Climate change and sustainable development in Africa

Climate change and sustainable development in Africa

MICHAEL BERNARD KWESI DARKOH

Climate change is no longer a debatable issue. In Africa, the evidence is clear. The continent is already experiencing the powerful impact of climate change.

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Weather patterns are becoming increasingly volatile and resulting in more droughts and floods, higher air and water temperatures. Sea levels are rising and coastal areas are eroding and experiencing saltwater intrusion and flooding. Lake Chad, once the sixth largest lake in the world and the second largest wetland in Africa has shrunk in the past 35 years to one tenth of its former size. The icecap on Mount Kilimanjaro is fast disappearing with serious implications for the rivers that depend on ice melt for their flow. Scientists estimate that there has been a reduction of about 82 per cent in the ice-cap since it was first surveyed in 1912. Likewise, the glaciers on the famous Ruwenzori Mountains, the so-called Mountains of the Moon, have shrunk by 50 per cent since the late 1980s. These decreases in both cases have been attributed largely to increased air temperature and decreased snow accumulation during the 20th century. If present rates of reduction continue, the ice-caps and glacier water reservoirs in Kilimanjaro and Ruwenzori will disappear within some two to three decades, with deleterious consequences for the dependent human livelihoods in the areas around these mountains and beyond.


Africa as a region is most vulnerable to climate change due to extreme poverty of many Africans and the heavy dependence on rainfall and other natural resources. Agriculture is the most important economic sector in most African countries. Because most of it is subsistence with high dependence on rainfall, it is highly vulnerable to changes in climate variability, seasonal shifts and precipitation patterns. The food security threat posed by climate change is particularly great, especially in the arid and semi arid Sudano- Sahel zone, Eastern and Southern African regions where in conjunction with the endemic threats of desertification, per capita food production has been steadily declining. As agricultural yields continue to drop by as much as half in some of these areas, other sources of income needs to be found for people to meet their basic needs. Economic necessity and competition for access to resources are already resulting in displacement, mass movement of people within countries and across borders, heightened social tensions and in many cases, conflicts. It has been argued that increased competition over land was one of the triggers of conflicts in Darfur in Western Sudan.
Africa is well known for its rich natural resources, especially wildlife, varied ecosystems, and picturesque landscapes.

The forest and savanna ecosystems, the rivers, lakes and wetlands, are currently under threat from natural and human pressures. In the dry lands of Africa, the heavy dependence of the rural poor population on natural resources for subsistence has largely contributed to land degradation and desertification. Projected climate change by the year 2025, associated with a rise in mean temperature, will exacerbate the losses already experienced due to drought and land degradation. The link between climate change and desertification is an issue that needs to be explored. Climate change has become an additional stressor which is leading to changes in habitats, causing species migration or extinction for both flora and fauna.
Environmental resources such as wetlands, grasslands woodlands and associated wildlife are currently natural resources upon which the burgeoning tourism activities in several dry land countries in Africa are built.

These resources are fragile because of the stressful climatic conditions. Any depreciation in any of the resources which tourists come to countries such as Kenya, Botswana, and South Africa to see would mean a decline in tourism's contribution to the national and local economy. Climate change poses an imponderable threat to this most important resource for the continued growth and development of tourism in these countries
Climate change also increases the risk of contracting vector borne diseases. In southern Africa, a disease that has made a spectacular come back in recent years after a successful campaign to curb it, is malaria. The malaria areas where the mosquitoes occur seem to have been growing larger, possibly because of global warming and changing rainfall patterns.

It is estimated that almost 30 million people in Southern Africa are at risk of severe malaria. Awareness of the potential impacts of climate change on human health is generally low within health sectors in Africa. Very few national or local assessments of the impacts of climate on human health have been undertaken. Such assessments would be of great value to health decision makers.
To sum up, climate change in Africa is already undermining economic development, increasing poverty and impeding development efforts in key sectors. For most rural people especially in the Drylands of Africa, climate change is making their already difficult lives impossible. There is a direct link between climate change and development.

However, although Africa's vulnerability is highly linked to climate variability and change, several other factors are exacerbating and accelerating the effects of climate change and making adaptation and coping strategies extremely difficult. These include the debt burden, structural adjustment policies, trade liberalization, conflicts, poverty and diseases (particularly malaria and HIV/AIDs).

In spite of the current low adaptive capacity of Africa, there are some African communities that have developed traditional adaptation strategies. For example, in response to the desiccation and decreasing rainfall in the Sahel since the late 1960s, farmers have shifted to shorter cycle varieties of millet and maize and abandoned crops like groundnuts that need higher rainfall. Other examples of the rich heritage of traditional adaptation strategies and social networks that African communities have developed to cope with climate variability and extreme events include: improved adaptive capacities by using traditional pruning and fertilizing techniques to double tree densities in Senegal, Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe and Madagascar, diversification of herds and incomes such as the introduction of sheep in place of goats in Western Sudan, reliance on forest products as a buffer to climate induced crop failure, decentralization of local governance of resources, and manipulation of land use leading to land use conversion Fortunately for Africa, the continent is still not heavily polluted and is not considered to be a major source of green house gas emissions. African countries must ensure that their limited contributions to the problem through green house gas emissions do not grow unacceptably.

The solution to the problem is sustainable development through mitigation and adaptation strategies. Adaptation, according to the IPCC's Third Assessment Report, refers to "the degree to which adjustments are possible in practices, processes or structures of systems to projected or actual changes in climate". Adaptive capacity must take place through the broad framework of sustainable development taking both environmental and socio-economic considerations into account. African countries need to mainstream adaptation, with governments taking adaptation into account in any future expenditure and development planning. Necessary legislative and government structures will have to facilitate sustainable development and climate change responses such as mitigation and adaptation within their bureaucratic process. They must develop existing and new capacities to cope with climate variability and change so as to increase the resilience of societies, of natural systems and of economies. Approaches to climate change adaptation that are based on top-down development models, which often have little relevance to local conditions, should be avoided. More effort is needed to strengthen the capacity of local people to develop their own knowledge and promote techniques that involve both scientific and indigenous knowledge.

