out the principles of the United Nations at regional levels. This book examines the triangular relationship between democratisation, the character of democracy and its deficits, and national security practices and perceptions of eleven southern African states. It explores what impact these processes and practices have had on the collaborative security project in the region. Based on national studies conducted by African academics and security practitioners over three years, it includes an examination of the way security is conceived and managed, as well as a comparative analysis of regional security co-operation in the developing world. This book includes: Chapter 1: Democratic Governance and Security: A Conceptual Exploration, by Andre du Pisani; Chapter 2: Comparative Perspectives on Regional Security Co-operation among Developing Countries, by Gavin Cawthra; Chapter 3: Southern African Security in Historical Perspective, by Abillah H. Omari and Paulino Macaringue; Chapter 4: Botswana, by Mpho G. Molomo, Zibani Maundeni, Bertha Osei-Hwedie, Ian Taylor, and Shelly Whitman; Chapter 5: Lesotho, by Khabele Matlosa; Chapter 6: Mauritius, by Gavin Cawthra; Chapter 7: Mozambique, by Anicia Lalá; Chapter 8: Namibia, by Bill Lindeke, Phanuel Kaapama, and Leslie Blaauw; Chapter 9: Seychelles, by Anthoni van Nieuwkerk and William M. Bell; Chapter 10: South Africa, by Maxi Schoeman; Chapter 11: Swaziland, by Joseph Bheki Mzizi; Chapter 12: Tanzania Mohammed, by Omar Maundi; Chapter 13: Zambia, by Bizeck Jube Phiri; Chapter 14: Zimbabwe, by Ken D. Manungo; and Chapter 15: Conclusions, by Gavin Cawthra, Khabele Matlosa, and Anthoni van Nieuwkerk.
Abstract: At least 71 journalists were killed across the globe in 2009, the Committee to Protect Journalists announced Tuesday, the largest annual toll in the 30 years the group has been keeping track.
Twenty-nine of those deaths came in a single, politically motivated massacre of reporters and others in the Philippines last November, the worst known episode for journalists, the committee said.
But there were other worrisome trends. The two nations with the highest number of journalists incarcerated — China had 24 journalists imprisoned at the end of 2009 and Iran had 23 — were particularly harsh in taking aim at bloggers and others using the Internet. The number jailed in Iran has since jumped to 47, the committee said. Of the 71 confirmed deaths, 51 were murders, the committee said. The report noted that 24 additional deaths of journalists remained under investigation to determine if they were related to the journalists’ work. Previously, the highest number of journalists killed in a single year was 67, in 2007, when violence in Iraq was raging.
Abstract: The problem of civilians becoming unintentional victims of landmine detonation in the world today is one that cannot be underestimated in terms of its importance to global and local humanitarian efforts. The human-life and financial costs associated with landmine detonation are paramount, and are being addressed by the Global community via the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping and its associated agency UNMAS (The United Nations Mine Action Service). In terms of human-life cost, the current statistic is that every 28 seconds a person steps on a landmine, resulting in 6500 – 20,000 new casualties per year. These tragic events are happening in at least 84 states, and every world region is affected. It is the intent of this literature review to enlighten the reader in two main topic areas. The first is that of mine action and our understanding of it, with specific regard to what is generally understood to be the most affected continent: Africa. A comprehensive description and discussion of the geo-political status of mine action in Southern Africa and its relation to development will be set out.
The second topic area that will be reviewed is that of predictive GIS modeling, as it applies to mine action. The intent is to put forth the scientific (i.e.: based on peer-reviewed publications) background information that justifies and supports an experiment that will be conducted. The goal, in general lay terms, will be to see whether it is possible to predict with a reasonable, usable, and repeatable amount of accuracy the delineating outlines of where minefields are located in a specific geographical study area. It is hoped that the effort with predictive GIS modeling will yield a technique that is valid for use across a variety of study areas. Having said this, the study area that is the concentration of this review is the region of Southern Africa and it must be acknowledged that the results, if positive, may not be transferrable to different Geo-political regions.
