The economics of foreign aid...

Worldwide 215 million children are engaged in child labour, and of these 115 million are involved in what is considered to be hazardous work, says this report from the Food and Agricultural Organisation. Agriculture is the sector where the largest share of child labourers is found - a staggering 60 per cent of boys and girls between the ages of 5 and 17.

Soon after independence in 1960, the government set the legal age of consent to marriage at 20 for men, 18 for women and 21 for couples without parental consent. But the law is widely ignored in a society where many say that marrying young is the cultural norm. When female teens become eligible for early marriage, their school enrollment drops off sharply. While 66 per cent of girls enroll in primary school, just 19 per cent go on to secondary school, according to UNICEF.

The Democratic Republic of Congo's parliament has passed an electoral law, a crucial step toward organising 28 November presidential and legislative elections, but opposition leaders have expressed concern over the poll's credibility. The timetable for registering millions of voters is tight, and opposition parties want greater international involvement in monitoring preparations for the election.

FLORIBERT CHEBEYA'S DEATH, ONE YEAR AFTER: A STRONG SIGN!

Jean-Pierre Mbelu

How can the struggle for human rights be converted into a struggle with the Congolese people (male and female alike) so that they become defenders of their own social, economic and cultural rights and political freedoms? What to do with the Congolese people whose rights and freedoms are constantly violated so that they do away with their status of 'innocent victims' defended only by a few worthy sons and daughters of Congo? How to enable them to become a people able to shout ‘their indignation’ without fear of death nor of vampires which can suck blood but cannot eat the spirit of resistance against the forces of death? Such are the questions which should bring the Congolese together, passionate for peace, justice and truth, and fighting for the advent of another Congo on this day when we remember these worthy sons and daughters of our people. Our article explores a few ideas.

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GABON IN RUINS FROM SHATTERED DEMOCRACY

Marc Ona Essangui

The visit to the United States of America by the Gabonese President Ali Bongo Ondimba from 6 to 9 June has sparked off protests from Gabonese civil society. In a letter addressed to President Barack Obama, the Gabonese civil society not only denounced the catastrophic state of democracy and governance in their country but also reminded President Obama of his speech in Accra, Ghana, which should form the basis of his relations with African leaders.

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MADAGASCAR: STOP THE DISORDER

The political crisis continues in Madagascar, with false solutions and missed opportunities in the search of a return to political stability. For the members of the observatory of public life, it is time to get out of this cycle which has brought about the crumbling of everything and now the Malagasy people have started to lose their bearings.

A Thomson Reuters Foundation poll may have found that Afghanistan is the most dangerous place to be a woman, but Somalia's women's minister is astonished any country could be worse than her own. 'I'm completely surprised because I thought Somalia would be first on the list, not fifth,' said Maryan Qasim. 'The most dangerous thing a woman in Somalia can do is to become pregnant,' Qasim said. 'When a woman becomes pregnant her life is 50-50 because there is no antenatal care at all...There are no hospitals, no healthcare, no nothing.'

Swedish defence group Saab admitted that millions were paid to clinch a South African contract for fighter jets but said its erstwhile British partner BAE Systems had paid the bribes. Saab said R24-million had been paid by BAE in the form of bonuses and salaries between 2003 and 2005 for the deal involving 26 JAS Gripen fighters. The comments came after Sweden's TV4 television channel said it had evidence Saab had promised to pay Fana Hlongwane, then advisor to the South African defence minister and also serving as a consultant to the Swedish firm, millions of euros in bonuses if Pretoria did not back out of the Gripen deal.

Public health officials may be able to forecast cholera outbreaks months in advance by looking at temperature and rainfall data, according to a study. Researchers looked at cholera outbreaks in Zanzibar, Tanzania, and found that they correlated with increases in temperature and rainfall. They calculated thata one degree Celsius increase - from 23 to 24 degrees Celsius - was followed by a doubling of cholera cases four months later.

Burkina Faso President Blaise Compaoré has sacked all of the 14 governors of the country’s regions and promised to name replacements in due course. A statement on the State radio said the move followed a Cabinet meeting which was chaired by the President in the capital, Ouagadougou. Even though no reasons were given for the sackings, it is believed the action was in connection with the riots and military mutinies that have rocked the country for three months now.

Representatives from various organisations in the region and nationally agreed to submit a series of observations and demands to the finance ministers and central bank presidents of the Union of Nations of South America, UNASUR, during the first meeting of the South American Council of Economy and Finance. The meeting, due to be held in Buenos Aires, was suspended as the proliferation of volcanic ash forced the closure of airports.

