Formerly ‘Africa Recovery’ United Nations Department of Public Information Vol. 21 No. 4 January 2008

Investing in mothers’ h e a l t h

Also inside: Saving Africa’s forests State building in Congo AIDS deaths declining UNCDF / Adam Rogers United Nations Vol. 21 No. 4 January 2008

FRI UE ENOUVEAU contentsCover article Investing in the health of Africa’s mothers ...... 8 Social hurdles to better maternal health . . . . 10

Also in this issue

A bank in every African pocket? ...... 3

AIDS deaths are declining, reports UN . . . . .4

Saving Africa’s forests, the ‘lungs of the world’ ...... 5

Building a state for the Congolese people . . . 12 Armed groups in eastern Congo ...... 14. A cleaner bureaucracy, a fuller treasury ...... 17. Panos / Giacomo Pirozzi Giacomo / Panos Departments

Agenda...... 22 Books ...... 22 Briefs...... 23 A pregnant woman gets medicine and advice Watch...... 24 at a rural clinic in Kenya.

Africa Renewal is published in English and French by the Strategic Communications Division Editor-in-Chief of the United Nations Department of Public Information, with support from UNDP, UNICEF and Julie I. Thompson UNIFEM. Its contents do not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or the pub- Managing Editor Writers lication’s supporting organizations. Material from this magazine may be freely reproduced, Ernest Harsch Mary Kimani with attribution to “United Nations Africa Renewal,” and a clipping would be appreciated. Gumisai Mutume Research Assistant Correspondence should be addressed to: Marian Aggrey The Editor, Africa Renewal Administrative Assistant Distribution Room S-955, United Nations, NY 10017, USA Shelly Edelsburg Atar Markman Tel: (212) 963-6857, Fax: (212) 963-4556 e-mail: [email protected] Tell us what Subscribe to Africa Renewal you think! Annual subscriptions are available to individuals for $20 and to institutions for $35. Please send an ­international money order or make cheques payable in US dollars, drawn on a US bank, to the “United Nations” and send to Circulation at the address shown above. For Please fill out our reader those who lack the means to pay the subscription fee, a limited number of complimentary subscriptions are available. Please send a clearly written application to the editor. survey at www.un.org/AR Africa Renewal is printed on recycled paper. A bank in every African pocket? Mobile phones expand access to financial services

By Mary Kimani “As long as you have that mind-set,” he Established in 2004, Wizzit has signed Kigali says, “it becomes incredibly expensive to up 50,000 South African customers. It nn Wanjiku walks up to a green-and- bring banking to the mass market.” hopes to reach 16 million others, in a coun- white booth with an “M-Pesa agent” As a result, regular bank services are try where some 60 per cent of the popu- A sign on it. There she shows the agent often simply unavailable. Ethiopia has lation has no bank account. Holders of her identity card and her cell phone, which just one bank branch for every 100,000 Wizzit accounts can use any cell phone, displays a PIN number provided by even the cheap, old models popular a client. Using the PIN number, the in low-income communities. Users M-Pesa agent takes just a minute to can deposit cash into their cell-based verify that the client has transferred accounts through any post office or payment for 1,000 traditional carv- any branch of Amalgamated Banks ings into Ms. Wanjiku’s mobile money of South Africa or the South African account. Ms. Wanjiku then withdraws Bank of Athens. Salaries can be paid the amount in cash. electronically into a Wizzit account. Like 90 per cent of Kenyans, Ms. Account holders also receive Maestro Wanjiku does not have an account in debit cards accepted at ATMs and by a regular bank. Across Africa, only 20 retailers. There is no minimum balance per cent of families have formal bank or annual fee, but users pay the equiva- accounts, according to a World Bank lent of US$0.15–0.78 per transaction. survey. In Tanzania the percentage is According to Mohsen Khalil, the as low as 5 per cent, and in Liberia 15 World Bank’s director of global ICT, Alamy Images / Greenstock Photographic Library Photographic Greenstock / Images Alamy per cent. Wizzit’s operation is one of the most But the proliferation of mobile innovative approaches to mobile telephone services around the conti- banking, since it specifically targets nent has opened a new way to extend the poor. If this model works in South financial services to people like Ms. Africa, he says, the World Bank will Wanjiku. In the few countries where help the company expand coverage they have emerged, companies such within and beyond the country. “We as M-Pesa can use any phone or phone may be looking here at . . . the most card to provide affordable services to effective way to provide social and customers wherever there is a mobile economic services to the poor.” phone signal. Expanding such innovations in Touch of a button In South Africa, Kenya and other countries, cell phones the use of modern information and can be used to bring financial services to people who Some counterparts to Wizzit have communications technologies (ICT) have little access to regular banks. emerged elsewhere in Africa. Like Ms. more widely was a central topic at a Wanjiku, about 1 million Kenyans use Connect Africa Summit held in Kigali, M-Pesa, a joint product of the Voda- Rwanda, in October. More than 1,000 people, compared with Spain, which has fone/Safaricom mobile phone company, private-sector, government and donor 96 branches for every 100,000 people. the Commercial Bank of Africa and representatives discussed how such tech- Moreover, requirements to maintain rela- Faulu Kenya, a microfinance­ organiza- nologies can help in finding solutions to tively high account balances make such tion. M-Pesa customers deposit money Africa’s development problems. services too costly for most Africans. with a registered agent or phone ven- Even in South Africa, which has a dor. The agent then credits the phone Money under mattresses more extensive banking system, it is account. Users can send between 100 Most banks in Africa have branches only estimated that people keep about R12 bn Kenyan shillings ($1.5) and 35,000 shil- in urban areas. Brian Richardson, the chief (US$1.8 bn) “under mattresses,” says lings ($530) via a text message to a de- executive officer of Wizzit South Africa, a Mr. Richardson. “If we could take just a sired recipient — even someone using a cell phone banking facility, notes that ex- small portion of that into the formal bank- different mobile network. The recipient panding access to rural areas has tradition- ing system, the impact on the economy ally involved opening new branch offices. would be enormous.” see page 21

JANUARY 2008 3 AIDS deaths are declining, reports UN But new data show that epidemic remains huge in Africa

By Ernest Harsch retroactively, to previous or the first time since the AIDS years, the two UN institu- pandemic was identified a quarter- tions revealed some positive F century ago, “we are seeing a decline trends over time. First, new in global AIDS deaths,” reports Dr. Kevin infections with HIV were De Cock, director of AIDS at the World likely to have peaked in the Health Organization (WHO). Revised fig- late 1990s, when more than ures released by WHO and the Joint UN 3 million people became Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) newly infected annually. The also show that new infections from HIV, revised estimates indicate the virus that causes the disease, have that this total has actually begun to fall as well. been declining since then, Citing more accurate data-collection to some 2.5 million newly methods, the AIDS Epidemic Update infected in 2007. Second, 2007, released jointly by UNAIDS and the number of annual deaths WHO in November, estimates that there from AIDS has also started are about 33.2 million people worldwide to fall, from a high point of living with HIV, compared with the fig- around 2.4 million in 2005 to

ure of 39.5 million the two institutions about 2.1 million in 2007. Cooper Neil / Inc. Arnold, Peter had released the year before. The change To an extent, these chang- in the number of people living with HIV ing trends reflect some of the was not an actual decline, the Update has- first significant successes in tened to add, but a statistical revision of AIDS-prevention efforts. estimates after detailed national surveys In a number of countries, in about 30 countries demonstrated that according to national sur- earlier totals were too high. vey results, young people The revision generated considerable are engaging in less risky Young woman promoting AIDS awareness in Swaziland: controversy, with some independent AIDS sexual behaviour, whether Southern Africa remains the most severely afflicted region. experts arguing that the data should have by using protective con- been adjusted earlier. But all agree that the doms or by having fewer newer, more accurate figures have brought or no partners. The report cites evidence other world regions, women and children into the open an important shift in the of such behavioural changes in Botswana, are far more vulnerable to the disease in epidemic’s progression, one that was not Cameroon, Kenya, Malawi, Togo, Zambia, sub-Saharan Africa. Of those Africans liv- apparent with the older statistics. Zimbabwe and a few other countries. ing with HIV, 61 per cent are women, while In adjusting their overall estimates fully 90 per cent of all HIV-positive children ‘Real nightmares’ in Africa in the world are in sub-Saharan Africa. AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa Neither the shift in the disease’s overall Within the continent, Southern Africa millions, 2007 trend nor the revision in the estimates has is by far the most afflicted, accounting changed one glaring fact: sub-Saharan for around a third of all new HIV infec- People living with HIV 22.5 Africa remains the epicentre of the global tions globally and about a third of peo- malady. Of all those living with HIV, ple living with HIV. In eight countries of which: women 13.7 about 22.5 million, or 68 per cent of the — Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, of which: children 2.2 world’s total, are in sub-Saharan Africa. Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, The region accounts for the same percent- Zambia and Zimbabwe — national adult People newly infected with HIV 1.7 age of people newly infected with the HIV-prevalence rates exceed 15 per cent. AIDS deaths 1.6 virus, as well as 76 per cent of those who South Africa leads the world in the num- die of AIDS annually. ber of people infected with HIV. AIDS orphans 11.4 “AIDS continues to be the single largest Southern African countries, says Daniel Source: UN Africa Renewal from data in UNAIDS, cause of mortality in sub-Saharan Africa,” WHO, AIDS Epidemic Update 2007. says the report. Moreover, in contrast to see page 19

4 JANUARY 2008 Saving Africa’s forests, the ‘lungs of the world’ Forest conservation can help counter climate change

By Michael Fleshman rom the air the forests of the Democratic Republic of the Congo F (DRC) stretch as far as the eye can see, broken only by distant, shining rib- bons of rivers and streams. Dense, deep, seemingly impenetrable, the forests of the Central African region extend over 200 mn hectares, inspiring awe and sometimes dread among residents and visitors, and providing refuge for everything from rare and endangered plants and animals to ferocious militias accused of brutal crimes against humanity. Torfinn Sven / Panos It is difficult to imagine that such vast ancient woodlands are at risk of extinc- tion. But they are disappearing at an alarm- ing rate. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), indig- enous (also known as “old-growth”) for- Agent of the World Wildlife Fund monitors commercial logging operations in Gabon ests in Africa are being cut down at a rate to ensure minimal damage to the forest habitat. of more than 4 mn hectares per year — twice the world’s deforestation average. energy they need for life. Trees convert stored carbon back into the atmosphere. According to the FAO, losses totalled more the carbon gas into solid form, store it Poor forest management policies — than 10 per cent of the continent’s total for- in their trunks, branches and leaves, and including unrestricted logging, excessive est cover between 1980 and 1995 alone. release oxygen back into the atmosphere. harvesting of firewood and medicinal Saving Africa’s forests from the chain- Because they take carbon from the atmo- plants, and road construction — contrib- saw and axe of encroaching humanity is sphere and produce oxygen, forests are ute to the problem, as do drought, flood- essential to the health and productivity of often referred to as “the lungs of the ing, forest fires and other natural disasters. much of the continent’s economy, experts world.” Carbon dioxide is generated pri- The collection of wood for heating and point out. They cite the forests’ roles as marily by the burning of oil, coal, natural cooking and for making charcoal is a par- watersheds, defences against soil erosion gas and other “fossil” fuels for industry, ticular problem in Africa, since wood sup- and regulators of local weather conditions. power generation and transportation. plies about 70 per cent of domestic energy Preserving Africa’s surviving tropical needs, a significantly higher percentage Trees trap ‘greenhouse gases’ forests and planting new trees to replace than in the rest of the world. But the fate of the forests could also spell those lost to deforestation could help Estimates of the total amount of car- the difference between success and failure reduce the severity of climate change by bon stored in the forests vary greatly. in the race against global warming. Trees, absorbing more carbon from the air, and One estimate, based on research by the the dominant inhabitants of the diverse ease the local impact of climate change by UN-sponsored Intergovernmental Panel and complex ecological systems called regulating local weather conditions. on Climate Change (IPCC), put the total at forests, are among the world’s largest and But an even greater argument for pro- about 1,000 bn tonnes, or about 166 years’ most efficient living storehouses of car- tecting the forests is the role of deforesta- worth of current global carbon emissions. bon monoxide, the “greenhouse gas” most tion in causing global warming. According Africa contains about 15 per cent of the responsible for the earth’s temperature to the UN Environment Programme world’s remaining forests and is second rise and changes in the planet’s climate (UNEP), between 20 and 25 per cent of only to South America in the amount of (see Africa Renewal July 2007). all annual carbon dioxide emissions are the dense tropical forests that are the most Through a chemical process known caused by the practice of burning forests to effective in removing carbon from the as photosynthesis, trees and many other clear the land for farming — more than is atmosphere. The vast forests of the DRC plants absorb carbon from the air and caused by the entire world transportation alone are estimated to contain as much as combine it with sunlight to generate the sector. Burning trees and brush releases the 8 per cent of all the carbon stored in the