Abstract: IPI is pleased to introduce a new series of working papers on regional capacities to respond to security
challenges in Africa. The broad range of United Nations, African Union, and subregional peacekeeping,
peacemaking, and peacebuilding initiatives in Africa underscore a new sense of multilayered partnership in the
search for the peaceful resolution of conflicts in Africa. As the total number of conflicts on the continent has
been significantly reduced in the past decade, there is widespread recognition of the opportunities for a more
stable and peaceful future for Africa. But there is also a profound awareness of the fragility of recent peace
agreements, whether in Kenya, Liberia, or Côte d’Ivoire. Furthermore, continued violence in the Sudan, the
Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Zimbabwe; the long absence of a viable central government in Somalia;
and continued tensions between Ethiopia and Eritrea—to name only a few cases—reflect the legacy of
unresolved historic disputes and ongoing power struggles...The southern African region is now
generally defined in political terms as
those countries that are members of the
Southern African Development
Community (SADC) (the geographic
definition is usually somewhat more
limited). Currently there are fifteen
member states of the SADC: Angola,
Botswana, the Democratic Republic of the
Congo (DRC), Lesotho, Madagascar,
Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique,
Namibia, the Seychelles, South Africa,
Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, and
Zimbabwe.
These countries are disparate in many
ways: they vary greatly in size, population,
and levels of economic growth, and
include some of the poorest countries in
the world, but also some of the richest in
Africa. Six of them are landlocked; two of
them are Indian Ocean islands. They
share a common history of colonization—variously
involving French, British, Belgian, and German
imperial powers—and this continues to impact
significantly on the nature of governance and
politics in the region. Many, but not all, of the
countries of the region experienced periods of
European settler colonialism, resulting in armed
liberation struggles for independence. Several of
them also endured apartheid or various forms of
racial segregation and oppression as a result of that
history of settler colonialism.
Conflict and war has marked the region considerably,
particularly conflicts over apartheid and
colonialism, which engulfed most of southern
Africa and led to millions of deaths. Angola and
Mozambique suffered further from post-independence
civil wars, fueled in part by South Africa and
Rhodesia. After a bloody civil war following the
collapse of Mobutu Sese-Seko’s authoritarian
regime in the DRC in the second half of the 1990s,
however, the region is, for the first time in forty
years, almost completely at peace, except for
residual conflicts in the east of the DRC.
Nevertheless, there remain profound threats to
human and state security, many of them fueled by
poverty, marginalization, and the weakness of
states.
Abstract: UNHCR's deputy chief told key donors on Thursday that a comprehensive assessment of the needs of refugees and other people cared for by the refugee agency in eight pilot countries has revealed some substantial and disturbing gaps that must be addressed.
Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees L. Craig Johnstone was launching "Refugee Realities" at the annual meeting of UNHCR's governing Executive Committee. The UNHCR report, based on the pilot Global Needs Assessment, presents a sobering picture of gaps in several areas, including shelter, health, education, food security, sanitation and the prevention of sexual violence. Nearly a third of those unmet needs were basic and essential services.
"Anyone who visits a refugee camp or sees the needs of refugees and asylum seekers living in urban areas can be in no doubt that more needs to be done," said Johnstone, who is leading the effort to mainstream Global Needs Assessment into UNHCR's overall budgeting process. "Obviously, meeting the needs of our beneficiaries and ensuring their basic rights will require more resources."
The pilot assessment, set to be rolled out worldwide in UNHCR operations for the 2010-2011 planning cycle, was carried out in Cameroon, Ecuador, Georgia, Rwanda, Tanzania, Thailand, Yemen and Zambia earlier this year.