National Adaptation Programs of Action (NAPAs) were established as a part of the Marrakech Accords in 2001, in recognition of the particular vulnerability of the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) to climate change. NAPAs provide a process for the LDCs to identify, communicate and respond to their most urgent and immediate adaptation needs. As of June 2008, 38 LDCs (including 29 African countries) had submitted NAPAs to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) for funding from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) (Ayers, 2008). Implementing NAPA projects can help build LDC resilience.

Despite progress on the development of NAPAs, the implementation of projects identified in NAPAs has been slow, largely owing to functional problems between countries and implementing agencies. It is vital that NAPA projects receive the financial and institutional support they require from donors, governments and climate change institutions
There is limited research on climate vulnerability and the approaches that could maximize resilience at regional, national and local levels. Consequently there is an urgent need to undertake comprehensive research and map out the complex impacts of global warming, integrating climate change risks with other vulnerabilities such as desertification, human health and diseases. Links between climate variability, air pollution and the occurrence and incidence of respiratory and vector borne diseases need exploring as does the impact of water scarcity in areas such as the dry lands of Africa.

African countries should implement sustainable development policies that prioritize energy efficiency and renewable energy. Clean Development Mechanism Projects (CDM) need to be promoted as a means to improve energy efficiency in industrial operations. CDM opens up new opportunities to generate substantial revenues for entrepreneurs and governments and diversify economies. CDM allows industrial countries to meet their carbon offset obligations by investing in projects that reduce emissions in developing countries as an alternative to more expensive emission reduction in their own countries.

The successful development of bio-fuels in African countries can be both an opportunity and a threat. An assessment is needed of the carbon benefits of different bio-fuel schemes, the risk of deforestation and socially negative impacts and whether there is competition between use of land for fuel or food

To help mitigate climate change and maintain valuable ecosystems, African countries should reduce and eventually halt deforestation. More stringent measures to protect Africa's rain forests from unsustainable logging and environmentally destructive development, including agricultural expansion, are needed. More protection for biodiversity and ecosystem integrity in wetlands and mountain regions is also vital.

Dramatically increased support for small scale agriculture is needed, with encouragement of diversification because diverse systems are more resilient and more productive than monocultures. Boosting production requires systems that combine new insights and technologies with the wisdom of tradition. Dangers associated with clearing forest land and planting bio-fuels as opposed to food crops should be avoided.

In conclusion, climate change-induced impacts are already undermining Africa's ability to develop. Climate change impacts have the potential to weaken Africa's adaptive capacity and compromise development efforts in key sectors of the region's economy. They could reduce livelihood security and delay or prevent the realization of the Millennium Development Goals. African countries must take the initiative in crafting development strategies that encompass the need to mainstream and boost adaptation to climate change as well as invest in infrastructure, clean energy, health, research and other sectors that go to the core of the national development strategies. Non governmental organizations and civil society groups can play a major role in strengthening local capacity to cope and supporting local action.

At the global level, any new climate deal should address the special needs of Africa, particularly its least developed countries. It should include binding commitments to ensure that they have access to financial resources and technological know how.As the world marches towards the coming summit in Copenhagen in December this year, we must ensure that the voice of the poor countries of the world is heard and that they are helped. These poor countries are suffering some of the greatest impacts despite their people having contributed the least to the human impact on climate. As Kofi Annan, former United Nations Secretary General and Nicholas Stern of the London School of Economics have recently admonished, the poor countries of the world should pursue a common negotiating stance and define a clear position on key issues, including the steps that they and their partners should take to ensure financing of adaptation and appropriate mitigation actions using new and additional sources of swiftly accessible funds, including from carbon markets, and to ensure that the existing international aid and commitment are met (ANNAN & STERN 2009). Finally, global climate change affects every one on the planet. We therefore need to find solutions that are based on genuine partnerships.
*Paper presented at the Pre -Valedictory Workshop in honor of Professor J B Opschoor on Climate Change and Making Development More Sustainable, Institute of Social Studies, The Hague, The Netherlands, 4th June 2009.
http://www.mmegi.bw/index.php?sid=6&aid=20&dir=2009/June/Friday12