JANUARY 2008 5 earth’s vegetation. Countries with the forests for much of their livelihoods. The conversion of forest land to agri- largest forested areas Africa’s rural poor are particularly culture, both subsistence and commer- mn hectare, 2005 dependent on its forests. Although for- cial, is by far the most common and most est products, primarily unfinished logs, destructive cause of deforestation in Africa Russian Federation 809 account for only about 2 per cent of sub- and other tropical regions. As demand for Brazil 478 Saharan Africa’s exports, forests generate farmland grows in response to population Canada 310 an average of 6 per cent of the region’s pressures, millions of hectares of tropical US 303 gross domestic product — triple the forests are being put to the torch in Africa, world average. Eighteen African coun- China 197 Asia and Latin America. tries, including Cameroon and Ghana, are “It is generally accepted,” the FAO Australia 164 among the 24 countries worldwide that noted in a 2000 report on sustainable for- Congo, Democratic Republic 134 rely on forests for 10 per cent or more of estry in Africa, “that the key to arresting Indonesia 88 their economies. deforestation and to implementing sustain- Peru 69 Although environmentalists and advo- able forest development lies in improved cacy groups have brought international India 68 technologies for food production.” attention to unsustainable, and often ille- Improving the productivity of African Others 1,333 gal, logging in Central and West Africa, agriculture is a top priority for African Source: UN Africa Renewal from Food and about half of all the wood extracted from governments and features prominently Agriculture Organization data Africa’s forests is used domestically as in the continent’s development agenda, fuel. Despite the enormous losses to defor- the New Partnership for Africa’s Forests and people estation, the region is a net importer of Development (NEPAD). But trans- The challenges are formidable. Human- processed wood products. forming the poorly financed and long- ity has long appreciated forests for the The perception of indigenous forests neglected agricultural sector is a costly, energy, food and medicine they provide, as a reservoir of unused land and a safety difficult and long-term goal (see Africa and as a source of wood products for con- net for bad times is understandable, UNEP Renewal July 2006). Reform therefore struction and other purposes. But the role forestry expert Christian Lambrechts told appears unlikely to progress quickly of forests in supporting agriculture, pre- Africa Renewal. “People have to rely on enough to prevent further severe losses serving biodiversity, protecting water sup- the forest to gain access to specific prod- to the continent’s woodlands. plies and moderating the impact of climate ucts they can’t buy on the market,” he In the meantime, improving govern- change are less well understood. The UN says. “They have no cash. They can’t go ments’ ability to manage their forest estimated that in 2000 some 1.6 billion to the chemist. They have to go to the for- resources, expanding reforestation pro- people around the world, including many est to extract medicinal plants.” grammes and changing public perceptions of the world’s poorest, derived at least part Such “subsistence” exploitation of the and economic calculations about the value of their food, income or medical needs di- forests is inevitable in areas of high pov- of existing forests could be the key to the rectly from the forest. Of those, some 70 erty and causes no damage when done sus- survival of Africa’s deep woods. million indigenous people depend on the tainably, Mr. Lambrechts notes. But when

Without the community, a carbon discredit

It must have seemed like a good idea back in 1994, when a the land. When a Ugandan court ruled in the community’s favour non-profit agency established by Dutch power companies con- and ordered the government to redraw the park boundaries, the tracted with the Ugandan government to reforest an area on the community members returned to their former farms. They chopped edge of Uganda’s Mount Elgon National Park. The companies down the trees and sowed maize and beans among the stumps. All expected to offset their European greenhouse gas emissions the carbon offsets awarded to the Dutch companies were lost and by planting pollution-absorbing trees, and to give Uganda a the non-profit agency has suspended further plantings in the area greener park that had been damaged by human encroachment until the dispute is definitively resolved. during years of civil conflict. But a farming community already To critics of the carbon-offset market, the Mount Elgon fiasco is occupied the land, and its members were not consulted. Para- a textbook example of just how badly wrong such projects can go. military park rangers forcefully evicted some 500 families to For UN Environment Programme expert Christian Lambrechts, it is make room for the trees. They burned homes, assaulted resi- a lesson in the importance of recognizing the legitimate interests of dents and refused to provide alternative land or compensation neighbouring communities and actively involving them in forestry as required by law. programmes. Although consultation does not guarantee success, While the Dutch non-profit went on to plant over half a million he says, it can head off confrontation. “Once the local community trees in subsequent years, the former residents fought back, filing gets a little bit empowered and realizes their stake,” he notes, “it a legal challenge against the evictions and petitioning for return of becomes their forest.”

6 JANUARY 2008 large numbers of people are forced to use others — we might find a good basis for cation that the importance of the forests to forests for food and fuel, “it has a local having the private sector be in favour of Kenya’s overall economic development is impact on the degradation of the forests.” conservation.” As forests dwindle, he notes, more widely appreciated by government. both government and the private sector are “That is the way to get support from what Valuing forests, not the trees beginning to realize that forest services can I would say is the higher decision-making Changing the way governments and peo- no longer be had for free and must be paid level,” he argues. “I believe that is the ple value forests, Mr. Lambrechts says, is for like other goods and services. way forward.” critical to the survival of those for- Mr. Lambrechts emphasizes that ests. Although the market can price different kinds of forests provide the value of tree plantations and different kinds of services, and that reforestation programmes intended finding the right match is a vital part as renewable sources of timber and of sustainable forestry. Indigenous fuel, he explains, it is not good at forests, he says, store more carbon, determining the value of old-growth regulate weather conditions better forests, which provide a range of and contain more and more varied vital, but less tangible, services to biodiversity than tree plantations the economy. and reforested areas. Kenya’s tea plantations, Mr. But reforestation and commer- Lambrechts observes, are a good cial forestry are also important example of the linkages between for creating a renewable source indigenous forests and the commer- of wood products and a buffer cial economy. Tea is a major source between humanity and the ancient of the country’s export earnings and trees. “On the one hand, people the industry enjoys considerable have more produce from their political clout in Nairobi, the Kenyan existing land and thus less need capital, where Mr. Lambrechts is to go to the indigenous forests to based. “If you look at the planta- extract the same products. On the tions, on a map they are all near the other, they are basically establish- major forest areas. This is because ing agro-forestry practices on land Panos / Mikkel Ostergaard Mikkel / Panos tea requires very even temperature outside of forests and improving and moisture for optimum growth. the soil quality and other services The forests provide that.” the land can provide” by using trees By regulating temperatures to prevent wind and water erosion and trapping and releasing mois- of topsoil, trap and recycle plant ture during the hot dry season, Mr. nutrients and provide a renewable Lambrechts continues, forests create source of energy, wood products, the climate conditions needed for the Woman with a seeding, as part of a reforestation project in Malawi. animal fodder and other valuable quality teas that Kenya sells. “If you materials to farmers. don’t have the forests you don’t have tea.” When comparing the cost of preserv- Building an environmental ‘Greed’ and deforestation ing the forests to the wealth created by the constituency Preserving and expanding Africa’s for- tea plantations, he says, it makes financial Enlisting industry can also broaden the ests, says UNEP’s Mr. Lambrechts, will sense for the tea estates to invest in sound political constituency for the forests, Mr. require a mix of sound forestry practices forestry and encourage greater government Lambrechts points out. “We are working and greater appreciation of the real finan- regulation and control of forest resources. at getting the private sector to persuade cial value of forest eco-systems. But the Kenya is similarly reliant on the forests the government to protect some of those political dimensions are also important, he for electricity, over 70 per cent of which sites,” he says, noting that lobbying on maintains. is generated by hydroelectric dams fed behalf of stronger enforcement of forestry He notes that in East Africa and other by mountain forest watersheds. “It is less laws by a range of business interests at- parts of the continent, the main cause of about finding an exact value for the forests tracts more notice from policymakers. In deforestation is no longer local encroach- than in calculating the losses if the forests the past, he says, only forestry officials ment on forested areas for farmland or high disappear,” he explains. “If we apply the would respond to UNEP reports on the subsistence use, or even for illegal logging. payment-for-services principle to all the health of Kenya’s forests. Now they work “It is basically illegal settlements. These sectors that receive services from the for- with officials in the finance ministry and est — agriculture, power, water and many the vice president’s office as well, an indi- see page 20

JANUARY 2008 7 Investing in the health of Africa’s mothers Many are too poor to survive childbirth

By Mary Kimani umwani Maternity Hospital, in Nairobi, Kenya, is the largest P maternal health centre in East and Central Africa. Located close to Mathare and Korogocho, two of Nairobi’s biggest slums, the hospital helps some 27,000 women give birth each year. Most are poor and young, between the ages of 14 and 18. The government-run hospital struggles to provide even the most basic services, since it lacks sufficient resources, equip- ment and staff. “We told patients to buy Pirozzi Giacomo / Panos their own things because of the shortage of supplies,” explains Evelyn Mutio, the former head of the hospital’s nursing staff. “We told patients to come with gloves, to buy their own syringes, needles, cotton wool and maternity pads.” The Pumwani Maternity Hospital Listening to a mother’s foetus in Liberia: African women not only need access to well-equipped health exemplifies the state of the health infra- clinics, but also assistance from trained personnel who can recognize and deal with complications. structure in Africa. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), high service always have the training, skills or adequate In addition, UNFPA provides the vil- costs, lack of trained staff and supplies, equipment and facilities.” lages with about $50 in seed money to set poor transport and patients’ insufficient up community health funds. Villagers work knowledge mean that 60 per cent of moth- Health care on bicycles out among themselves how to replenish the ers in sub-Saharan Africa do not have a Despite scarce resources, some countries funds, usually through small monthly dona- health worker present during childbirth. have been able to find ways to expand tions. The funds are used for emergency That heightens the risks of complications, access to maternal health care. In Sen- cases, such as getting a woman to a district contributing to greater maternal and child egal, the Ministry of Health and the UN hospital when complications arise. death and disability. Population Fund (UNFPA) jointly fund WHO estimates that in Nigeria, the work of community health workers Preventable deaths 800,000 women are living with fistula, a who bicycle to visit women in their vil- Across Africa, the challenge of preventing disabling condition often lages. They are trained to maternal deaths is enormous. While prog- caused by problems in The Millennium Development monitor the health status ress has been made in some countries, the childbirth; the number Goals (MDGs) call for reducing of pregnant women, re- 23 countries in the world with the worst grows by 20,000 each the number of women dying fer the women to local mortality rates in 2006 were all in sub- year. In Tanzania, 9,000 during pregnancy and childbirth heath centres for pre­natal Saharan Africa. While a pregnant woman women die annually of by three quarters by 2015. checkups and ensure in Sweden has only 1 in 30,000 chances complications related to that they get to a centre of dying, in Sierra Leone the risk is 1 in 7. pregnancy. Rose Mlay, where skilled attendants In 2002, the WHO warned that if nothing the Tanzania representative of the White can assist with delivery. is done to improve access to maternal care Ribbon Alliance, an international coali- “These volunteers come from the in Africa, 2.5 million women would die tion on maternal health, says half of the populations they serve,” says Dr. Suzzane before the end of the decade, and 49 mil- mothers in the country have no access Maiga-Konate, UNFPA’s representative in lion would be living with disabilities. to medical facilities, because such facili- Senegal. “Sensitive questions that people Dr. Luc De Bernis, UNFPA’s senior ties are too far away and the women lack would never ask an outsider, they ask advisor on maternal health in Africa, says adequate transport. And, she adds, “Even them. And if we can reach people, we can the problem is the poor state of Africa’s when attendants are present, they may not raise the health status of this country.” health systems. “What is needed is an