Abstract: La région des Grands Lacs en Afrique centrale et orientale
a été ravagée par des confl its pendant plus de dix
ans. Les guerres dans la région ont conduit à des mouvements
massifs de population, qui ont eux-mêmes
constitué un motif supplémentaire de confl it. Par exemple,
l’un des fl ux de population les plus importants
et les plus rapides de l’histoire récente a fait suite au
génocide de 1994 au Rwanda qui a causé la mort de
près d’un million de personnes. Des acteurs armés et
des auteurs de violations graves des droits de l’homme
étaient mêlés à une foule de réfugiés authentiques
dans ce fl ux sans précédent. L’incapacité de gérer cette
situation complexe a contribué au déclenchement et
à la poursuite du confl it en République Démocratique
du Congo (RDC).
Aujourd’hui, la région s’efforce de revenir sur la voie
de la paix et du développement. Des accords de paix
ont été signés au Burundi, au Sud Soudan et en RDC.
Des négociations sont en cours pour mettre un terme
à la guerre dans le nord de l’Ouganda avec le soutien
de plusieurs Etats africains. Grâce à ces évolutions, un
grand nombre de réfugiés et de personnes déplacées à
l’intérieur de leur propre pays («personnes déplacées»)
ont été en mesure de rentrer chez eux dans l’ensemble
de la région, que ce soit en Angola, au Burundi, au
Sud Soudan et, dans une certaine mesure, dans le
nord de l’Ouganda. Ce guide a été conçu pour aider les lecteurs à comprendre
le cadre politique, juridique et institutionnel de la
CIRGL. Il se concentre sur les trois protocoles du pilier
social et humanitaire de la Conférence internationale
sur la région des Grands Lacs les plus pertinents pour
la protection des droits des personnes déplacées.3 Nous
espérons que ce guide aidera les défenseurs des droits
des personnes déplacées dans la région à utiliser le Pacte
sur les Grands Lacs pour élaborer des politiques et des
décisions au bénéfi ce des personnes déplacées.
Abstract: Development processes are inherently conflict-ridden and historically, even violent conflict, regardless of claims made by Paul Collier (2007) to the contrary, has been the mid-wife to progressive change. This needs to be kept in mind as we discuss “conflict prevention” and development intervention. President Yuweri Museveni has presided over the longest period of relative stability and progressive developmental change in Uganda’s post-independence history and was able to do so because he and the National Resistance Movement fought their way to power. While it is important to keep an open mind about the possibility that violence may sometimes lead to progressive change, nonetheless it is overwhelmingly clear that most people in the “here and now” value security and the absence of violence as essential to meeting their life goals. The question this gives rise to is how conflict may be managed to avoid a descent into violence.
In every society access to land provides both a home and possibilities for production, first in terms of mere subsistence and beyond in terms of generating surplus. Land is precious and central to the livelihood processes of any society, so it is not surprising that it has often figured as the object of conflict. What is surprising is that with people’s livelihood in most “fragile states” so dependent on agricultural sources of income, there is not more focus on both this sector and on land in recent debates about, and plans for, promoting development. There is a complex relationship between land and conflict. Seldom is a violent conflict uniquely about land, but access to land and disputes over land rights have loomed large in almost every episode of prolonged violence and war.
In this brief paper, I would like to draw on some insights emerging our of our Crisis States Research Centre’s case studies, to raise a few simple propositions for debate. First, I want to make a case about the neglect of attention to agriculture and production in development assistance more generally. In the second and third parts of the paper I would like to raise just two ways in which land can figure centrally in conflict as a means for thinking about how problems of land should be taken into account in any donor interventions that hope to contribute to the prevention of violent conflict.
