Kofi Annan Backs Small-Scale Farmers in Africa

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan called for more backing for Africa’s small-scale farmers.

Annan on Monday toured a test field near the village of Sanankoroba, located 24 miles (40 kilometers) south of the capital, where researchers showed off new varieties of rice developed in Mali that produce twice the yield as normal seeds.

Annan says that farmers have been “allowed to sink or swim on their own” without help.

Annan is the chairman of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa which aims to assist farmers by ensuring access to improved seed varieties, fertilizer and modern farming techniques. He argues that small-scale farmers are essential to ensuring African countries do not again experience high food prices or food shortages.

U.N. Peacekeepers Mostly Silent as 200 Women are Reported to be Seen Gang-Raped

(GIN) — An American aid worker and Congolese doctor reported recently that nearly 200 women and some young boys were gang-raped by Congolese and Rwandan rebels over four days within miles of a U.N. peacekeepers’ base in an eastern Democratic Republic of Congo mining district.

More than three weeks later, the U.N. mission has issued no statement about the atrocities and said recently it still is investigating.

A public-service billboard in Kalenger, Eastern Congo, discourages men from raping women.

“Ubakaji” is the Congolese word for rape. It is borrowed from the language of neighboring Tanzania; Congolese culture itself did not openly speak of rape until very recently. An estimated 500,000 women and girls have been victims of sexual violence since the Second Congo War began in 1996.

Less than a year ago, Hillary Clinton became the first U.S. secretary of state to visit war-torn regions of the Democratic Republic of Congo — and pledged $17 million to fight the rape epidemic.

“Working together, we will banish sexual violence into the dark past, where it belongs, and help the Congolese people seize the opportunities of a new day,” she wrote in an op-ed. Ten months later, Africa experts are questioning how the $17 million has been spent.

Media Fears Censorship Under New Gov’t Bill

(GIN) — South Africa’s investigative reporters say they fear a proposed “media tribunal” could end their exposes of public corruption and maladministration by government officials.

In the name of allowing average citizens to hold the media accountable, President Jacob Zuma’s ANC has proposed a tribunal, accountable to an ANC-led parliament to monitor and sanction the press.

A Protection of Information Bill is also under consideration to curb the reporting of so-called “state secrets.” Journalists reporting official information the state deems classified could face as many as 25 years in prison.

Justice Minister Jeff Radebe, speaking to the South African National Editors Forum, defended the tribunal concept but stressed that media would not be treated as the apartheid regime treated black journalists. He invited the media to participate in drafting legislation.

South Africa Unions Threaten Wider Walkout

(NNPA) — South Africa’s biggest labor federation, Cosatu, recently rallied its members to join a strike by about 1.3 million state workers over wage and benefit issues.

The strikers include teachers, health care workers, police, customs officials and clerks. The government has rejected their demands for an 8.6 percent wage increase and a 1,000-rand ($136) monthly housing allowance, as unaffordable, offering 7 percent.

Cosatu unions will hold a secondary sympathy strike and will “shut down” the country on Sept. 2, Zwelinzima Vavi, the federation’s general secretary, said in a press interview.

Cosatu claims to have about 2 million workers, several hundred thousand of whom have already walked off the job.

“We are demanding that government immediately move to make a new offer,” Vavi said. The government spends “millions of rand on luxury vehicles. This is the case of the shepherd feeding himself and forgetting about the lambs. Our demands are legitimate.”

Oil Money Taints U.N. Report on Nigerian Spills

(GIN) — Friends of the Earth and Amnesty International are furious over a U.N. report, whose partial contents were leaked, that blames toxic oil spills in the Niger Delta primarily on poor Nigerians living in the highly polluted region.

The three-year-old U.N. study received $9.5 million in funding from the Shell Petroleum Development Co. of Nigeria, with approval of the Nigerian government.

“The report relies more on figures produced by oil companies and Nigerian state statistics than on community testimony and organizations on the ground who work with communities,” wrote Nnimmo Bassey, chair of Friends of the Earth, in a press release.

Responding to the outcry from local groups, the U.N. Environmental Program wrote that the findings were only, “official estimates of the Government of Nigeria, based in part on data supplied by the oil industry.”

It also wrote: “They do not represent nor reflect results of UNEP’s current assessment process which is still ongoing. … UNEP wishes to assure all concerned that the assessment will be concluded to the highest standards of independence, integrity and transparency.”

But Friends of the Earth chair Nnimmo Bassey countered: “We monitor spills regularly and our observations often contradict information produced by oil companies and Nigerian regulatory agencies… The UN assessment is being paid for by Shell so we are not surprised that it tells Shell’s version of the facts.”