8 JANUARY 2008 effective system” by which women can non-governmental organizations (NGOs) should recognize this. We have never be assisted during the birth, he told Africa aimed at raising the commitment and seen any country developing without a Renewal. “We know that 15 per cent of funds to improve delivery of and access to minimal health system. What we need is pregnant women develop complications maternal services. long-term investment, which is not what that require obstetric care, and up to 5 per is being done at present.” cent will require some type of surgery. We Shaky commitments have to invest in the infrastructure neces- African leaders have also committed Austerity and ‘cost sharing’ sary to do it.” themselves to improving health services. The poor state of Africa’s health sector Dr. Grace Kodindo, a former head At a meeting in Abuja, Nigeria, in 2001, is partly a legacy of policies pursued of maternity at the main hospital in they pledged to put aside 15 per cent of in the 1980s and 1990s at the urging of Ndjamena, the capital of Chad, agrees. their annual budgets to improve health ac- the International Monetary Fund and the “In Africa we have a shortage of qualified cess. By 2004, only Botswana and Gam- World Bank. To counter the continent’s staff,” she says. “In most of the continent, bia had met that target. burgeoning debt, corruption and misuse the ratio is 1 doctor for every 60–80,000 Dr. Kodindo questions African govern- of resources, these international finan- people. We lack equipment and drugs, ments’ commitment. “Yes, they are poor,” cial institutions prescribed a regimen of and there is inadequate coverage in the she told Africa Renewal. “But they have reduced domestic spending by African rural areas.” some money. For example, WHO estimates that three quarters of Chad is producing oil, but maternal fatalities and disabilities could be the money is used to buy prevented if deliveries were to take place arms. Meanwhile mater- at well-equipped health centres, with suit- nal mortality is not on ably trained and skilled staff. the agenda…. We have According to Dr. Yves Bergevin, a senior seen other countries like adviser on reproductive health at UNFPA, Honduras and Sri Lanka, every woman needs to be near a health cen- which despite poverty tre so she can get advice about nutrition. have been able to do a Such centres should also have trained per- lot. Our countries could sonnel who can recognize complications do it if they really wanted. and either manage them or quickly refer Maternal mortality is sim- the woman to a larger hospital. Facilities ply not a priority. If it were for emergency surgery or lifesaving blood a priority, they could have transfusions must be available. “Even if it put it in the governments’ is three in the morning an obstetric emer- annual budgets.” gency is not something for which you can A related problem, says tell the mother to come back tomorrow,” Dr. De Bernis, is that gov- he told Africa Renewal. “If that woman ernments and donor agen- needs but doesn’t get a caesarean, then it’s cies tend to focus on spe- very simple: she will die.” cific themes, such as HIV infection, malaria and Millennium goal tuberculosis, while failing

The international community has agreed to address the general state Pirozzi Giacomo / Panos that bringing down maternal mortality is of Africa’s health care a priority. The Millennium Development systems. “Strengthening Goals (MDGs), agreed to by world lead- health services to address ers in September 2000, include a specific maternal mortality would target of reducing the number of women be very important for dying during pregnancy and childbirth by all these programmes,” three quarters by 2015. he says. A pregnant woman gets medicine and advice at a rural clinic in Kenya: Achieving the MDG goals of reduc- “A surgery room,” African governments have pledged to devote at least 15 per cent of their ing child and maternal mortality “is one he adds, “will not only budgets to health, but only a few have reached that target. of the most urgent tasks ahead of us,” UN serve the mothers. It will Deputy Secretary-General Rose Migiro serve the needs of the community. A governments that were intended to im- said in New York in September 2007, at road which goes to a health centre will prove fiscal balances and ensure contin- the launch of Deliver Now, a campaign serve the community in other ways. This ued debt payments. by 80 governments, donor agencies and is a development issue and economists However, Dr. Bergevin argues, such

JANUARY 2008 9 austerity also had the negative effect of and clinics began asking patients to pay repeals cost sharing. We went into this reducing funding for health care. Health more for services. In Kenya, the govern- blindly. Nobody thought of it properly.” centres became dilapidated and there was ment introduced “user fees” at public The report by the two groups notes limited hiring of new health workers, espe- health facilities like Pumwani Maternity that in the face of the negative impact on cially doctors. Those already on the payroll Hospital in 1989, as part of a World Bank health care systems, the World Bank has left in large numbers because of poor pay push for cost-sharing in public services. backed away from promoting user fees. It and bad working conditions. Many doctors “We are asking people to die because they now supports the provision of less expen- emigrated to developed countries. “Africa can’t [afford to] be treated,” Dr. Shadrack sive basic health care, including maternal has never recovered from that,” he explains. Ojwang, a gynecologist at the main hospi- health services. “While the adjustments were necessary to tal, was quoted as saying in a joint report improve financial discipline, it has had a by the Federation of Women Lawyers in Unequal impact terrible effect on the health sectors.” Kenya and the Centre for Reproductive But since enough financing is not available In an effort to overcome the decline Rights, a US non-profit group. “We can’t to provide free care, many African health in government financing, many hospitals do anything about this until parliament facilities remain locked into “cost sharing”

Social hurdles to better maternal health

Even when maternal health facilities are available, expectant mothers in Africa do not always get timely care. A study by the Africa regional office of the World Health Organization (WHO), Reducing Mortality Rates, reports that sometimes women or birth attendants “fail to recognize danger signals and are not pre- pared to deal with them.” One answer, argues Dr. Yves Bergevin, senior adviser on reproductive health for the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), is to improve the skills of birth attendants and the knowledge and capacity of women, their fami- lies and their communities. Involving men is important, says Lucy Idoko, the UNFPA’s assistant repre- sentative in Nigeria. Most men, she says, do not know the risks of going through labour. “Maternal health is not only a woman’s issue but also a man’s issue, and important to society as a whole.” Cultural practices can also affect women’s health risks. WHO cites genital mutilation, early marriage and multiple pregnancies. Women who have under- gone infibulation, a form of genital mutilation where the external genitalia are stitched, are more likely to suffer from obstructed labour. UNFPA data show that girls who give birth between the ages of 15 and 20 are twice as likely to die in childbirth as those in their twenties, while girls under 15 are more than five times as likely to die. “Adolescent girls face the highest risk of premature delivery,” says Dr. Grace Alamy Images / Andrew Holt Andrew / Images Alamy Kodindo, former chief of maternity at the Ndjamena general hospital in Chad, now working at the maternal mortality programme of Columbia University in New York. “Because their bodies are not yet fully mature, they risk obstructed labour. This is why we encourage young women to postpone their first pregnancy.” Dr. Kodindo argues that both young age and the low status of women in society often leave them with little power to determine if, when and with whom to become pregnant. They also have little choice in the number and timing of their children. “Women should be able to decide the spacing of their children,” she told Africa Renewal. “But in Africa the woman cannot make this decision freely. Young mother in Ethiopia: Girls between the ages of 15 and 20 Her status in society is often determined by how many children she has, and are twice as likely to die in childbirth as those in their twenties. women often have children even when they don’t feel like having more. Many men don’t want family planning because they want the status that more children bring.” In 2004, WHO reported that about 4 mn abortions take place annually in Africa. Since abortion is illegal in most countries, most of these are performed in unsafe conditions, contributing to nearly 30,000 deaths, about 13 per cent of all maternal deaths in Africa. WHO believes that some 90 per cent of all abortion-related deaths and injuries could be avoided if women who wanted to avoid pregnancies were able to use contraception. Yet overall, less than 25 per cent of African women are able to obtain contraceptives. In West Africa, fewer than 10 per cent can. “If family planning could be made available, we would reduce maternal deaths,” says Dr Kodindo. She is optimistic. “We are seeing positive indications. The economic burden of many children is making men more cooperative.” Such a shift is especially notable in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Dr. Kodindo observes. “My only regret is that it is only in the urban areas. There is much work to do in the rural areas.” — Mary Kimani

10 JANUARY 2008 practices. Such a “pay-for-service” Maternal mortality rates said. “It is so simple to do something model, notes Dr. Bergevin, has had a per 100,000 live births, 2000 about it. It is cheap and we know what catastrophic impact on the poor, who to do. We would never have accepted 921 cannot afford to pay fees. As a result, that kind of a death toll if it was white they have less access to health care. rich men who were dying. Something The situation at Pumwani would have been done a long time ago. Maternity Hospital is typical. Up until So this is obviously also a question of May 2007, patients wishing to receive gender and financial equality.” 564 maternal care had to deposit 1,200 Mr. Stoltenberg pointed out that Kenya shillings (US$17). Women while a billion dollars may look like without the money were turned away. a lot, “it is not much. It is a small It costs Ksh3,000 for a normal delivery fraction of our development aid.” and Ksh6,000 for a caesarean, along Norway’s official development with Ksh400 to cover the bed charge 194 183 assistance is currently 0.97 per cent for the first day. Daily bed charges of 117 of its gross domestic product, higher Ksh400 accrue throughout a woman’s 10 than the international community’s stay at the hospital. The hospital’s fees Sub-Saharan South Asia Latin America Middle East East Asia Europe agreed goal of 0.7 per cent. The aver- are low compared to those charged at Africa & Carib. & N. Africa & Pacific age for all donors is about half that private facilities, but significant for Source: UN Africa Renewal from data in World Bank, World Development level, however. So, Mr. Stoltenberg the 60 per cent of Kenyans who live Indicators, 2006. argued, much more would become on less than Ksh140 ($2) a day. available if donor governments met In Ethiopia, which has a similar model, force set up in 2004 by the government to their promises. a rich woman is 28 times as likely as a poor study the running of the hospital. He notes Dr. De Bernis warns that efforts to mother to have a doctor available during that the Nairobi City Council has been introduce free health care should not delivery, according to the UN’s Department marked by mismanagement and corrup- depend entirely on donor assistance. of Economic and Social Affairs. In Chad tion. “Money was disappearing from the Given the uncertainties of external aid, and Niger, the gap is 14 times or more. treasury,” he explains. Only recently has “this is not sustainable.” “We cannot accept systems which do the hospital begun to gain greater control But there are other options, he adds. “In not provide access to everybody,” says Dr. over the funds. West Africa, we have seen examples of use- De Bernis. “If the poor have no access, we ful cost sharing,” so that the burden is not will never reduce maternal mortality in ‘Unacceptable’ placed solely on the patients. “A calculation a meaningful way.” He notes that charg- Across Africa, spending on health re- is made of the health cost, how much the ing for services might improve access to mains limited. “Currently sub-Saharan government can afford to provide and the medical care for those who can afford countries are spending less than $2 per rest of the financial burden is shared with it, and thereby reduce the total number person for maternal health,” Dr. Bergevin the community,” he explains. “This helps of maternal deaths. But leaving the poor notes. “Most experts agree that you need improve the quality of care and involves behind would be unacceptable. “We need to spend at least $8. the community. If to ensure that maternal mortality reduc- To see a fully func- “We cannot accept systems which the ambulance is not tions are based on reduction of deaths for tioning health system, do not provide access to everybody. working or drugs are everyone, rich or poor.” you need to spend If the poor have no access, we will not available, the com- Concerned that high costs were imped- $40–50 dollars per never reduce maternal mortality in a munity will ask why.” ing access to maternal health care, Kenya’s person, excluding meaningful way.” Even in such schemes, then Health Minister Charity Ngilu in May anti-retroviral drugs.” — Dr. Luc De Bernis, senior adviser, the really poor should 2007 abolished maternity fees in public Some donors are UN Population Fund still be exempted from hospitals such as Pumwani. But the money seeking to bridge paying, he argues. still has to come from somewhere. Dr. the financing gap for “The community has Frida Govedi, the doctor in charge of clini- maternal health. In October 2007, at the to agree on how to do this.” cal services at Pumwani, points out that the launch of the Deliver Now campaign, Despite the challenges, his compatriot, hospital already struggles to get the limited Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg Dr. Bergevin, is optimistic. “We know that subsidy it is entitled to from the Nairobi announced that his country will give $1 bn maternal mortality can be reduced. We City Council. The council currently owes over the next decade towards improving know what to do, and how to do it. Other the hospital Ksh100 mn. Without that maternal health worldwide. He also called countries are on track.” The biggest chal- amount and without user fees, the hospital for maternal mortality to become a higher lenge lies with 66 countries in the devel- simply “can’t run,” she says. priority. “That there is hardly any progress oping world, including 45 in sub-Saharan Dr. Ojwang is a member of a task on maternal health is unacceptable,” he Africa. “We know it can be done.” n