Abstract: The Great Lakes region of central and eastern Africa has been torn apart by conflict for more than a decade. The region's wars have resulted in, and have been further propelled by, massive population movements. For example, one of the largest and fastest population flows in recent history followed the 1994 genocide in Rwanda which claimed nearly a million lives. This unprecedented flow included armed actors and those who had committed serious human rights abuses, amid throngs of genuine refugees. The failure to address this complex situation contributed to the outbreak and continuation of conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It was in response to these linked challenges and the need to tackle them comprehensively and transnationally that the United Nations (UN) and African Union (AU) initiated the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR). The objective was to bring all the countries of the region together "to dialogue and agree on a strategy to bring peace and prosperity to the Great Lakes region." This Guide is intended to help readers understand the political, legal and institutional framework of the ICGLR. It focuses on the three protocols in the social and humanitarian pillar which are the most relevant for protecting the rights of displaced people. We hope that the Guide will help advocates for the rights of displaced people in the region to use the Great Lakes Pact to shape policies and decisions for the benefit of the displaced.
Abstract: En 2007, l'économie n'a progressé que de 5.8 pour cent en Zambie, contre 6.2 pour cent en 2006, en raison notamment d’un ralentissement de la production
de cuivre. En revanche, le secteur du bâtiment est resté très actif, avec une croissance stable en 2007. En 2008 et 2009, l’économie devrait continuer de se redresser avec une croissance un peu au dessus de 6 pour cent et une forte progression des exportations de cuivre grâce aux investissements massifs engagés en 2006 et 2007. Cette expansion en volume devrait compenser l’érosion attendue des cours sur le marché mondial. Parmi les facteurs négatifs, le mauvais temps et les pannes de courant, qui se sont multipliées au début de
l’année 2008, vont limiter la croissance des secteurs agricole et industriel.
Abstract: Le présent rapport fait la synthèse de la première grande étude continentale visant à mesurer et contrôler les « Progrès accomplis sur la voie de la bonne gouvernance en Afrique », entreprise par la Commission économique pour l’Afrique. Dans le cadre de cette étude, des enquêtes et des recherches ont été menées sur 28 pays. Les résultats complets et l’analyse de l’étude seront
publiés en 2005 dans le premier «Rapport sur la gouvernance en Afrique ».
La CEA a entrepris ce travail pour évaluer l’idée que les citoyens se font de l’état de la gouvernance en Afrique, pour rassembler des informations sur les meilleures pratiques et pour identifier les principaux besoins de la région en
matière de développement des capacités. Le projet a identifié quatre tendances positives sur la voie de la création d’États compétents en Afrique: transitions démocratiques, ouverture politique, liberté d’expression et obligation comptable, et gestion économique.
Abstract: Le Rapport sur la gouvernance en Afrique est le fruit de larges travaux de recherche sur les pratiques de gouvernance entrepris dans 27 pays africains par la Commission économique pour l’Afrique (CEA), par l’intermédiaire d’instituts nationaux de recherche, qui ont recueilli, ensemble par échantillonnage, les opinions de plus de 50 000 ménages et de 2 000 experts. Les conclusions, soumises à la CEA entre 2002 et 2004, ont fait l’objet d’un processus rigoureux d’examens auxquels ont participé des experts nationaux et internationaux travaillant sur la gouvernance et les questions politiques et économiques.
Ce rapport est la première grande étude de ce type initiée par les pays africains, qui vise à analyser de façon empirique les opinions des citoyens quant à l’état de la gouvernance dans leurs pays, tout en mettant en évidence les principaux déficits de capacité dans les pratiques et institutions de gouvernance et en recommandant des pratiques optimales et des solutions pour y faire face. On s’est attaché à assurer l’appropriation locale de l’ensemble empirique de résultats afin de renforcer l’efficacité et la légitimité de la prise de décisions et de l’effort de sensibilisation aux niveaux national et infrarégional. Les données ainsi générées peuvent être utilisées pour mesurer la performance des gouvernements et de toutes les principales parties prenantes dans leur réponse aux préoccupations exprimées par les citoyens et pour suivre la mesure dans laquelle le contrat qu’ils ont passé entre eux est respecté. Nous avons pris soin de ne pas être trop directif. Le Rapport sur la gouvernance en Afrique contient des recommandations qui découlent essentiellement des réalités propres aux pays, car, pour être durable, la gouvernance doit être replacée dans son contexte et internalisée.