Johannesburg Plan of Implementation

Johannesburg Plan of Implementation

VIII. Sustainable development for Africa

62. Since the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, sustainable development has remained elusive for many African countries. Poverty remains a major challenge and most countries on the continent have not benefited fully from the opportunities of globalization, further exacerbating the continent's marginalization. Africa's efforts to achieve sustainable development have been hindered by conflicts, insufficient investment, limited market access opportunities and supply side constraints, unsustainable debt burdens, historically declining levels of official development assistance and the impact of HIV/AIDS. The World Summit on Sustainable Development should reinvigorate the commitment of the international community to address these special challenges and give effect to a new vision based on concrete actions for the implementation of Agenda 21 in Africa. The New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) is a commitment by African leaders to the people of Africa. It recognizes that partnerships among African countries themselves and between them and with the international community are key elements of a shared and common vision to eradicate poverty, and furthermore it aims to place their countries, both individually and collectively, on a path of sustained economic growth and sustainable development, while participating actively in the world economy and body politic. It provides a framework for sustainable development on the continent to be shared by all Africa's people. The international community welcomes NEPAD and pledges its support to the implementation of this vision, including through utilization of the benefits of South-South cooperation supported, inter alia, by the Tokyo International Conference on African Development. It also pledges support for other existing development frameworks that are owned and driven nationally by African countries and that embody poverty reduction strategies, including poverty reduction strategy papers. Achieving sustainable development includes actions at all levels to:
(a) Create an enabling environment at the regional, subregional, national and local levels in order to achieve sustained economic growth and sustainable development and support African efforts for peace, stability and security, the resolution and prevention of conflicts, democracy, good governance, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the right to development and gender equality;
(b) Support the implementation of the vision of NEPAD and other established regional and subregional efforts, including through financing, technical cooperation and institutional cooperation and human and institutional capacity-building at the regional, subregional and national levels, consistent with national policies, programmes and nationally owned and led strategies for poverty reduction and sustainable development, such as, where applicable, poverty reduction strategy papers;
(c) Promote technology development, transfer and diffusion to Africa and further develop technology and knowledge available in African centres of excellence;
(d) Support African countries in developing effective science and technology institutions and research activities capable of developing and adapting to world class technologies;
(e) Support the development of national programmes and strategies to promote education within the context of nationally owned and led strategies for poverty reduction and strengthen research institutions in education in order to increase the capacity to fully support the achievement of internationally agreed development goals related to education, including those contained in the Millennium Declaration on ensuring that, by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling and that girls and boys will have equal access to all levels of education relevant to national needs;
(f) Enhance the industrial productivity, diversity and competitiveness of African countries through a combination of financial and technological support for the development of key infrastructure, access to technology, networking of research centres, adding value to export products, skills development and enhancing market access in support of sustainable development;
(g) Enhance the contribution of the industrial sector, in particular mining, minerals and metals, to the sustainable development of Africa by supporting the development of effective and transparent regulatory and management frameworks and value addition, broad-based participation, social and environmental responsibility and increased market access in order to create an attractive and conducive environment for investment;
(h) Provide financial and technical support to strengthen the capacity of African countries to undertake environmental legislative policy and institutional reform for sustainable development and to undertake environmental impact assessments and, as appropriate, to negotiate and implement multilateral environment agreements;
(i) Develop projects, programmes and partnerships with relevant stakeholders and mobilize resources for the effective implementation of the outcome of the African Process for the Protection and Development of the Marine and Coastal Environment;
(j) Deal effectively with energy problems in Africa, including through initiatives to:
(i) Establish and promote programmes, partnerships and initiatives to support Africa's efforts to implement NEPAD objectives on energy, which seek to secure access for at least 35 per cent of the African population within 20 years, especially in rural areas;
(ii) Provide support to implement other initiatives on energy, including the promotion of cleaner and more efficient use of natural gas and increased use of renewable energy, and to improve energy efficiency and access to advanced energy technologies, including cleaner fossil fuel technologies, particularly in rural and peri-urban areas;
(k) Assist African countries in mobilizing adequate resources for their adaptation needs relating to the adverse effects of climate change, extreme weather events, sea level rise and climate variability, and assist in developing national climate change strategies and mitigation programmes, and continue to take actions to mitigate the adverse effects on climate change in Africa, consistent with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change;
(l) Support African efforts to develop affordable transport systems and infrastructure that promote sustainable development and connectivity in Africa;
(m) Further to paragraph 42 above, address the poverty affecting mountain communities in Africa;
(n) Provide financial and technical support for afforestation and reforestation in Africa and to build capacity for sustainable forest management, including combating deforestation and measures to improve the policy and legal framework of the forest sector.
63. Provide financial and technical support for Africa's efforts to implement the Convention to Combat Desertification at the national level and integrate indigenous knowledge systems into land and natural resources management practices, as appropriate, and improve extension services to rural communities and promote better land and watershed management practices, including through improved agricultural practices that address land degradation, in order to develop capacity for the implementation of national programmes.
64. Mobilize financial and other support to develop and strengthen health systems that aim to:
(a) Promote equitable access to health-care services;
(b) Make available necessary drugs and technology in a sustainable and affordable manner to fight and control communicable diseases, including HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, and trypanosomiasis, as well as non-communicable diseases, including those caused by poverty;
(c) Build capacity of medical and paramedical personnel;
(d) Promote indigenous medical knowledge, as appropriate, including traditional medicine;
(e) Research and control Ebola disease.
65. Deal effectively with natural disasters and conflicts, including their humanitarian and environmental impacts, recognizing that conflicts in Africa have hindered, and in many cases obliterated, both the gains and efforts aimed at sustainable development, with the most vulnerable members of society, particularly women and children, being the most impacted victims, through efforts and initiatives, at all levels, to:
(a) Provide financial and technical assistance to strengthen the capacities of African countries, including institutional and human capacity, including at the local level, for effective disaster management, including observation and early warning systems, assessments, prevention, preparedness, response and recovery;
(b) Provide support to African countries to enable them to better deal with the displacement of people as a result of natural disasters and conflicts and put in place rapid response mechanisms;
(c) Support Africa's efforts for the prevention and resolution, management and mitigation of conflicts and its early response to emerging conflict situations to avert tragic humanitarian consequences;
(d) Provide support to refugee host countries in rehabilitating infrastructure and environment, including ecosystems and habitats, that were damaged in the process of receiving and settling refugees.
66. Promote integrated water resources development and optimize the upstream and downstream benefits therefrom, the development and effective management of water resources across all uses and the protection of water quality and aquatic ecosystems, including through initiatives at all levels, to:
(a) Provide access to potable domestic water, hygiene education and improved sanitation and waste management at the household level through initiatives to encourage public and private investment in water supply and sanitation that give priority to the needs of the poor within stable and transparent national regulatory frameworks provided by Governments, while respecting local conditions involving all concerned stakeholders and monitoring the performance and improving the accountability of public institutions and private companies; and develop critical water supply, reticulation and treatment infrastructure, and build capacity to maintain and manage systems to deliver water and sanitation services in both rural and urban areas;
(b) Develop and implement integrated river basin and watershed management strategies and plans for all major water bodies, consistent with paragraph 25 above;
(c) Strengthen regional, subregional and national capacities for data collection and processing and for planning, research, monitoring, assessment and enforcement, as well as arrangements for water resource management;
(d) Protect water resources, including groundwater and wetland ecosystems, against pollution, and, in cases of the most acute water scarcity, support efforts for developing non-conventional water resources, including the energy-efficient, cost-effective and sustainable desalination of seawater, rainwater harvesting and recycling of water.
67. Achieve significantly improved sustainable agricultural productivity and food security in furtherance of the agreed Millennium development goals, including those contained in the Millennium Declaration, in particular to halve by 2015 the proportion of people who suffer from hunger, including through initiatives at all levels to:
(a) Support the development and implementation of national policies and programmes, including research programmes and development plans of African countries to regenerate their agricultural sector and sustainably develop their fisheries, and increase investment in infrastructure, technology and extension services, according to country needs. African countries should be in the process of developing and implementing food security strategies, within the context of national poverty eradication programmes, by 2005;
(b) Promote and support efforts and initiatives to secure equitable access to land tenure and clarify resource rights and responsibilities, through land and tenure reform processes that respect the rule of law and are enshrined in national law, and provide access to credit for all, especially women, and that enable economic and social empowerment and poverty eradication as well as efficient and ecologically sound utilization of land and that enable women producers to become decision makers and owners in the sector, including the right to inherit land;
(c) Improve market access for goods, including goods originating from African countries, in particular least developed countries, within the framework of the Doha Ministerial Declaration, without prejudging the outcome of the World Trade Organization negotiations, as well as within the framework of preferential agreements;
(d) Provide support for African countries to improve regional trade and economic integration between African countries. Attract and increase investment in regional market infrastructure;
(e) Support livestock development programmes aimed at progressive and effective control of animal diseases.
68. Achieve sound management of chemicals, with particular focus on hazardous chemicals and wastes, inter alia, through initiatives to assist African countries in elaborating national chemical profiles and regional and national frameworks and strategies for chemical management and establishing chemical focal points.
69. Bridge the digital divide and create digital opportunity in terms of access infrastructure and technology transfer and application through integrated initiatives for Africa. Create an enabling environment to attract investment, accelerate existing and new programmes and projects to connect essential institutions and stimulate the adoption of information communication technologies in government and commerce programmes and other aspects of national economic and social life.
70. Support Africa's efforts to attain sustainable tourism that contributes to social, economic and infrastructure development through the following measures:
(a) Implementing projects at the local, national and subregional levels, with specific emphasis on marketing African tourism products, such as adventure tourism, ecotourism and cultural tourism;
(b) Establishing and supporting national and cross-border conservation areas to promote ecosystem conservation according to the ecosystem approach, and to promote sustainable tourism;
(c) Respecting local traditions and cultures and promoting the use of indigenous knowledge in natural resource management and ecotourism;
(d) Assisting host communities in managing their tourism projects for maximum benefit, while limiting negative impact on their traditions, culture and environment;
(e) Support the conservation of Africa's biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources, in accordance with commitments that countries have under biodiversity-related agreements to which they are parties, including such agreements as the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, as well as regional biodiversity agreements.
71. Support African countries in their efforts to implement the Habitat Agenda and the Istanbul Declaration through initiatives to strengthen national and local institutional capacities in the areas of sustainable urbanization and human settlements, provide support for adequate shelter and basic services and the development of efficient and effective governance systems in cities and other human settlements and strengthen, inter alia, the joint programme on managing water for African cities of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme and the United Nations Environment Programme.