JANUARY 2008 11 Building a state for the Congolese people Beyond peace and elections, fundamental reforms are essential in the DRC

By Ernest Harsch Kinshasa pickup truck marked “Delta Protection” zooms around a corner A on a main avenue in the heart of the Congolese capital, with two uniformed men in the cab and another standing on the back, swinging a mounted heavy machine gun back and forth. They wear sunglasses, though it is night. On another street, a minivan labeled “African Defence System” bounces along with more than a half-dozen armed personnel.

Such private security outfits are com- O’Reilly Finbarr / Reuters mon in the main cities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), hired mostly by foreign and local businesses to protect their property and keep crime at bay. They can be brutal. In front of one of Kinshasa’s main banks, a uniformed guard clubs a woman trying to sell bread Riot police guard Supreme Court in Kinshasa: The DRC’s court system is in need of serious reform. on the sidewalk. The government is working to strengthen its regular police forces. But weaknesses in state authority is essen- Haut-Katanga in September. “Certainly, they are not yet able to guarantee public tial for preserving the country’s hard-won the state exists legally, but in reality it safety. All too often, undisciplined police peace. In addition to their peacekeeping needs to be reborn.” and soldiers themselves commit abuses. duties, many of MONUC’s 18,000 mili- According to Albert Yuma Mulimbi, Across the country and in various activi- tary and police personnel and 2,000 civil- national president of the Fédération des ties, the Congolese state and its institutions ian staff are now engaged in helping Con- entreprises du Congo, businesspeople are only minimally present or effective. golese build institutions that can manage need a “climate of trust” before they will Peace agreements ended much of the fight- the country’s affairs over the long term, invest and create jobs. Unfortunately, the ing that devastated the eastern half of this without reverting to crisis and chaos. state is “still fragile.” To ensure economic country for nearly a decade — but a num- “The problem in the Congo is not recovery from the ravages of war, says ber of armed groups continue to operate only the problem of armed groups,” Mr. Yuma, it is important to “reconstruct a there, perpetuating insecurity, causing major observes UN Assistant Secretary-General strong, impartial, effective state.” population displacements and threatening for Political Affairs Haile Menkerios. “It Ordinary Congolese often agree. In to reignite a wider war (see box, page 14). is a problem of the state. It is a problem late June, civil society organizations and National elections have put in office a gov- of nation-building…. Institutions do exist professional associations staged a march ernment with some political legitimacy. on paper right now, [but] in practical through the town of Beni, in the highly Yet reforms of key state organs — terms, they really need quite some time to insecure province of North Kivu, to pro- police, army, courts, civil administration, strengthen.” (When he spoke with Africa test banditry, killings by rebels, rape and state enterprises, local government coun- Renewal in Kinshasa, before his current extortion. They submitted a memorandum cils, tax agencies — have only just begun. appointment, Mr. Menkerios was the UN to the interim mayor insisting that the So have efforts to get the government to Secretary-General’s deputy special repre- authorities do more to reestablish order. open up to dialogue with ordinary citizens. sentative in the DRC.) Many Congolese share that opinion. ‘Governance contract’ ‘A problem of the state’ “In most areas I visited, the existence of In their public speeches and declarations, For the United Nations Organization the state is doubtful,” Senator Vincent the country’s political leaders assign a Mission in the Democratic Republic of de Paul Lunda Bululu told a Congolese high priority to building up the state’s ca- the Congo (MONUC), overcoming such journalist after touring his home region of pacities and its public acceptance. Guiding

12 JANUARY 2008 all official actions, Minister of Planning sinated. In 1965, General Joseph-Désiré glaring in the aftermath of the genocide in Olivier Kamitatu told Africa Renewal, is a Mobutu (later Mobutu Sese Seko), neighbouring Rwanda in 1994. Mobutu “governance contract that ties the govern- seized power, with the backing of West- provided a haven in eastern Zaire for the ment to the Congolese people.” ern intelligence agencies. genocide’s perpetrators after they were The government, Mr. Kamitatu says, Mobutu’s Zaire (as he renamed the overthrown by Rwandan rebels. These has pledged action on a variety of fronts. country in 1971) became known as one “genocidaires,” as they were known, then In addition to improving people’s liv- of the world’s foremost examples of an repeatedly attacked Rwanda, ultimately ing conditions, these autocratic, corrupt state. prompting the new Rwandan government include reforming the The goal is not simply “post- Estimates of the amounts to retaliate by backing a coalition of dis- army, police and courts, war reconstruction.” It is to lost or squandered ran sidents known as the Alliance des forces cleaning up the govern- start building, often for the first into the tens of billions démocratiques pour la libération du Congo ment’s management of time ever, institutions that will of dollars. (AFDL), led by Laurent Kabila. public funds, overhaul- genuinely serve the interests of Although the state Although Mobutu’s forces were adept ing the civil service and the country’s citizens. appeared to be tightly at terrorizing villagers, they proved incapa- state administration and controlled from the ble of military defence. The small AFDL, carrying out “genuine top, in reality its effec- bolstered by professional Rwandan troops, decentralization” so that political and tive authority did not reach very far. rapidly captured territory as the Zairean administrative authority is not concen- Government employees routinely army retreated. In town after town, local trated excessively in Kinshasa. “We will neglected their duties, diverted funds and residents celebrated the army’s depar- be judged” on the basis of such actions, used their positions to make money. Some ture. In May 1997, the insurgents occu- Mr. Kamitatu believes. regional governors ran their territories like pied Kinshasa, shortly after Mobutu fled The hurdles of state reconstruction in semi-autonomous fiefdoms. Army officers into exile (where he died of cancer a few the Congo are not unique. Many other embezzled the salaries of their subordi- months later). Mr. Kabila became president African countries confront similar prob- lems, and they are watching to see how the Congo manages to resolve them. But the challenges in the DRC are particularly daunting. In terms of land area, the Congo is the third largest country in Africa. With some 66 million people, it is the fourth most populous. Yet the greatest obstacle is not size. Beyond the immediate problems of con- tinued insecurity in the east, the biggest hurdle will be overcoming an historical legacy of dictatorship, decay and plun- der. Because governance was so poor for so long, the goal is not simply “post-war reconstruction” — that is, restoring the Gnago Luc / Reuters situation that prevailed before the outbreak of war in 1996. It is to start building, often for the first time ever, institutions that will genuinely serve the interests of the coun- try’s citizens. Presidential and legislative vote in 2006 brought in the Congo’s first elected government History of pillage in more than 40 years. After a prolonged period of Belgian rule, in which very few Congolese attained positions in the colonial administration, nates and trafficked in arms, gold and dia- and renamed the country the Democratic the Congo abruptly won independence monds. Unpaid police and troops survived Republic of the Congo. in 1960. The first decade was turbulent. through pillage and extortion. According to Georges Nzogola- Cold War interventions, ethnic tensions Ntalaja, a well-known Congolese aca- and secessionist rebellions undermined War and transition demic currently working with the the popularly elected president, Patrice Mobutu’s state had decayed considerably Africa Governance Institute of the UN Lumumba, who was deposed and assas- by the early 1990s. Its fragility became Development Programme (UNDP), the

JANUARY 2008 13 president and the central leaders of four main groups as vice-presidents. A transi- tional parliament also had representation from the different groups. This arrangement succeeded in ending most of the fighting. But the compromises of the transition did not favour serious reform. Most official appointments were made on the basis of political connections, not merit. The prolif- eration of institutions facilitated corruption. In 2003, about two-thirds of the budget was spent outside normal procedures.

Political legitimacy By bringing into office the first truly elected government in four decades, the presidential, legislative and provincial Alamy Images / Eddie Gerald Eddie / Images Alamy assembly elections of 2006 opened the door for the possibility of deeper reform. Congolese soldier in North Kivu, where thousands of dissident or foreign fighters still oppose the Although the elections were marked by central government and have displaced a half million people. some violence and the losers contested the final results, international observers gener- ability of the ragtag AFDL and relatively sonal guard in 2001, his son and succes- ally deemed the contest to have been free small countries such as Rwanda and sor, Major-General Joseph Kabila, pushed and fair. The high turnout — 70 per cent Uganda to exert such influence over the more energetically for peace. That shift, in the first round of the presidential poll in much larger Congo “would have been combined with greater international pres- July and 65 per cent in the second round unthinkable if the Congolese state institu- sure on neighbouring countries to with- in October — gave the winner, President tions were functioning in a normal way draw, led to the signing of a comprehen- Kabila, the political legitimacy he had as agencies of governance and national sive peace agreement in Sun City, South lacked in the transition period. security, rather than as Mafia-type orga- Africa, in 2002. Many different parties won seats in the nizations serving the selfish interests of The protagonists established a transi- National Assembly. Mr. Kabila’s own party Mobutu and his entourage.” tional government, with Joseph Kabila as has only 111 of the 500 seats, although an Hopes were initially high that the new government would build a different kind of state. But authoritarianism soon fol- Armed groups in eastern Congo lowed. And after President Kabila broke Although a general peace accord was signed in 2002 and the major parties in the Con- with his former Rwandan and Ugandan golese civil war disarmed or merged into the new national army, several factions con- allies, those countries backed new insur- tinue to operate, mainly in the east. All have carried out massacres and other abuses: gent groups in the east. In August 1998, General Laurent Nkunda, a former commander of the Rassemblement congolais pour the country was plunged back into war. la démocratie (RCD) during the civil war. His group later integrated into the new army but This second war was far more devas- then split in 2004, ostensibly to “protect” the Tutsi community against attacks by other tating than the first. It involved multiple groups. He is believed to have some 4,000 troops and has engaged in major battles with Congolese groups and drew in the armies the Congolese army in the southeastern districts of North Kivu. of more than a half-dozen neighbouring Ituri militias, comprising mainly local ethnic militias in the Ituri forests of Orientale countries. With most factions responsible Province. Three of the remaining militia groups, claiming a combined strength of 4,500, for serious atrocities, hundreds of thou- signed an agreement with the government to disarm and demobilize, but as of early sands of civilians were killed. Massive November only about 1,500 had handed in their arms. displacement, the disruption of agricul- Mai Mai, remnants of the local “self-defence” militias that fought the Congolese fac- ture and the collapse of the health care tions backed by Rwanda and Uganda during the civil war. Many have since demobilized system pushed the total estimated death or joined the army, but Mai Mai groups, some claiming several thousand members, toll to 3–4 million. remain active in North Kivu, South Kivu and Katanga. The war’s major contenders signed an Forces démocratiques de libération du Rwanda, opposed to the government of initial ceasefire in 1999, but it was only neighbouring Rwanda and commanded in part by former leaders of the 1994 genocide in that country. Estimated to number 6–7,000, the FDLR is active in North and South poorly observed. After President Kabila Kivu and often clashes with General Nkunda’s forces. was assassinated by members of his per-