Abstract: Ce rapport contient des résumés sur les régions suivants: Afrique australe, Afrique de l’Est, Afrique de l’Ouest et Afrique centrale, et Afrique centrale, et aussi sur les thèmes suivantes: le double défi de la tuberculose et du VIH, circonsion masculine et préventions du VIH, epidémies latentes parmi les hommes ayant des rapports sexuels avec des hommes, la consommation de drogues injectables: un facteur croissant dans plusiers épidémies de VIH de L'Afrique Subsaharienne, et signes de changements vers des comportements à moindre risque.
Abstract: The Zambian government is failing to address the life-threatening obstacles facing Zambian women living with HIV who experience domestic and gender-based violence, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today [December 18, 2007]. Gender-based violence and insecure property rights are preventing Zambian women from accessing life-saving antiretroviral treatment. While acknowledging the significant overall progress made by the Zambian government in scaling up HIV treatment generally, the 96-page report, “Hidden in the Mealie Meal: Gender-Based Abuses and Women’s HIV Treatment in Zambia,†documents how the government has fallen short of its international legal obligations to combat violence and discrimination against women. The report details abuses that obstruct women’s ability to start and adhere to HIV treatment regimens, including violence against women and insecure property rights that often force women into poverty and dependent, abusive relationships. The report is based on interviews in Zambia’s Lusaka and Copperbelt provinces with dozens of women living with HIV, HIV counselors and other healthcare providers, government officials, donors, and the police. The report documents how domestic violence and fear of violence thwarted women’s ability to seek HIV information and testing, discouraged them from disclosing their HIV status to partners, delayed their pursuit of treatment, and caused them to miss clinic appointments and doses of medication.
Abstract: For over four decades, Zambia has provided refuge to millions who sought asylum. Today,
Zambia hosts an estimated 120,000 refugees, including 70,000 refugees in two camps, two
settlements, and in urban areas. The remaining 50,000 refugees are self-settled and
dispersed across the country. The refugees in Zambia originate from across Africa, with the
largest groups being from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola.
While this report notes the contributions of the Zambian government in refugee protection
over many years, it focuses primarily on current protection gaps and challenges so as to
provide a working document for collaborative work to follow.
Abstract: In the past year DFID has provided around xc2xa340m of development assistance to Zambia.
DFID has provided Poverty Reduction Budget Support (PRBS) to the Government of Zambia
since 2005.
Abstract: Billions of dollars in aid are flowing to developing countries to confront HIV/AIDS but relatively little is known yet about the effectiveness of this aid. The HIV/AIDS Monitor is designed to help fill this knowledge gap by tracking and analyzing key features of the way aid for HIV/AIDS is allocated and disbursed, while identifying lessons relevant to broader questions about the effectiveness of development assistance.
The analysis centers on the three major HIV/AIDS aid initiatives: The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR); and the World Bank's Multi-Country HIV/AIDS Program (MAP). Despite a common commitment to fighting the epidemic, each donor implements programs in different ways with different targets. Based on global-level analysis and case studies from four African nations, the HIV/AIDS Monitor hopes to contribute to improvements in the efficiency and effectiveness of the major aid initiatives.