http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/documents/WSSD_POI_PD/English/POIChapter8.htm

List of Environmental Organizations



Environmental and Conservation Organizations


AFRICA ANIMAL PROTECTION NETWORK (Africa APN) - www.africaanimal.org


AFRICA, GREENPEACE INTERNATIONAL - www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/forests/africa/


AFRICA AND MADAGASCAR, CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL - www.conservation.org/explore/africa_madagascar/Pages/overview.aspx


AFRICA NETWORK FOR ANIMAL WELFARE (ANAW) [Kenya] - www.anaw.org


AFRICA, WILDLIFE CONSERVATION SOCIETY - www.wcs.org/where-we-work/africa.aspx


AFRICAN ASSOCIATION OF ZOOS & AQUARIA (PAAZAB) - www.paazab.com


AFRICAN BIODIVERSITY NETWORK (ABN) - www.africanbiodiversity.org


AFRICAN BIRD CLUB - www.africanbirdclub.org


AFRICAN CENTRE FOR TECHNOLOGY STUDIES (ACTS) [Kenya] - www.acts.or.ke


AFRICAN CIVIL SOCIETY NETWORK ON WATER AND SANITATION (ANEW) - www.anewafrica.net


AFRICAN CONSERVATION CENTRE (ACC) [Kenya] - www.conservationafrica.org


AFRICAN CONSERVATION FOUNDATION (ACT) - www.africanconservation.org


AFRICAN ELEPHANT PROGRAM, U.S. FISH & WILDLIFE SERVICE - www.fws.gov/international/DIC/species/afe/african_elephant.html


AFRICAN ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION NETWORK (AEIN) - www.necz.org.zm/aein/
and
www.unep.org/dewa/africa/aeoprocess/aein/aein.asp


AFRICAN FUND FOR ENDANGERED WILDLIFE (AFEW) - www.gcci.org/afew/afew.html


AFRICAN JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT AND MANAGEMENT (AJEAM/RAGEE) - www.ajeam-ragee.org


AFRICAN NETWORK OF ENVIRONMENTAL JOURNALISTS (ANEJ) - www.unep.org/roa/Projects_Programmes/African_Network_Environmental_Journalists/index.asp


