The Mozambican parliament last Thursday unanimously passed a bill introducing new anti-corruption measures. The bill had passed its first reading at the last parliamentary sitting in April, and in the intervening period the Assembly's legal affairs committee amended it in line with the April discussion.

Of the 94 candidates for mayors of Mozambican towns and cities in the municipal elections scheduled for 19 November, only the 33 candidates from the ruling Frelimo Party have presented nomination papers free of any irregularities.

The case in which Mozambican journalist Cassimo Ginabay is suing three of his former colleagues for the crime of "private imprisonment" neared its end on 30th of September 2003, with aggressive questioning from the defence lawyer, Inacio Matsinhe, making it seem as though Ginabay was the one on trial. Ginabay claims that Evans Langa, Virgilio Mabota and Elias Cossa deliberately locked him in the offices of the weekly paper "Demos", which he was then editing, on the night of 4 April 2002.

The lack of an identity document (ID) or birth certificate has denied many Mozambican children access to social services. Eighteen-year-old Manuel Fernando is one of them. Like many youths in Mozambique, his life has been a struggle from birth. And, like many other children, the basic right of receiving a birth certificate has been denied him.

The Maputo Provincial Court on Monday acquitted all seven policemen charged with facilitating the escape from the top security prison in September 2002 of Anibal dos Santos Junior ("Anibalzinho"), who recruited the death squad that murdered Mozambique's top investigative journalist, Carlos Cardoso, on 22 November 2000. Judge Carlos Caetano said that the seven men "are just scapegoats to hide the class of untouchables". This posting contains a list of news clippings related to Mozambique.

Like most South African teenagers, Koketso Mogongoa loves traditional “pap-en-vleis” and kwaito, but she’s been indulging in curry and “Bollywood” musicals in preparation for a three-year stint in India. Seventeen-year-old Mogongoa, from Lebowakgomo near Polokwane, is one of six Limpopo students awarded a bursary to study engineering, computer programming, and business administration at Punjab University in Punjab, India.

Mozambique's government launched an initiative Monday that will codify international norms protecting children's rights into its own domestic policy. The initiative, supported by UNICEF, will first analyze existing legislation and customs to see if current law sufficiently follows human rights treaties, such as the Convention of the Rights of the Child, to which Mozambique is a signatory.

Activists from the Mozambican environmentalist NGO "Livaningo" staged a demonstration on Monday in front of the World Bank offices in Maputo, to protest against the bank's support for the building of incinerators to burn toxic waste in developing countries, reports Tuesday's issue of the daily paper "Noticias".

Doctors in Mozambique are hoping that a new malaria vaccine will provide a breakthrough in lowering the toll the disease is taking. Trials starting on Thursday are expected to test the efficacy and safety of the vaccine, known as RTS,S/AS02A, on 2,000 children.

African leaders meeting in Mozambique last week for the second African Union (AU) summit said the fight against HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis (TB) was a priority for the continent, and a new regional effort which would demand greater financial support from the international community was needed.

The second African Union (AU) summit in Maputo was drawing to a close on Saturday after two days of deliberation where heads of state elected new leaders responsible for the day-to-day running of the organisation.

African heads of state and government have a busy few days ahead of them, as they meet for the second summit of the African Union in Maputo, Mozambique, from 10-12 July. With some devastating crises afflicting the continent, their citizens look to them for the leadership to end Africa’s armed conflicts and address problems like drought and famine, as well as speed up development, promote democracy and strengthen regional integration and trade.