14 JANUARY 2008 alliance of parties that backed his presiden- of good governance, democracy, respect But the army still is experiencing tial bid holds a comfortable majority with for human rights.” great difficulties, in large part as a legacy 338 seats. The alliance also has more than This would mark a sharp reversal. of the transition period. The Sun City half the seats in the Senate. His govern- During four decades of dictatorship and peace agreement provided for building ment, named in February 2007, has mem- war, the violation of human rights appeared a new army, basically as an amalgama- bers from different parties and is headed to be a pillar of state policy. Changing tion of officers and troops from the vari- by Prime Minister Antoine Gizenga, who things around will require overhauling ous armed factions. “It was a really good was a close colleague of Patrice Lumumba and reforming another trilogy — the army, idea,” notes Lieutenant-General Babacar at independence in 1960. police and courts. Gaye, MONUC’s force commander, since While the new government is the arrangement helped end most of less inclusive than the transitional the fighting. “But unfortunately, it arrangement, its electoral legitimacy didn’t produce a good military,” he means that it “will be in a much bet- adds, emphasizing the difficulties ter position to adopt policies that are of getting troops of different alle- uniform,” observes Mr. Menkerios. giances and unequal levels of train- “It would have more cohesion and ing to work together effectively. would be better equipped to imple- For example, in North Kivu, ment coherent strategies than during General Gaye told Africa Renewal, the transition.” Besides, the govern- one of the new “integrated bri- ing coalition “is wide enough by any gades” disintegrated in 2006 as country’s standards.” a result of political and ethnic However, Mr. Menkerios adds, tensions. Therefore, MONUC’s political tensions remain a prob- goal “is to avoid this disintegra- lem, in part because the current par- tion, first of all, and then to help ties grew out of “politico-military the Congolese design their future organizations” and continue to military. But it is a huge task. It’s a operate in a combative mode. One long-term process.” example was the outbreak of armed The Congolese army, which has clashes in Kinshasa in March 2007 sent thousands of troops against the between the president’s Republican forces of dissident General Laurent

Guard and a security force loyal to Gnago Luc / Reuters Nkunda in North Kivu, has had dif- Jean-Pierre Bemba, who lost to Mr. ficulty capturing and holding terrain. Kabila in the presidential election. In addition to providing tactical Some 200 people, mostly civilians, support on the ground, MONUC — were killed in the fighting. along with the European Union and MONUC and the rest of the inter- some donor agencies — is helping national community are encouraging President Joseph Kabila (centre) has pledged to work towards the army professionalize and become the government to accommodate the good governance, democracy and respect for human rights. a better-integrated and more coher- opposition, Mr. Menkerios explains. ent organization. A military census The constitution provides a formal conducted with South African assis- status for the opposition, and opposition Military reform tance helped weed out nonexistent “ghost” deputies are often included in decision- According to a report in February 2007 by soldiers whose names were on the payroll. making roles in the legislature’s various the Office of the UN High Commissioner Their removal enabled the government to commissions. Mr. Kengo wa Dondo, a for- for Human Rights and MONUC’s Human increase the basic pay of ordinary soldiers. mer prime minister under Mobutu and cur- Rights Division, fully 88 per cent of all po- Improving soldiers’ economic and rently an opposition figure, was elected to litically motivated or organized murders, social conditions is essential, to keep them head the Senate, even though Mr. Kabila’s rapes, beatings and other human rights from extorting food and money from civil- alliance holds a majority of Senate seats. violations recorded in the DRC in the sec- ians, Ross Mountain, deputy special rep- In his inauguration address in December ond half of 2006 were committed by the resentative of the UN Secretary-General, 2006, President Kabila acknowledged that government’s own repressive bodies. told Africa Renewal. All those working on the Congolese administration “exists in The report found some modest improve- humanitarian issues in the DRC now agree name only” and that there is an urgent ment on the part of the army, which saw its that security sector reform “has to be top of need for a “refoundation of the state.” The share of recorded abuses decline from 53 the hit parade.” While visiting North Kivu, main pillars of his government, as of any per cent in the first half of 2006 to 40 per to help coordinate humanitarian assistance modern state, he said, will be the “trilogy cent in the second. to victims of the conflict, he realized that

JANUARY 2008 15 people’s foremost concern was security. has suffered from years of decay. There is others burned alive. “If there was one measure that could be only one judge for every 30,000 people, Moïse Cifende Kaciko, head of a human taken at the time, it would be to pay the most are poorly paid and the physical rights group in South Kivu, warns of the army,” he recalls. “I come from a humani- conditions of the courts are decrepit. Trial dangers of such lynchings, since they deny tarian background, and to come to the real- proceedings are extremely slow and judg- any rights to the accused — some of whom ization that one measure is to pay the army ments often seem arbitrary. Those with may be innocent — and can be employed sounded completely insane. But to settle scores. Julienne everyone said: ‘Yeah’.” Mushagalusa of the Congolese Army abuses, while still wide- Association of Women Jurists spread, appear to be declining, in argues that vigilantism should be part because of better training, countered by prosecuting those stronger command, improved who practice it, while at the same living conditions and the prose- time the country’s judicial system cution of officers and troops who is reformed. “We have to spread carry out atrocities. a culture of belief in justice,” she told a Congolese newspaper. Police training Although public fund- However, abuses by the national ing for the judicial system police rose dramatically between has been growing, it remains the first and second halves of far behind other branches of 2006, from 24 to 39 per cent of government. The government total abuses. Serious violations budget for 2007 allocated 2.6 by the police continued well into bn Congolese francs (about 2007, according to a report to the US$5.2 mn) to the courts, com- UN / Myrian Asmani Myrian / UN UN General Assembly in August pared with FC24 bn — nine by an independent expert, Titinga times more — for the executive Frédéric Pacéré, an eminent jurist branch. To some extent, exter- from Burkina Faso. Mr. Pacéré nal donors are helping to fill cited a long list of crimes by na- the gap, with the UK, European tional police officers, including Commission, UNDP and others brutalization of prisoners, rapes Congolese police officers graduate from a MONUC training programme: financing various programmes Greater professionalism should help reduce abuses against civilians. of women and young girls and to strengthen the courts, train killings of villagers. judges and improve the abys- Historically, the police have been wealth or political connections are very mal conditions in the prisons. severely underfunded, ill-trained and inef- rarely brought to court. Judicial reform “is a major challenge ficient. Today there are just over 100,000 In a country that has experienced so for this country,” UNDP Country Director police in the country. About half have many war crimes over the past decade, Babacar Cissé told Africa Renewal. UNDP received training by MONUC in various only a handful of high-level perpetrators has set up a technical unit in the Ministry tasks, including ensuring order during elec- have so far been tried and sentenced by of Justice to oversee implementation of tions. The European Union is financing national courts (the International Criminal the various donor-funded programmes. In police reforms, while UNDP manages a Court in the Hague is also prosecuting the provinces, some courts are undergoing fund to help equip the police. some suspected war criminals). physical rehabilitation. Also, explains Mr. Congo’s national prosecutor has vowed In the words of Bruno Mbiango, the Cissé, UNDP and its partners are consider- to crack down on police who impose arbi- first president of the Supreme Court, polit- ing ways to link the regular judicial system trary fines or otherwise extort money. In ical pressures and monetary corruption with the traditional courts of the Congo’s September, Interior Minister Denis Kalume have produced a “deregulated justice, a various ethnic groups. “It is important,” warned police officers: “All actions of the perverted, dirty, degenerate justice.” says Mr. Cissé, “to root justice at the local Congolese police, as guardians of the law, With insecurity still widespread and and provincial levels.” must be guided by the law, national inter- public confidence in the police and courts est and legality.” very limited, vigilante justice has been Local elections on the horizon growing. Police and human rights activists When the parties to the Congo’s civil war Reviving a ‘degenerate’ justice system in Bukavu, the provincial capital of South were putting the final touches on the Sun In theory, the DRC’s courts are also sup- Kivu, report that killings of suspected City peace accords of 2002, they recog- posed to uphold the law. But like other thieves, rapists and other criminals occur nized that the new state could not be ef- aspects of the state, the judicial system almost weekly. Some are beaten to death, fective if it tried to operate primarily from