AFRICAN PREDATOR CONSERVATION RESEARCH ORGANIZATION (APCRO) - www.apcro.org


AFRICAN WATER ISSUES RESEARCH UNIT (AWIRU), UNIVERISITY OF PRETORIA - www.awiru.co.za


AFRICAN WILD DOG CONSERVANCY (AWD Conservancy) - www.awdconservancy.org


AFRICAN WIND ENERGY ASSOCIATION (AfriWEA) - www.afriwea.org


AFRICAN WILDLIFE FOUNDATION (AWF) - www.awf.org


AFRICAT FOUNDATION [Namibia] - www.africat.org


AFRICA2020.COM, ENVIRONMENT - www.mathaba.net/africa2020/environment


AFRI-LEO FOUNDATION INTERNATIONAL, NAMIBIA - www.afrileo-foundation.org


AFRITRUST - www.afritrust.com


ALLAFRICA.COM, ENVIRONMENT – TOP NEWS - http://allafrica.com/environment


ANIMAL RIGHTS AFRICA [South Africa] - www.animalrightsafrica.org


APE ACTION AFRICA [Cameroon] - www.apeactionafrica.org


BUDONGO CONSERVATION FIELD STATION (BCFS) [Uganda] - www.budongo.org


CENTER FOR EDUCATION, RESEARCH AND CONSERVATION OF PRIMATES AND NATURE (CERCOPAN) [Nigeria] -
www.cercopan.org


CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT (CED) [Cameroon] - www.cedcameroun.org


CENTRE FOR AFRICAN FAMILY STUDIES (CAFS) [Kenya] - www.cafs.org


CHEETAH CONSERVATION FUND (CCF) [Namibia] - www.cheetah.org


CHIMFUNSHI WILDLIFE ORPHANAGE [Zambia] - www.chimfunshi.org.za


CHIMPANZEE REHABILITATION TRUST (CRT) [Gambia] - www.chimprehab.com


CHIMPANZEE SANCTUARY & WILDLIFE CONSERVATION TRUST (CSWCT) [Uganda] - www.ngambaisland.org


CHIPANGALI WILDLIFE ORPHANAGE [Zimbabwe] - www.chipangali.com


THE DAVID SHELDRICK WILDLIFE TRUST [Kenya] - www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org


DIAN FOSSEY GORILLA FUND INTERNATIONAL (DFGFI) - www.gorillafund.org


EARTHLIFE AFRICA (ELA) - www.earthlife.org.za


EARTHWIRE AFRICA - www.earthwire.org/africa/


EAST AFRICAN WILDLIFE SOCIETY (EAWLS) - www.eawildlife.org


EASTERN AFRICA ENVIRONMENTAL NETWORK (EAEN) - www.interconnection.org/eaen/


ECO–ETHICS INTERNATIONAL – KENYA (EEI – Kenya) - www.ecoethics-kenya.org


ENDANGERED WILDLIFE TRUST (EWT) [South Africa] - www.ewt.org.za


ENVIROCARE [Tanzania] - www.envirocaretz.com


ENVIRONMENT LAISON CENTER INTERNATIONAL (ELCI) - www.elci.org


ENVIRONMENTAL LAW INSTITUTE, AFRICA PROGRAM - www.eli.org/Program_Areas/africa.cfm


ENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS ACTION (ERA), FRIENDS OF THE EARTH, NIGERIA - www.eraction.org


FARMER’S CENTER OF INITIATIVES AND RESEARCH FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT (CIRPED) [Senegal] - www.interconnection.org/cirped/


FRIENDS OF THE EARTH SIERRA LEONE (FOESL) - www.onesky.ca/foesl/


FRIENDS OF LAKE VICTORIA (OSIENALA) - www.osienala.org


THE GALLMANN AFRICA CONSERVANCY - www.gallmannkenya.org


GREEN AFRICA FOUNDATION (GAF) [Kenya] - www.greenafricafoundation.org


GRASSLAND SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN AFRICA (GSSA) - www.gssa.co.za


GREAT APES SURVIVAL PARTNERSHIP (GRASP) [Kenya] - www.unep.org/grasp/


GREEN BELT MOVEMENT (GBM) [Kenya] - www.greenbeltmovement.org


GROUNDWORK [South Africa] - www.groundwork.org.za


HOMELESS ANIMALS PROTECTION SOCIETY (HAPS) [Ethiopia] - www.haps-eth.org.et


INFORSE – AFRICA, INTERNATIONAL NETWORK FOR SUSTAINABLE ENERGY - www.inforse.org/africa/


INTERNATIONAL OCEAN INSTITUTE – SOUTHERN AFRICA - www.ioisa.org.za


IUCN, BOTSWANA COUNTRY OFFICE - www.iucnbot.bw


KENYA BIRDING - www.kenyabirding.org


KENYA SOCIETY FOR THE PROTECTION & CARE OF ANIMALS (KSPCA) - www.kspca-kenya.org


LES AMIS DE LA TERRE – TOGO (ADT-Togo) - www.amiterre.tg


LIVING WITH ELEPHANTS FOUNDATION [Botswana] - www.livingwithelephants.org


NAMIBIA NATURE FOUNDATION - www.nnf.org.na


NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF PROFESSIONAL ENVIRONMENTALISTS IN UGANDA (NAPE Uganda) - www.nape.or.ug


NATIONAL COUNCIL OF SPCAs (NSPCA) [South Africa] - www.nspca.co.za


NATURE KENYA – THE EAST AFRICA NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY - www.naturekenya.org


NATURE SEYCHELLES - www.natureseychelles.org


NIGER DELTA FUND INITIATIVE (NDFI), EARTH RIGHTS INSTITUTE - www.earthrights.net/nigeria/


PADELIA – PARTNERSHIP FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL LAW AND INSTITUTIONS IN AFRICA, UN ENVIRONMENT PROGRAMME - www.unep.org/Padelia/