A Casablanca court on 9 June sentenced opposition journalist Rachid Nini to one year in prison and fined him 1,000 dirhams (100 euros). The Al Massae editor was indicted in late April on charges of disinformation, attacking state institutions, public figures and the 'security and integrity of the nation and citizens'. Nini published a series of articles criticising Moroccan security authorities and other influential figures. In his writing, he cast doubt over the terrorist attacks experienced by Morocco and demanded the abrogation of the Terrorist Act.

The planned creation of a 26-nation African Tripartite Free Trade Area (FTA) will draw industrial investment to South Africa by making it a springboard for low-duty access to other parts of the continent, trade and industry director general Lionel October said. The proposed free trade zone will merge the three regional blocs covering southern, central and eastern Africa. These are the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa), and the East African Community (EAC), which have a combined population of 580-million people.

South African President Jacob Zuma reportedly got into a verbal confrontation with Robert Mugabe, after the ZANU PF leader challenged him over the ‘inaccuracy’ of the Livingstone Troika resolutions. The Johannesburg Summit went on and ‘noted’ the decision of the Organ Troika in Livingstone, dealing a major blow to ZANU PF who had wanted the resolutions thrown out altogether. But the regional leaders also appeared to soften their language towards Mugabe.

Discriminatory laws and a largely homophobic society mean that men who have sex with men (MSM) in Kenya generally find it difficult to access HIV-related information and health services, but rural MSM have an especially hard time. When Kibet Kipsowen*, 30, a cattle keeper in Kenya’s Rift Valley Province, and his partner have sex, they use the oil-based jelly he applies when milking his cows; he’s never heard of a water-based lubricant, let alone used one. Health practitioners discourage the use of oil-based lubricants for anal sex, as the oil degrades condoms, increasing the likelihood that they will break. Studies have found that most African MSM use oil-based lubricants, heightening their risk of contracting HIV.

Ibrahim Foday, a reporter of The Exclusive, a Freetown-based independent newspaper, was on 12 June 2011, stabbed to death by unknown assailants in Grafton, a town in the outskirts of Freetown, where Foday lives. The Sierra Leonean authorities have not identified any suspects or disclosed possible motives for the murder, according to a release by the Sierra Leone Association of Journalist (SLAJ), on 13 June 2011. The SLAJ statement linked Foday’s death to an ongoing land dispute between Grafton and another town, Kossoh. Prior to his death the reporter had published a series of articles, on the dispute that the Kossoh people were not pleased with.

The roll-out of a revolutionary meningitis vaccination in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger has dramatically cut transmission rates, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), and if each country can find sufficient funds to co-finance the campaign, it will be extended to all 25 countries in the Africa meningitis belt by 2016, says the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI). In the 2010-2011 meningitis season, Burkina Faso has confirmed just four cases of meningitis A; Niger has reported four cases; and Mali none, according to WHO.

The Sierra Leone Network on the Right to Food (SiLNoRF) has published a report on the sugarcane-to-ethanol project of the Geneva based firm Addax Bioenergy. The researchers found that 'many farmers in project affected communities have already lost their access to fertile lands, though Addax has provided community members with alternative farm lands and confined them to smaller lands, promises by Addax to plough and harrow the lands materialized too late in 2010.' Furthermore, the researchers observed that 'water has become an ever increasing problem for the communities as lands leased by Addax are currently being prepared and even at this initial stage some water bodies such as the "Kirbent" and "Domkoni" streams near the Maronko village in the Makari Gbanti Chiefdom have ceased to exist.'

A new sex workers initiative in Botswana has included an LGBTI component in its programme. African Sex Workers Alliance (ASWA) is a Pan African movement and alliance for the rights of sex workers which was established in 2009 in Johannesburg South Africa, with a number of 105 sex workers from different countries in Africa. Sisonke Botswana, a sex work group currently housed by Botswana Network on Ethics Law and HIV/AIDS (BONELA), joined ASWA and dedicated a week to the mapping of sex workers rights in Botswana with the aim to forming a coalition which will advance the human health rights of most key population (sex workers, transgender, MSM and drug users).

A Ugandan woman who was branded with a hot iron in her home country as a punishment for her sexuality, is facing forced removal from the UK. Betty Tibikawa, 22, who is detained in Yarl's Wood immigration removal centre in Bedford, is awaiting removal directions after her asylum claim was refused. Human rights organisations have consistently documented abuses against gay men and lesbians in Uganda and say that it's one of the most dangerous countries in the world for gay people.

Southern African leaders on Sunday pressured Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe to make democratic reforms ahead of new elections, hoping to set a new timetable for polls. Leaders of the 15-nation Southern African Development Community had discussed Zimbabwe late on Saturday on the eve of a free trade summit. After failing to reach a decision, they resumed talks after Sunday's trade meeting.
The full summit is expected to sign off on a roadmap that will lay out a new timetable for the constitution and later elections.