Abstract: The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has been in existence since 1980, when it was formed as a loose alliance of nine majority-ruled States in Southern Africa known as the Southern African Development Coordination Conference (SADCC), with the main aim of coordinating development projects in order to lessen economic dependence on the then apartheid South Africa. The founding Member States are: Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. SADCC was formed in Lusaka, Zambia on April 1, 1980, following the adoption of the Lusaka Declaration - Southern Africa: Towards Economic Liberation. The transformation of the organization from a Coordinating Conference into a Development Community (SADC) took place on August 17, 1992 in Windhoek, Namibia when the Declaration and Treaty was signed at the Summit of Heads of State and Government thereby giving the organization a legal character. The Member States are Angola, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. SADC headquarters are in Gaborone, Botswana. The objective of SADC: Achieve development and economic growth, alleviate poverty, enhance the standard and quality of life of the people of Southern Africa and support the socially disadvantaged through regional integration; Evolve common political values, systems and institutions; Promote and defend peace and security; Promote self-sustaining development on the basis of collective self-reliance, and the interdependence of Member States; Achieve complementarity between national and regional strategies and programmes; Promote and maximise productive employment and utilisation of resources of the Region; Achieve sustainable utilisation of natural resources and effective protection of the environment; Strengthen and consolidate the long-standing historical, social and cultural affinities and links among the people of the Region.
Abstract: At its most basic level, the HIV/AIDS challenge for media is simple: people around the world are
contracting HIV and dying of AIDS in massive numbers and the spread of the disease could be
substantially curtailed if more people had accurate information about how HIV is contracted.
Journalists have a frontline role to play in combating the reasons why AIDS is on the rise.
There is a vital role that journalists and the media can play in combating the HIV/AIDS crisis,
primarily in providing information - often at the most basic level - to the public. Additionally, the
media can play a crucial role in combating stigma and discrimination against people living with
HIV/AIDS and exposing myths about the disease.
HIV/AIDS is the news story of our time - and our research shows that journalists agree.
Over November 2005 - March 2006, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), the global
organisation representing more than 500,000 journalists in 120 countries, conducted research
into the media's reporting of HIV/AIDS, as part of a program aimed at improving reporting of
HIV. The research was supported by the Swedish trade union movement, the LO-TCO. The
research focused on six countries across Africa and Asia. The six countries were: the
Philippines, India and Cambodia (in Asia) and Zambia, South Africa and Nigeria. There were
two parts to the research: media monitoring for two two-week periods (one for Asia and one for
Africa) in late November/December 20#05 to determine the quality and quantity of HIV/AIDS
reports in the media; and surveys of journalists and NGOs in the HIV/AIDS field on their
perception of coverage of HIV/AIDS.
The research work was part of a broader project called "Strengthening journalists' unions by
improving reporting on HIV/AIDS in Africa and Asia". It commenced in the second half of 2005
and will be conducted throughout 2006.
Fundamentally, this project recognises that HIV/AIDS is a union issue. It seeks to strengthen
the capacity of journalists' unions to effectively represent their members' interests, both as
workers who are affected by HIV/AIDS and as journalists who can improve professionalism
when reporting HIV/AIDS.
This project seeks to share experiences and resources between journalists in Africa and Asia
on combating HIV/AIDS from two perspectives: journalists as workers who can build strong
unions to implement workplace strategies to combat HIV/AIDS, and journalists as part of the
hugely influential media, which has an instrumental role to play in combating the epidemic.
The research findings presented here start with an executive summary of results from all six
countries, including recommendations for both media organisations and journalist organisations.
It then examines each country's research results in detail.
The results give us an insight into the current quantity and quality of reporting HIV and AIDS in
the six target countries, and more importantly, pointers to strategies to improve it. And the overall strategy is simple: by improved and more frequent media reporting of HIV/AIDS,
lives will be saved.
Abstract: The Tribunal of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) is the newest operationalized subregional court in Africa. Provided for under Article 16 of the 1992 Declaration and Treaty Establishing the Southern African Development Community, the Community's members approved the Protocol required to set up the Tribunal in 2000. Despite the ratification requirements in the Protocol itself, the Protocol entered into force with the signature of the Agreement Amending the Treaty of SADC in August 2001. The Agreement Amending the Treaty marked a renewed energy in the integration of the Community, making the Protocol on the Tribunal an integral part of the Treaty and thus automatically applicable to all Member States. The renewed energy of the Community however, was not reflected in a swift establishment of the Tribunal. The first judges of the Tribunal were not sworn in until November 2005.