PAN AFRICAN SANCTUARY ALLIANCE (PASA) - www.pasaprimates.org


PLANTZAFRICA.COM - www.plantzafrica.com


RHINO ARK [Kenya] - www.rhinoark.org


RHINO FUND UGANDA (RFU) - www.rhinofund.org


SAVE EARTH NIGERIA (SEN) - www.senigus.interconnection.org


SAVE THE ELEPHANTS [Kenya] - www.savetheelephants.org


SOUTHERN AFRICA ENVIRONMENT PROJECT - www.saep.org


SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE (SDI) [Liberia] - www.sdiliberia.org


SUSTAINABLE ENERGY AFRICA (SEA) - www.sustainable.org.za


SUSTAINABLE ENERGY SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN AFRICA (SESSA) - www.sessa.org.za


TACUGAMA CHIMPANZI SANCTUARY [Sierra Leone] - www.tacugama.com


TUSK - www.tusk.org


UGANDA WILDLIFE EDUCATION CENTRE (UWEC) - www.uweczoo.org


UNITED NATIONS ENVIRONMENT PROGRAMME (UNEP) [Kenya] - www.unep.org


UNITED NATIONS ENVIRONMENT PROGRAMME (UNEP), REGIONAL OFFICE FOR AFRICA (ROA) - www.unep.org/roa/


WASTES MANAGEMENT SOCIETY OF NIGERIA (WAMASON) - www.wamason.org


WILDLANDS CONSERVATION TRUST [South Africa] - www.wildlands.co.za


WILDLIFE DIRECT - http://wildlifedirect.org


WILDLIFE AND ENVIRONMENT SOCIETY OF SOUTH AFRICA (WESSA) - www.wildlifesociety.org.za


WILDLIFE & ENVIRONMENT ZIMBABWE (WEZ) - www.zimwild.org


WILDLIFE AND ENVIRONMENTAL SOCIETY OF MALAWI - www.wildlifemalawi.org


WORLD AGROFORESTRY CENTRE (ICRAF) - www.worldagroforestry.org


WWF SOUTH AFRICA - www.panda.org.za


WWF – AFRICA & MADAGASCAR - www.worldwildlife.org/wildplaces/africa.cfm


YONGE NAWE ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION GROUP [Swaziland] - www.yongenawe.com


YOUTH FOR CONSERVATION (YfC) [Kenya] - www.youthforconservation.org


ZIMBABWE CONSERVATION TASK FORCE (ZCTF) - http://zctf.net or www.zctf.mweb.co.zw


THE ZAMBEZI SOCIETY - www.zamsoc.org


Government Environmental & Conservation Agencies

Directory of National Government Environmental Agencies

AFRICA AND THE MIDDLE EAST, DIRECTORY OF WEB SITES OF ENVIRONMENTAL AGENCIES OF THE WORLD, INTERNATIONAL NETWORK FOR ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT (INECE) - www.inece.org/links_pages/onlineresourcesEnvironmentalagencies.html#africa


Algeria

NATIONAL OFFICE OF METEOROLOGY - www.meteo.dz



Ascension Island
[Dependency of Saint Helena and Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom]

ASCENSION CONSERVATION - www.ascensionconservation.org.ac/index.htm



Benin

NATIONAL METEOROLOGICAL SERVICE - www.meteo-benin.net



Botswana

BOTSWANA DEPARTMENT OF METEOROLOGICAL SERVICES (DMS) - www.mewt.gov.bw/DMS/index.php

DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS (DEA) - www.envirobotswana.gov.bw

DEPARTMENT OF FORESTRY AND RANGE RESOURCES (DFRR) - www.mewt.gov.bw/DFRR/index.php

DEPARTMENT OF WASTE MANAGEMENT & POLLUTION CONTROL (DWMPC) - www.mewt.gov.bw/DWMPC/index.php

DEPARTMENT OF WILDLIFE & NATIONAL PARKS (DWNP) - www.mewt.gov.bw/DWNP/index.php

MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, WILDLIGE AND TOURISM (MEWT) - www.mewt.gov.bw



Cameroon

NATIONAL METEOROLOGICAL DIRECTORATE (DMN) - www.meteo-cameroon.net



Congo

NATIONAL METEOROLOGY DIRECTORATE - www.meteo-congo-brazza.net



Democratic Republic of the Congo

NATIONAL AGENCY OF METEOROLOGY AND TELEDETECTION BY SATELLITE (METTELSAT) -
www.meteo-congo-kinshasa.net



Egypt

English Language Home Page of Primary Environmental Agency:
EGYPTIAN ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS AGENCY (EEAA), MINISTRY OF STATE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS - www.eeaa.gov.eg/English/main/about.asp

EGYPTIAN ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS AGENCY (EEAA), MINISTRY OF STATE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS - www.eeaa.gov.eg

EGYPTIAN METEOROLOGICAL AUTHORITY (EMA) - http://nwp.gov.eg

MINISTRY OF WATER RESOURCES AND IRRIGATION - www.mwri.gov.eg

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF OCEANOGRAPHY AND FISHERIES (NIOF) - www.niof.sci.eg

NATIONAL WATER RESEARCH CENTER (NWRC) - www.nwrc.gov.eg



Ethiopia

AGRICULTURE AND ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION DEPARTMENT, THE ETHIOPIAN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COMMISSION (ESTC) - www.telecom.net.et/~estc/departments/agriculture.htm

CLEANER PRODUCTION CENTRE (CPC), ESTC - www.telecom.net.et/~estc/cpc.htm

DEPARTMENT OF MINES, WATER & ENERGY, ESTC - www.telecom.net.et/~estc/departments/water.htm

DISASTER PREVENTION AND PREPAREDNESS COMMISSION (DPPC) - www.dppc.gov.et

ETHIOPIAN ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AUTHORITY (EPA) - www.epa.gov.et/EPAHome.htm

ETHIOPIAN INSTITUTE OF AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH (EIAR) - www.eiar.gov.et

ETHIOPIAN MAPPING AUTHORITY - www.telecom.net.et/~ema/

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ETHIOPIA - http://geoinfo.uneca.org/geoinfo/ethiopia/gse.html