16 JANUARY 2008 Kinshasa. According to the agreement, the first elections were to be held for local of- A cleaner bureaucracy, a fuller treasury fices, followed by national elections. But The Congo’s civil administration is in need of a thorough overhaul, acknowledges Minister haggling within the transitional govern- of Planning Olivier Kamitatu. In sum, the goal is: “Less corruption, greater efficiency, more ment and the sheer logistical problems of transparency.” In September, the Berlin-based watchdog group Transparency International organizing multiple elections across such released its latest “corruption perceptions index,” in which it ranks countries according to var- a vast country brought a shift. Deputies to ious surveys of businesspeople, government officials, travelers and others. The DRC ranked 11 provincial assemblies were elected at 168 out of 179 countries — among the worst in how corrupt it appears. But, Mr. Kamitatu told Africa Renewal, “The Congo has changed profoundly, and I think the the same time as the National Assembly Congo is no longer synonymous with an environment of corruption.” Among the changes, he in July 2006, but the local government cites the creation of a democratically elected National Assembly and Senate with the authority polls were postponed. to grill the executive. There has also emerged a “new leadership” determined to combat cor- Delays in the legislature over basic rupt practices and punish those caught pilfering or otherwise misusing state resources. laws on decentralization and on setting News reports from across the country indicate that Congolese are taking these changes up a new independent electoral commis- seriously. In the province of Bas Congo, the director of a national cement company is on trial sion mean that local elections cannot yet for diverting cement. In South Kivu, the governor suspended the mayor of Bukavu for embez- be scheduled, although some Congolese zling money and illegally selling land, as well as top officials of the local post and telecommu- and UN officials believe they may be nications office after workers exposed the illicit sale of post office vehicles. In Kikwit, employ- ees of a government office to assist small and medium-size enterprises denounced their boss possible in 2008. Organizing them will for embezzling funds earmarked for salaries. be “more complex” than holding the last A leaner civil service national and provincial elections, notes While seeking to end impunity for corruption at the top, the government also plans to Blé Kacouchia, head of MONUC’s voter improve conditions for public employees. In theory, this would reduce the temptation to steal registration office. In the 2006 elections and extort simply to survive. It would also bolster overall morale and efficiency. there were 385 national and provincial One problem, says Mr. Kamitatu, is that the administration is “bloated,” at least on paper. constituencies, but for the local poll there There are an unknown number of “ghost workers” on the payroll, with managers pocketing will be more than 6,000. the salaries of these fictitious civil servants. Through a “trimming down” of the civil service Nevertheless, Mr. Kacouchia empha- roster with computerization and other better management techniques, he explains, the funds sized to Africa Renewal, the local elections saved through the elimination of nonexistent employees can be used to pay real workers will be vital. “If we want to restore peace more regularly. In recent years, top officials in the DRC’s various state firms were nominated not because and sustainable security in this country, of competence or skills, but for “political” reasons, notes Minister of the Portfolio Jeannine especially at the local level, the people will Mabunda, who is responsible for overseeing public enterprises. “It’s essential that things go have to be able to elect those who manage back to normal,” she affirms. All top management positions in 26 state enterprises were opened their day-to-day affairs.” for competitive recruitment in June. Since then, out of 6,500 applicants, 1,482 passed an examination, and that number is to be narrowed down to 455 through further screen- ing. The trade unions have been critical of the process, maintaining that they were not DRC: Domestic revenue collection adequately consulted. Sceptics will be watching carefully to see if the final selection reflects any favouritism towards individuals aligned with pro-government parties. as % of GDP Collecting more taxes 13.2 + One goal of such reforms is not only to prevent the waste of public funds, but also to enhance the government’s ability to collect more domestic revenue — one of the 11.6 key indicators of state capacity in any country. In June, Prime Minister Antoine Giz- enga announced that the contracts of some 60 foreign mining companies would be 9.5 reviewed, since many of the contracts signed during the war — often with corrupt 7.9 7.7 officials — allow excessive repatriation of profits abroad and provide only minimal payments to the Congolese treasury. 6.5 The government is reforming its tax and customs administration, which currently is fragmented into numerous entities and makes it easy for the wealthy to evade paying. In 2006, the government’s own revenues were able to cover only 60 per cent of bud- getary spending, with the remainder covered by external lending or donor aid. The government also plans to simplify the tax code, strengthen its “large tax­ payers” unit and set up 10 tax centres for medium-sized enterprises around the coun- try — currently there is only one. The government already has been able to signifi- 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 cantly increase its revenue collection, which rose from 91 bn Congolese francs (FC) in * Estimated. 2001 to an estimated FC529 bn in 2006. Even taking post-war economic growth into Source: UN Africa Renewal from International Monetary Fund account, revenue collection still has risen markedly, from 6.5 per cent of the gross data, September 2007. domestic product in 2001 to 13.2 per cent in 2006 (see graph, left). — Ernest Harsch, Kinshasa

JANUARY 2008 17 gers. Hundreds, if not thousands, of such groups emerged, some operating only in specific localities, others across prov- inces or countrywide. During the 2006 elections, some civil society figures joined or formed parties and were elected to office. As a result, main- tains Pierre Kibaka, president of a human rights group in Kisangani, “Civil society lost many of its activists, especially among the most outstanding.” Deogratias Vale, another civil society leader in Kisangani, concurs: “They left suddenly. That created a void, since no backup was prepared.” Mr. Menkerios thinks that the war,

UN / A. Burridge A. / UN rather than the elections, was the biggest factor in weakening civil society. And with the end of the war, civil society “is on the Since the end of the war, there has been a revitalization of Congolese civil society groups. comeback.” Mr. Cissé, of UNDP, agrees. “For several years there has been a kind of Revenue and responsibility different communities. “It is much bet- revitalization of civil society in this coun- Beyond elections, much is needed to im- ter for these communities, whose lives try.” While some people went into elec- prove the physical infrastructure and in- depend on the resolution of these conflicts, toral politics, many others remain engaged stitutional capacity of local government to address them there [locally], rather in civil affairs. “Women’s associations are entities. Even some of the DRC’s current than at the national extremely active at the provincial assemblies lack proper build- level, where they will moment.” ings and office space. Most have only become more politi- The existence of minimal budgets. cized…. People who vibrant local associa- According to the constitution, 40 per live together will be tions and civil society cent of the “national” revenues collected in a better position to groups provides an in each province should be made avail- compromise.” opportunity for the able to that province. In June, a conten- Moreover, Mr. DRC’s leaders, some

tious debate erupted between the national Menkerios adds, local Grobl Phyllis / MONUC political analysts point government and provincial governors. elections can widen out. Rather than build- The governors demanded that the 40 per participation in the ing a state bureaucracy cent be turned over immediately, while political process more cut off from society, the government insisted that mechanisms generally. “These elec- they have a chance to have to be put into place to ensure proper tions, which did not better link government use of the funds. exist in the past in the Genuine decentralization and administration Mr. Kamitatu, the planning minister, Congo, are going to to the interests and requires transferring both points out that the 40 per cent allocation “is lead to greater diffu- concerns of ordinary resources and responsibilities not a gift.” The provinces will be expected sion of decision-mak- Congolese. Over the to use the funds to provide sanitation, pro- ing, which will lead to the provinces, says Minister long term, that will not tect the environment, maintain rural roads to more democratic of Planning Olivier Kamitatu. only ensure that peo- and perform other public services. “It is participation.” ple’s needs are better not simply a transfer of financial resources, met, but also that the but a transfer of responsibilities. And for a Stirrings at the grassroots new Congolese state can function more transfer of responsibilities, there has to be Throughout the DRC’s long years of state effectively throughout the vast territory. real administrative capacity.” decay, ordinary Congolese found many MONUC’s Mr. Kacouchia is optimistic. However such details are worked out, ingenious ways to cope. Through village If it is possible for leaders to agree on the the UN’s Mr. Menkerios believes that the associations, churches, professional bod- road forward, then the Congolese people development of viable local government ies and civil society groups, they tackled will have a chance to realize their country’s bodies will make it possible to better the problems of daily survival and sought potential. That will be a tremendous gain, resolve the many conflicts over land and to defend themselves against rapacious he says, not only for the Congo, “but also other issues that exist among the DRC’s officials, soldiers, mine owners and log- for the region and all of Africa.” n

18 JANUARY 2008 AIDS epidemic from page 4

Halperin, an AIDS expert at the US’s Harvard School of Public Health, are con- tinuing to experience “real nightmares.” Whatever else the revision in the overall AIDS figures may show, he adds, “this doesn’t mean the epidemic is going away.” Alamy Images / Mike Goldwater

Statistical refinements In poor, largely rural countries with weak health systems and limited ability to col- lect data, measuring the extent of an infec- tious disease is always difficult, notes Dr. Paul De Lay, a UNAIDS director. “The challenge is equally true for TB, polio and childhood diarrhoea.” In the case of HIV/AIDS, earlier esti- Reading an AIDS education pamphlet in Uganda: In some countries, young people are reducing mates were based mainly on information risky behaviour that can make them vulnerable to infection. collected on young women visiting pub- lic health clinics either because they were ignored. A few charged that the figures are seeing a return of the epidemic,” he pregnant or because they feared they had were consciously exaggerated as part of a notes. The Update reports that prevalence been infected. Those results were then strategy to raise international alarm about rates are rising again in the US, the UK extrapolated to the rest of the population the disease and prompt donors to release and Germany — as well as in Uganda, to come up with estimated national infec- more funds. Dr. De Lay regards such accu- which once was hailed for its success in tion rates. But over time experts realized sations as “absurd.” It would be “techni- bringing down HIV rates. that data from urban clinics were skewed: cally impossible” for UNAIDS “to some- Nor should the international commu- they gave too much statistical weight to how rig the numbers,” he says, since they nity slacken its own efforts, argue AIDS sex workers, drug users and people with are gathered by national health ministries advocates. Current international spend- multiple partners, relative to other sectors and reviewed by many experts inside and ing, at around $10 bn annually, contin- of the population. outside the UN system. ues to fall short of actual needs. “There’s As donor countries gradually began pro- Many countries have not yet conducted still a huge epidemic out there that still viding more funds to combat the disease, national surveys, and for those that have, it needs huge resources to win the battle,” some of those resources were allocated is impractical to update the costly surveys says Paul Zeitz, executive director of the for more scientifically designed national every year. So while the surveys are now Global AIDS Alliance, an international surveys, at a cost of $2–3 mn per country. helping to produce better data, the figures non-governmental group headquartered in Across the board, the surveys showed that reported by UNAIDS and WHO remain Washington, DC. the scale of the epidemic was somewhat rough estimates. To demonstrate the continu- UNAIDS and WHO are planning to less than previously thought. ing uncertainty, the Update report includes a issue a report in 2008 on financing the According to UNAIDS, analyses of range of low and high estimates with most global campaign against AIDS. It is pos- national survey results in India in July of its baseline figures. For instance, the sible, says Dr. De Lay, that projected reduced estimates of the number of people total of 33.2 million people living with HIV treatment costs, such as for providing anti- living with HIV in that country by more worldwide may actually be as low as 30.6 retroviral medicines to people with full- than half, from 5.7 million people to 2.5 million — or as high as 36.1 million. blown AIDS, will be about 5 per cent less million, a revision that accounted for half of in 2010 than previously estimated. But the decline in the global estimate. Much of No time for complacency that total will still be around $38 bn — far the remaining adjustment, reports UNAIDS, Whether the numbers are going up or higher than current AIDS financing. came from revised estimates for several down, there should be no complacency, “We have to recognize the very long- African countries, including Angola, Kenya, UNAIDS and other experts warn. There is term nature of the HIV pandemic,” says Mozambique, Nigeria and Zimbabwe. still no cure for AIDS, Dr. De Lay points Dr. De Cock. “We’re facing decades of Some independent AIDS researchers out. Moreover, in a number of countries this problem.” Of those currently infected, had been arguing for several years that that had previously made progress in re- “some of them require treatment now, and the UN’s earlier estimates were too high, ducing infection rates, but in which anti- all of them will in time. The qualitative and complain that their arguments were AIDS programmes have diminished, “we implications have changed very little.” n

JANUARY 2008 19 Saving Africa’s forests from page 7 settlements are not triggered by local peo- ple. They are instigated by leaders. Those leaders are selling public land that does not belong to them or trying to provide people with access to land in order to get their vote in the next election. This is very different from the classic case of local poverty and forest degradation that we are often talking about…. The root cause is greed.” He cites one case in which a Kenyan member of parliament sold 14,000 hect-