Active participation of citizens in shaping policy and decision making of their countries is impossible if their own governments continue to deny them the rights necessary to ensure such participation. These include the rights to freedom of expression, assembly, association and political participation, as well as media freedom to facilitate a free exchange of information, ideas and opinion. This is part of the text of a press statement issued on Tuesday at the 2nd African Union meeting of Heads of State in Maputo, Mozambique by CREDO for Freedom of Expression of Associated Rights, FAHAMU, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), World Association of Newspapers (WAN) and Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA). Signatories to the petition, which has already been delivered to key political leaders in Maputo, included African and international journalists/media and freedom of expression organisations; African and international civil society and human rights organisations; individual lawyers, journalists, intellectuals, academics and human rights campaigners. Visit the link for the full statement, the letter to African leaders and the full list of signatories. Below are links to some of the stories generated by the petition.
* WAN Appeals to African Union for Press Freedom
http://allafrica.com/stories/200307050003.html
* MISA supports petition to the African Union for Press Freedom
http://www.kubatana.net/html/archive/media/030702misa.asp?sector=MEDIA
* IFEX members support media petition
http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/51876/?PHPSESSID=a629b18ed6710…
* Media Freedom Issues to Be Highlighted At AU Meeting
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35267
* Petition to the AU Calling for Press Freedom and the Release of Journalists
http://allafrica.com/stories/200307080789.html
* Press Freedom Petition to Go to AU Leaders
http://allafrica.com/stories/200307080515.html
* Malawi president to face AU press petition
http://www.nationmalawi.com/articles.asp?articleID=5110

In Mozambique, unsafe water and poor sanitation is killing almost 55 children every day. The country has one of the highest child mortality rates in the world: 246 out of every 1000 live births die within their first five years. Thirteen per cent of these deaths are directly attributable to a lack of access to clean water, proper sanitation and poor hygiene practices, says Unicef.

Mozambican Health Minister Francisco Songane reaffirmed on Monday that malaria remains the single largest cause of death in the country. Songane was speaking in Maputo at a meeting between Ministry of Health specialists and cooperation partners under the "Roll Back Malaria" (RBM) programme.

The African Union Summit in Maputo will link to the rest of the world during the Special Session on HIV/AIDS, Malaria & TB on 10 July (1:30 - 4:45 Maputo time, 12:30 pm - 3:50 pm, London time) There will be a live webcast, online survey and online discussion forum of this important event.

"We are convinced of the crucial role played by civil society in development and governance and further call on the AU member states to establish the necessary mechanisms to involve civil society in policy making, development planning, implementation monitoring and evaluation in accordance with the African charter on popular participation and development...Civil society shall continue to engage with NEPAD. We urge African leaders to partner with African civil society in all processes of implementation and further urge for a process that does not replicate structural adjustment programmes, which have impoverished the continent but take into consideration the views and needs of Africa."

The Electoral Institute of Southern Africa will be holding a conference in partnership with Centro De Estudos De Democracia E Desenvolvimento (CEDE) on Consolidating Peace and Democracy in Mozambique through Election-related Conflict Management Initiatives, from the 22nd to 23rd July 2003 at the Hotel Polana in Maputo, Mozambique. The Southern African Region has been a theatre of violent conflicts that to a considerable degree undermined both democratic governance and economic progress. In Mozambique, protracted violent conflict was terminated in 1992 through a negotiated settlement. The peace process was then consolidated through the general election in 1994. The democratic process was further consolidated with the holding of the local elections in 1998 and the second round of general elections in 1999. But in all these elections the opposition (RENAMO) refused to accept the results of the elections claiming electoral fraud. It is clear that if solutions are not found to problems that the electoral process faces in Mozambique, sooner or later, peace and stability could be affected.

Created by and for survivors, Landmine Survivors Network (LSN) empowers individuals, families, and communities affected by landmines to recover from trauma, fulfill their rights, and reclaim their lives. Part of this job will involve providing recommendations to LSN DC on how to improve programmatic activities to better assist survivors, especially those critically in need, including but not limited to accessing mobility devices, link/referrals, peer support, social groups, and direct assistance.

GOAL Mozambique aims to address the implications of the HIV/AIDS epidemic within GOAL´s country programming through mainstreaming HIV/AIDS activities into all GOAL programmes countrywide.