NATIONAL METEOROLOGICAL SERVICES AGENCY - http://geoinfo.uneca.org/geoinfo/ethiopia/nmsa.html

NATIONAL RADIATION PROTECTION AUTHORITY (NRPA), ESTC - www.telecom.net.et/~estc/CentresAuth/nrpa.htm


Gabon

METEO GABON - www.meteo-gabon.net



Ghana

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (EPA) - www.epa.gov.gh



Guinea

NATIONAL DIRECTORATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT - www.mirinet.com/gn_env



Kenya

KENYA FORESTRY RESEARCH INSTITUTE (KEFRI) - www.kefri.org

KENYA FOREST SERVICE (KFS) - www.kenyaforestservice.org

KENYA MARINE AND FISHERIES RESEARCH INSITUTE (KMFRI) - www.kmfri.co.ke

KENYA METEOROLOGICAL DEPARTMENT - www.meteo.go.ke

KENYA WILDLIFE SERVICE (KWS) - www.kws.org

MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE - www.kilimo.go.ke

MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT AND MINERAL RESOURCES (MEMR) - www.environment.go.ke

MINISTRY OF LANDS AND SETTLEMENT - www.ardhi.go.ke

MINISTRY OF WATER AND IRRIGATION - www.water.go.ke

NATIONAL ENVIRONMENT MANAGEMENT AUTHORITY (NEMA) - www.nema.go.ke



Lesotho

DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT - www.mtec.gov.ls/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=55&Itemid=77

LESOTHO METEOROLOGICAL SERVICE (LMS) - www.lesmet.org.ls

MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FOOD SECURITY - www.lesotho.gov.ls/agric

MINISTRY OF FORESTRY AND LAND RECLAMATION - www.lesotho.gov.ls/forestry

MINISTRY OF TOURISM, ENVIRONMENT AND CULTURE - www.mtec.gov.ls



Libya

GENERAL PEOPLES COMMITTEE FOR HEALTH & ENVIRONMENT - www.health.gov.ly

LIBYAN NATIONAL METEOROLOGICAL CENTER - www.lnmc.ly



Madagascar

MINISTERE DE L’AGRICULTURE, DE L’ELEVAGE ET DE LA PECHE (MAEP) - www.maep.gov.mg
MINISTRY OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND FORESTS (MEF) - www.meeft.gov.mg

MINISTRY OF WATER - www.mineau.gov.mg



Malawi

DEPARTMENT OF CLIMATE CHANGE AND METEOROLOGICAL SERVICES - www.metmalawi.com


Mali

OBSERVATOIRE DU MARCHE AGRICOLE - www.oma.gov.ml



Mauritius

DEMOGRAPHY / EVALUATION UNIT - www.gov.mu/portal/site/evalSite

MAURITIUS METEOROLOGICAL SERVICES (MMS) - http://metservice.intnet.mu

MINISTRY OF AGRO INDUSTRY, FOOD PRODUCTION AND SECURITY - www.gov.mu/portal/site/MOASite

MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT AND NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT UNIT - www.gov.mu/portal/site/menvsite

Additional web site address of the same site - http://environment.gov.mu

MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND QUALITY OF LIFE - www.gov.mu/portal/site/mohsite

MINISTRY OF HOUSING & LANDS - www.gov.mu/portal/site/housing

MINISTRY OF RENEWABLE ENERGY AND PUBLIC UTILITIES - www.gov.mu/portal/site/mpusite
WASTE WATER MANAGEMENT AUTHORITY - http://wma.gov.mu



Morocco

DEPARTMENT OF THE ENVIRONMENT - www.minenv.gov.ma

NATIONAL METEOROLOGICAL DIRECTORATE - www.marocmeteo.ma

NATIONAL OFFICE OF POTABLE WATER (ONEP) - www.onep.org.ma



Mozambique

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF METEOROLOGY - www.inam.gov.mz



Namibia

MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT AND TOURISM (MET) - www.met.gov.na

NAMIBIA METEOROLOGICAL SERVICE - www.meteona.com



Niger

DIRECTION DE LA METEOROLOGIE NATIONALE DU NIGER - www.meteo-niger.net



Nigeria

NATIONAL AGENCY FOR FOOD, DRUG ADMINISTRATION AND CONTROL - www.nafdacnigeria.org
NATIONAL POPULATION COMMISSION (NPC) - www.population.gov.ng



Rwanda

MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND ANIMAL RESOURCES (MINAGRI) - www.minagri.gov.rw

NATIONAL AIDS CONTROL COMMISSION (CNLS) - www.cnls.gov.rw

RWANDA ENVIRONMENT MANAGEMENT AUTHORITY (REMA) - www.rema.gov.rw


Saint Helena
[Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom]

HERITAGE, TOURISM OFFICIAL WEBSITE, GOVERNMENT OF ST. HELENA - www.discoveroursecret.co.sh/pages/heritage.html

NATURE, TOURISM OFFICIAL WEBSITE, GOVERNMENT OF ST. HELENA - www.discoveroursecret.co.sh/pages/nature.html

ST. HELENA NATIONAL TRUST - www.nationaltrust.org.sh



Senegal

MINISTERE DE L’ENVIRONNEMENT ET DE LA PROTECTION DE LA NATURE - www.environnement.gouv.sn

NATIONAL METEOROLOGICAL DIRECTORATE - www.meteo-senegal.net



Seychelles

DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT - www.virtualseychelles.sc/gover/menr-de.htm

MINISTRY OF LAND USE AND HABITAT - www.virtualseychelles.sc/gover/mluh.htm

DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES - www.virtualseychelles.sc/gover/menr-dnr.htm