ares of forested public trust land to unsus- Akena James / Reuters pecting buyers. “He brought people from different districts and secured their vote in the election,” he charges. Although the incident caused a public uproar and the government evicted more than 10,000 set- tlers, the legislator was never prosecuted and never returned the money. As a result, A forest hunter in Uganda: Many local communities depend on forests for food, the buyers returned to the trust lands and medicinal plants and other supplies. the dispute has yet to be resolved. In one sense, Mr. Lambrechts asserts, digenous forests and, in some cases, its erly by unscrupulous officials during the such cases are an unintended consequence political stability. Part of the problem, say country’s war, cover 50 mn hectares of of multiparty democracy. “One of the side environmentalists and forestry experts, is deep forests. In 2002 the DRC government effects is that politicians sometimes use the common use of clear cutting and other suspended 25 mn hectares of logging con- forest land to buy votes. In a country where unsound methods that strip large areas of cessions granted as part of a World Bank- so much of the economy is based on agri- trees and vegetation, damaging the for- supported review of dozens of logging and culture and forest land is generally seen as ests’ ability to retain water and provide mining contracts signed by previous gov- idle land, politicians promise people land habitat for animal and plant life. Clear ernments. The government also adopted a in exchange for support.” cutting sometimes erodes the exposed soil new forestry code to improve forestry man- Yet, civil society activists point out, to a point at which natural regeneration or agement practices and ensure transparency democracy also offers solutions to such reforestation efforts are impossible. in contracting procedures. problems by holding elected officials and UN and non-governmental research- But the inability of many developing parties accountable to the public at elec- ers report that the indiscriminate, labour- countries to regulate and manage their tion time and enabling a free press to alert intensive methods common to logging forests due to conflict, weak law enforce- voters and decision-makers to abuses. operations in Central Africa and other ment, poor administrative authority and Democracy makes government more developing regions waste as many as half corruption has allowed illegal logging to responsive to pressure from organized of the trees cut down through destruction flourish. In 2006, the World Bank esti- grassroots groups like Kenya’s Green of non-commercial varieties and clearing mated that annual losses to illegal logging Belt Movement, a national women’s orga- of forestland for roads, logging camps and totalled $15 bn globally, including $5 bn in nization that has planted an estimated work areas. Much of the refuse and sur- government revenues lost in unpaid taxes, 30 mn trees since its founding in 1977. rounding brush is burned, releasing carbon royalties and other fees. In Gabon, illegal Democracy can enhance the influence of back into the atmosphere. logging is estimated to comprise 70 per cent the private sector as well, allowing busi- The scope of the problem can be enor- of the entire industry and in Ghana, about nesses to choose parties and candidates mous. Mr. Lambrechts reports that during 60 per cent. The scale of the problem, and most attuned to their interests — including one three-month period, UNEP monitors the corruption and contempt for law that their interest in preserving forests. recorded the loss of 14,000 trees at a single accompany it, the Bank notes, “undermine logging camp. any nation’s attempt to achieve sustainable At loggerheads over logging Vast areas of Central Africa’s indigenous economic growth, social balance and envi- Commercial logging is the second larg- forests are at risk. In the DRC alone, the ronmental protection.” est contributor to deforestation in Africa, World Bank estimates that logging conces- Both legal and illegal logging in indig- threatening the continent’s existing in- sions, many of which were issued improp- enous forests can also accelerate human

20 JANUARY 2008 encroachment on the forests by opening preservation of old-growth forests is both Mobile banking up the areas to settlement and commerce. unfair and unwise. In September 2007, from page 3 “Logging companies are effectively road Gabon, Cameroon, DRC, Costa Rica, engineers,” the international environmen- Brazil, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia then can obtain the cash from a Safari- tal group Greenpeace noted in a report and Malaysia, which together contain 80 com agent by entering a secret code and on logging in the DRC. “Once the rain- per cent of the world’s remaining tropical showing personal identification. forest is opened up by logging roads the forests, formed the Forestry Eight to chal- Similar services are now available in area becomes vulnerable to clearance for lenge the exclusion. the Democratic Republic of the Congo agriculture,” which leads to the perma- If avoided deforestation were eligible and Zambia. In Zambia, Celpay, a prod- nent loss of forestland and the release of for the same CDM incentives available uct of First National Bank of South Africa, greenhouse gases. to reforestation programmes, they argue, allows businesses to pay for services The organization estimates that logging they would be eligible for tens of billions and receive payments via mobile phone concessions in Central Africa’s primary of dollars in green investment by pollut- accounts. Celpay currently processes up to forests cover an area the size of Spain, and ing countries. That money could then be $10 mn in payments per month. that deforestation could release more than invested in other climate-friendly devel- In South Africa, First National Bank also 34 bn tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere opment programmes. They also note that partners with cell phone provider Mobile by 2050 — about the same amount of car- to date African and other poor develop- Telephone Networks (MTN), which pro- bon emitted by the UK over the past 60 ing countries have largely failed to attract vides services for South Africans who years. Although the World Bank, the UN CDM investments and lack the resources already have a bank account but also want to and local governments have tried to reduce to adjust to climate change and reduce send and receive money over cell phones. the scope and impact of illegal logging, their own emissions. Between them, MTN and Wizzit enable Greenpeace and other critics argue that In early 2007 the World Bank announced 500,000 South Africans who do not have even legal logging of indigenous forests plans for a pilot $250 mn fund to finance accounts to send and receive money to rel- creates the risk of deforestation in devel- avoided deforestation projects in develop- atives, pay for goods and services, check oping countries, contributing to climate ing countries. A Bank official told Africa balances and settle utility bills. Until the change and environmental damage. Renewal that the lending agency hopes to advent of the two services, South Africans launch the fund by the end of the year. often paid couriers the equivalent of Avoiding deforestation Although the proposal enjoys consider- $30–50 to deliver cash to relatives. Now Efforts to bring the private sector into the able support among developing countries, such transactions cost only $0.50 through struggle to preserve the world’s remain- it remains controversial, with questions mobile bank networks. ing old-growth forests are also underway remaining about how to calculate the car- The greatest impact is in rural areas, says internationally. Under the Clean Develop- bon value of existing forests and fears that Beyers Coetzee, a rural community officer ment Mechanism (CDM) established by forest nations could blackmail industrial- for Wizzit. “Eighty per cent of all farmers the Kyoto Protocol — the international ized countries by threatening to cut their do not have bank accounts.” Moreover, he treaty aimed at reducing greenhouse gas forests down. One senior US environmental adds, a Wizzit account, unlike a regular emissions — Northern polluters can off- adviser, noting that deforestation is prohib- bank account, is not closed if the customer set some of their dis- ited in most countries, does not use it regularly. That is “very use- charges by financing Preserving Africa’s surviving tropical denounced the pro- ful for seasonal workers” in particular. “green” projects in the forests and planting new trees to posal, telling the UK’s Rob Conway, head of the Global System developing South. replace those lost to deforestation Financial Times news- for Mobile Communications Association, In the case of for- could help reduce the severity of paper that, “you would an international group of mobile phone estry, the rules allow climate change by absorbing more be paying people not service providers, says that such innova- countries to receive carbon from the air. to engage in an illegal tions have “changed the lives of millions credit for planting new activity.” The proposal of Africans, catalyzing economic develop- trees, which absorb was approved in Bali in ment and strengthening social ties.” carbon as they grow (see box page 6). But December at the first of a series of meet- Lauri Kivinen, head of corporate affairs similar incentives not to cut down existing ings to negotiate a successor to the Kyoto for the Nokia Siemens network, agrees that forests, a phenomenon known as “avoided Protocol, which expires in 2012. this development is significant. “It means deforestation,” were excluded from the However humanity chooses to preserve unprecedented, substantial change for CDM amid disputes among governments them, Mr. Lambrechts concludes, the ordinary people,” he told Africa Renewal. about how to calculate their value as carbon world’s indigenous forests are simply too Through mobile phone banking, people storehouses and what to do if protected trees valuable to lose. “For ten thousand years can “extend their social and business are later cut down. we have been conquering the earth,” he networks, boost their productivity and so Heavily forested countries charge that says. “Now the earth is full and we have much more, all at the touch of a few but- the failure to extend CDM financing to the no choice but to manage it instead.” n tons on a cell phone.” n

JANUARY 2008 21 and technology in Africa’s development, and 20–25 April 2008, Accra (Ghana) — organized by the UN Economic Commis- UNCTAD XII. The theme for the 12th quadren- sion for Africa and Intelligence in Science. Tel nial UN Conference on Trade and Development (251) 11 5445098, fax (251) 11 5510365, e-mail is “Addressing the Opportunities and Challenges , website 917 5828, e-mail , website 4–6 March 2008, Washington DC (USA) — International Renewable Energy Confer- 31 January–2 February 2008, Addis-Ababa WHAT HAS TAKEN PLACE (Ethiopia) — 10th Summit of African Union ence. Organized by the American Council on Heads of State and Government. Website Renewable Energy. Tel (1) 202 393-0001, website 23–25 November 2007, Kampala (Uganda) — Commonwealth Heads of Government Meet- 7–9 February 2008, New Delhi (India) — 10–12 March 2008, Cape Town (South Africa) ing. Tel (256) 414-345661/257525/258252/237309, World Sustainable Development Forum. — International Conference on Integrated fax (256) 414-237310, e-mail , website (TERI), on the theme “Sustainable Development by the Water Research Commission of South Africa, and aimed at sharing the experiences 29–30 November 2007, Detroit, Michigan and Climate Change.” Tel (91) 11 24682100 / (USA) — First Annual USA-Africa Inter- 41504900, fax (91) 11 24682144 / 24682145, and lessons of developing countries in integrated water resources management. Contact Elanda national Business Conference. On the theme e-mail , website Botes, tel (27) 12 336 7550, fax (27) 12 328 6397, e-mail , website by Global Strategic Management Inc. Website ketplace. Under the auspices of the NEPAD Council, in collaboration with Pro-Invest of the 10–14 March 2008, Accra (Ghana) — 2nd Global Summit on HIV/AIDS, Traditional 3–14 December 2007, Bali (Indonesia) — UN European Union. Website Medicine and Indigenous Knowledge. Orga- nized by Africa First of Minnesota, USA, in unfccc.int/meetings/cop_13/items/4049.php> 22–23 February 2008, Berlin (Germany) — association with the Ghana Ministry of Health, 7 December 2007, Lisbon (Portugal) — EU- Berlin Conference on the Human Dimensions World Health Organization, UNAIDS Ghana Africa Business Summit 2007. Seeking to of Global Environmental Change. Website Office, Ghana AIDS Commission and Espe- re­inforce the private sector’s commitment to work ranza Medicines Foundation. E-mail , website site

Rwegera (L’Harmattan, Paris, France, 2007; 172 Cage Banseka (Adonis and Abbey Publishers, pp; €17, FF112) UK, 2006; 320 pp; pb $31.50, £21.50) Exploited: Migrant Labour in the New Global Paysage après le génocide: Une justice est-elle Economy by Toby Shelley (Zed Books, London, possible au Rwanda? by Jean Chatain (Le Temps UK, 2007; 144 pp; hb £50, pb £14.99, $27) des cerises, Pantin, France, 2007; 248 pp; pb €18) Des conflits locaux à la guerre régionale en Décentralisation et gouvernance locale au Twenty-First-Century Peace Operations, ed. Afrique Centrale: Le Congo-Kinshasa ori- Sénégal: Quelle pertinence pour le développe- William J. Durch (US Institute of Peace Press, ental 1996-2007 by Alphonse Maindo M.N. ment local? by Djibril Diop (L’Harmattan, Paris, Washington, DC, USA, 2006; 660 pp; pb $35, (L’Harmattan, Paris, France, 2007; 310 pp; €27) France, 2006; 268 pp; €24.50) hb $65) Les “faiseurs de paix” au Congo: Gestion Elections en Guinée: Technologie électorale China in Africa: Partner, Competitor or d’une crise internationale dans un Etat sous et imbroglio juridique by Togba Zogbelemou Hegemon? by Chris Alden (Zed Books, London, tutelle by Jean-Claude Williame (GRIP-Com- (L’Harmattan, Paris, France, 2007; 238 pp; UK, 2007; 154 pp; hb £45, pb £12.99) plexe, Brussels, Belgium, 2007; 219 pp; €15.90) €21, FF138) Agriculture tropicale et exploitations famil- Les eaux et forêts de la RD Congo: Change- Avenir de l’industrie minière en Guinée by iales d’Afrique by Hughes Dupriez (Terres et ment climatique de la planète: Les enjeux by Ibrahima Soumah (L’Harmattan, Paris, France, Vie, Nivelles, Belgium, 2007; 480 pp; €42) Kashemukunda Kasongo-Numbi (L’Harmattan, 2007; 258 pp; €25.50, FF148) Democratic Reform in Africa: Its Impact on Paris, France, 2007; 200 pp; €16.50, FF108) Violence in Developing Countries: War, Mem- Governance and Poverty Alleviation, ed. Muna RD Congo: Les élections, et après? Intel- ory, Progress by Christopher Cramer (Indiana Ndulo (Ohio University Press, Ohio, USA, and lectuels et politiques posent les enjeux de University Press, Bloomington, Indiana, USA, James Currey Publishers, Oxford, UK, 2006; l’après-transition, eds. Eddie Tambwe Kitenge 2007; 256 pp; pb $24.95) 304 pp; hb $55) Bin Kitoko and Anatole Collinet Makosso The State of Resistance: Popular Struggles in Identity Matters: Ethnic and Sectarian Con- (L’Harmattan, Paris, France, 2007; 276 pp; pb the Global South by François Polet (Zed Books, flict, eds. James L. Peacock, Patricia M. Thorn- €25, FF164) London, UK, 2007; 176 pp; hb £60, pb £16.99, $31) ton and Patrick B. Inman (Berghahn Books, New Gendarmerie et reconstruction d’un état de York, NY, 2007; 244 pp; hb $80) L’Afrique, le sens. Représentations, configu- droit au Congo-Kinshasa by Alphonse Ndjate rations, défigurations, ed. Michel Costantini Le droit international et la guerre: Evolu- Omanyondo N’Koy (L’Harmattan, Paris, France, (L’Harmattan, Paris, France, 2007; 224 pp; €21.50) tion et problèmes actuels by Daniel Iagolnitzer 2007; 296 pp; €29.50, FF194) Wealth Effect: Africa in the Midst of Global (L’Harmattan, Paris, France, 2007; 132 pp; €12.50) Emergent Conflict and Peaceful Change by Economic Transformation by Chamberlain Shaping a New Africa, ed. Abdullah Moham- Hugh Miall (Palgrave Macmillan, Hampshire, S. Peterside (Lulu.Com, USA, 2007; 180 pp, pb oud (Stylus Publishing, Herndon, Virginia, USA, UK, 2007; 224 pp; hb £50, pb £18.99) $15.50) 2006; 256 pp; $30.50) Extending the Proceeds of Peace and Develop- Global Political Parties by Katarina Sehm Ikambere et la vie quotidienne des femmes ment: European Union’s Eastward Expansion Patomki and Marko Ulvila (Zed Books, London, touchées par le VIH/SIDA, ed. Bernadette and Development Cooperation with Africa by UK, 2007; 176 pp; hb £55, pb £16.99)

22 JANUARY 2008 same period. Most of the remaining deaths, mated 478 million children aged 9 months about 178,000, are now in southern Asia. to 14 years received the measles vaccine. “The dramatic drop in measles deaths “We literary [went] door-to-door inform- in Africa and the strong progress made ing, educating and motivating mothers worldwide are a testament to the power and caregivers about the critical need to Measles deaths drop of strong partnerships and the impact vaccinate their children,” explains Bonnie sharply in Africa they can have on child survival,” says UN McElveen-Hunter, chair of the American Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Executive Red Cross. “These mobilization efforts Measles deaths in Africa fell by a dramatic Director Ann Veneman. [were] essential to our success.” 91 per cent from 2000 to 2006, announced The Measles Initiative, run jointly by the WHO Director Margaret Chan calls the the Measles Initiative, a joint campaign World Health Organization, UNICEF, the progress in Africa “a major public health by UN agencies, governments and non- American Red Cross, the UN Foundation success” and “a tribute to the commit- governmental organizations in November. and the US Centres for Disease Control ment of countries in the African region.” The drop in mortalities in Africa — from (CDC), oversaw mass vaccination cam- Dr. Chan adds: “We need to sustain this 396,000 to 36,000 — contributed greatly to paigns in the 46 countries most affected success and intensify our efforts in other an overall decline in measles deaths world- by the disease. Thirty-one of those coun- parts of the world, as there are still far too wide, from 757,000 to 242,000 over the tries were in sub-Saharan Africa. An esti- many lives lost to this disease.” n

Trade talks reach impasse at Europe-Africa summit

A long-anticipated summit of European and summit that the EPAs, if adopted, could lead to African leaders vowed to build a new “strate- the “systematic dismantling of local production gic partnership” between the two regions, but systems” and reduce African economies to little ended mainly with general declarations and few more than “bazaars.” concrete agreements. Some friction was gen- Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade erated by concerns over human rights issues, publicly declared several weeks before the including the participation of the president of summit that if he had to choose between more Zimbabwe, which prompted the UK prime min- financial aid and protecting domestic indus- ister to stay away from the 8–9 December sum- tries from “destructive competition,” he would mit in Lisbon, Portugal. But more notably, the choose protection. Moreover, he argued, an European Union (EU) failed to convince African abrupt liberalization of African trade could countries to accept new “free trade” accords. in the short-run reduce African budgetary Summarizing the African viewpoint, Alpha Filgueiras Paulo / UN receipts by 35–70 per cent, since they are Oumar Konaré, chair of the Commission of the heavily dependent on tariff revenues. At the African Union, the continent’s political organiza- summit, he accused the EU of trying to impose tion, affirmed that Africa wants to participate in “a straitjacket that does not work.” the global economy, including through expanded African leaders were also critical of the EU’s trade, “but with new rules.” bargaining methods. Rather than negotiating Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade: The EU had originally pushed to negotiate a new arrangement with the ACP group as a The EU is trying to impose “a straitjacket the new accords, known as Economic Partner- whole, EU officials sought separate deals with that does not work.” ship Agreements (EPAs), by the end of December six different blocs — the Caribbean, Pacific and 2007, to comply with a deadline by the World four sub-regions of Africa. Then when it seemed Trade Organization to phase out preferential aid and trade pacts that that none of those regional blocs would approve the EPAs, the EU Europe had maintained for some 30 years with its former colonies in pressed individual countries to sign “interim” trade agreements — or Africa, the Caribbean and Pacific (ACP). Since a majority of the 78 ACP face a major hike in European tariffs against their goods at the start countries are in Africa, the Lisbon summit was seen as an important of the new year. By the time of the summit, 13 African countries had step towards securing wider agreement. signed such interim arrangements. In Lisbon, Mr. Konaré criticized But leading up to the year-end deadline, opposition to the EPAs efforts to play African regions against each other and to “force” by African governments, business groups and civil society organiza- agreement on individual countries. tions mounted (see Africa Renewal, July 2007). As proposed by the By the end of the summit, EU officials acknowledged that the EU, the EPAs would have required ACP countries to liberalize most of original negotiating deadline would not be met. Jose Manuel Barroso, their trade with the region in order to gain duty-free access to Euro- president of the European Commission, agreed that talks “will require pean markets. This would have allowed them to use tariffs to protect time” and hoped to resume discussions on the EPAs in February. only a small portion of their own markets. Such a willingness by European leaders to discuss Africa’s concerns, Noting that African industries are not yet able to compete with some observers pointed out, would be in the spirit of the summit’s European products — some of which are heavily subsidized — Sene- Lisbon Declaration, which promised the development of a “partner- galese economist Moustapha Kassé warned on the eve of the Lisbon ship of equals” between the two regions.

JANUARY 2008 23 meal and bread. such foods and make them unaffordable In the short-term, some African farmers to poor people locally. may benefit, notes Ms. Sheeran. Increased “With food prices at their highest level demand has pushed up prices for alter- in decades, many people are simply being native food crops, such as cassava. But priced out of the food market,” says Ms. FOOD PRICES there is a danger, she adds, that increased Sheeran. “These problems are not given Rising cereal costs competition may lead to higher exports of adequate attention in the West.” n hitting Africa’s poor APPOINTMENTS Prices of food, particularly cereals, rose sharply in 2006 and in some cases have The UN Secretary-General has appointed Ms. Ellen Margrethe Løj, been increasingly at an even faster pace Denmark’s former UN ambassador, head of the UN Mission in Libe- in 2007, the Food and Agricultural Or- ria. At the time of her appointment, she was serving as Denmark’s ganization (FAO) warned in November. ambassador to the Czech Republic. At the UN, Ms. Løj co-chaired the General Assembly’s Working Committee on the Peacebuilding The UN agency says several factors will Commission in 2005. She also formerly chaired the Security Coun- keep prices rising in coming years, includ- UN / Paulo Filgueiras cil’s Sanctions Committee on Liberia. ing higher oil costs, the effects of climate Mr. Alan Doss of the UK has been named by the UN Secretary-General as his special change on agriculture and the greater use representative in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Prior to this appointment, Mr. Doss of maize and other cereals for produc- served as special representative in Liberia from 2005 to 2007. He previously served as ing bio-fuels, which has increased cereal deputy special representative in Côte d’Ivoire and Sierra Leone, among other positions. demand. The higher prices, says Henri Mr. Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah of Mauritania has been appointed by the

Josserand, head of FAO’s early warning UN Secretary-General as his special representative for Somalia. From UN / Eskinder Debebe unit, are already causing “big problems 2002 to 2007, Mr. Ould-Abdallah headed the UN Office in West Africa of access for people in some West African (UNOWA) and was chairman of the commission established to imple- countries this year.” ment the International Court of Justice’s ruling on the territorial dispute The UN World Food Programme between Cameroon and Nigeria. Previously, he was the executive (WFP), which distributes food aid to vul- secretary of the Global Coalition for Africa, an advocacy group based nerable populations, has also drawn atten- in Washington, DC, and as Mauritania’s minister of foreign affairs. The UN Secretary-General has temporarily assigned General Lamine Cissé of Senegal as tion to the impact. “WFP’s food costs officer-in-charge of UNOWA. have gone up 50 per cent in the last five Mr. Choi Young-jin of the Republic of Korea has been appointed years alone,” reports WFP Director Josette the UN Secretary-General’s special representative in Côte d’Ivoire, Sheeran. “We’re expecting over the next replacing Mr. Pierre Schori of Sweden. Mr. Choi was previously his two years for that to go up another 35 per country’s permanent representative to the UN and vice-minister of cent, but in some markets over the past foreign affairs and trade. He has also served as UN assistant secre- six months we have had increases of over tary-general for peacekeeping operations.

40 per cent.” UN / ChungKy Mr. Ashraf Jehangir Qazi of Pakistan has been

Higher global prices hit countries that appointed by the UN Secretary-General as his special representative UN / Devra Berkowitz depend on imports especially hard. Prices for Sudan. Prior to this appointment, he served as UN special repre- of rice, a staple in Guinea-Bissau, went up sentative in Iraq. A former ambassador of Pakistan to the US, Mr. Qazi 40 per cent in 2007, compared with the has also held various other diplomatic assignments, including in China, year before. The cost of wheat in Senegal Japan, Egypt and Libya. and Mauritania has gone up by 75 per cent, The UN Secretary-General has appointed Mr. Fran- says the US-funded Famine Early Warning çois Lonsény Fall of Guinea as his special representative and head System Network. of the UN Peace Building Office in the Central African Republic. Since 2005, he had been the special representative in Somalia. Mr. The Senegalese government has Fall was prime minister of Guinea in 2004 and served as minister for responded by cutting import tariffs on foreign affairs and cooperation from 2002 to 2004. He has also been wheat, but there was still a 12 per cent UN / Paulo Filgueiras his country’s permanent representative to the UN in New York. increase in the cost of bread between World Bank / S. D. McCourtie Former Nigerian finance and foreign minister Ms. Ngozi Okonjo- October and November alone. In Iweala has been appointed as the new managing director of the Morocco similar hikes led to food pro- World Bank. Effective 1 December 2007, she will be responsible for tests in which 50 people were injured. the Bank’s operations in Africa, South Asia, Europe and Central Asia, Millers in Botswana have cited higher as well as for human resources. Prior to her ministerial career in Nige- production costs, due mainly to the prices ria, Ms. Okonjo-Iweala was vice-president and corporate secretary of of imported oil and wheat, for increases the World Bank Group. in the price they must charge for maize

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