SEYCHELLES CENTRE FOR MARINE RESEARCH & TECHNOLOGY – MARINE PARKS AUTHORITY (SCMRT-MPA) - www.scmrt-mpa.sc

SEYCHELLES FISHING AUTHORITY (SFA) - www.virtualseychelles.sc/gover/para_sfa.htm

SEYCHELLES METEOROLOGICAL SERVICES - www.pps.gov.sc/meteo/



Sierra Leone

ENVIRONMENTAL SANITATION, MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND SANITATION - www.health.sl/drwebsite/publish/environsanitation.shtml



South Africa

AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH COUNCIL (ARC) - www.arc.agric.za

COUNCIL FOR GEOSCIENCE - www.geoscience.org.za

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY AND FISHERIES - www.daff.gov.za

DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS - www.environment.gov.za

DEPARTMENT OF WATER AFFAIRS (DWAF) - www.dwaf.gov.za

NATIONAL BIODIVERSITY INSTITUTE (SANBI) - www.nbi.co.za

NATIONAL DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE (DoA) - www.nda.agric.za

NATIONAL NUCLEAR REGULATOR (NNR) - www.nnr.co.za

PLANTZAFRICA.COM - www.plantzafrica.com

SOUTH AFRICAN BIODIVERSITY INFORMATION FACILITY (SABIF) - www.sabif.ac.za

SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL ANTARCTIC PROGRAM (SANAP) - http://home.intekom.com/sanae

SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL BIODIVERSITY INSTITUTE (SANBI) - www.nbi.ac.za

SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL PARKS (SANParks) - www.sanparks.org

SOUTH AFRICAN WEATHER SERVICE - www.weathersa.co.za

WATER RESEARCH COMMISSION (WRC) - www.wrc.org.za



Sudan

MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, WILDLIFE CONSERVATION & TOURISM, AUTONOMOUS GOVERNMENT OF SOUTHERN SUDAN - www.mewctgoss.org

SUDAN METEOROLOGICAL AUTHORITY - www.ersad.gov.sd



Swaziland

SWAZILAND ENVIRONMENT AUTHORITY (SEA) - www.environment.gov.sz

SWAZILAND METEOROLOGICAL SERVICE - www.swazimet.gov.sz

SWAZILAND NATIONAL TRUST COMMISSION - www.sntc.org.sz/intro.html



Tanzania

AGRICULTURE, UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA - www.tanzania.go.tz/agriculturef.html

MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE & FOOD SECURITY - www.tanzania.go.tz/agriculture.htm

MINISTRY OF NATURAL RESOURCES & TOURISM - www.tanzania.go.tz/natural.htm

MINISTRY OF WATER & LIVESTOCK DEVELOPMENT - www.tanzania.go.tz/water.htm

NATURAL RESOURCES, UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA - www.tanzania.go.tz/naturalresources.html

TANZANIA FOOD AND NUTRITION CENTRE (TFNC) - www.tanzania.go.tz/tfnc.html

TANZANIA METEOROLOGICAL AGENCY - www.meteo.go.tz

TANZANIA NATIONAL PARKS - www.tanzaniaparks.com

WATER, UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA - www.tanzania.go.tz/waterf.html



Togo

SERVICE DE LA METEOROLOGIE NATIONALE DU TOGO - www.meteo-togo.net



Tristan da Cunha
[Dependency of Saint Helena and Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom]

A TRISTAN ISLANDS TOUR, THE TRISTAN DA CUNHA WEBSITE - www.tristandc.com/tour.php

CONSERVATION NEWS, THE TRISTAN DA CUNHA WEBSITE - www.tristandc.com/newsconservation.php

TRISTAN DA CUNHA [not a government agency] - www.sthelena.se/tristan/tristan.htm

WILDLIFE AND CONSERVATION, THE TRISTAN DA CUNHA WEBSITE - www.tristandc.com/wildlife.php



Tunisia

MINISTERE DE L’AGRICULTURE ET DES RESSOURCES HYDRAULIGUES - www.ministeres.tn/html/ministeres/agriculture.html

MINISTERE DE L’ENVIRONNEMENT ET LE DEVELOPPEMENT DURABLE - www.environnement.nat.tn

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF METEOROLOGY - www.meteo.tn

THE NATIONAL SANITATION UTILITY (ONAS) - www.onas.nat.tn



Uganda

DEPARTMENT OF METEOROLOGY - www.meteo-uganda.net

MINISTRY OF WATER AND ENVIRONMENT - www.mwe.go.ug

NATIONAL ENVIRONMENT MANAGEMENT AUTHORITY (NEMA) - www.nemaug.org

UGANDA WILDLIFE AUTHORITY (UWA) - www.ugandawildlife.org or www.uwa.or.ug



Zambia

ENVIRONMENTAL COUNCIL OF ZAMBIA (ECZ) - www.necz.org.zm

ZAMBIA AGRICULTURE RESEARCH INSTITUTE (ZARI) - www.zari.gov.zm

ZAMBIA DEPARTMENT OF METEOROLOGY -
www.zamnet.zm/siteindex/Links/weather.html



Zimbabwe

DEPARTMENT OF WATER RESOURCES - www.water.gov.zw/Departs/water.htm

MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE - www.moa.gov.zw

MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT AND TOURISM - www.met.gov.zw

MINISTRY OF STATE FOR WATER RESOURCES AND INFRASTRUCTURAL
DEVELOPMENT - www.water.gov.zw

ZIMBABWE NATIONAL WATER AUTHORITY (ZINWA) - www.zinwa.co.zw

ZIMBABWE PARKS AND WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT AUTHORITY - www.zimparks.com

Climate change and rainforests

Ethiopia - Sustainable Land Management Project
Environment, Forests & Forestry Ethiopia Sub-Saharan Africa
'The objective of the Sustainable Land Management Project (SLM) in Ethiopia is to reduce land degradation in agricultural landscapes and to improve the agricultural productivity of smallholder farmers.

There are three components to the project. The first component is the watershed management. It is aimed at supporting scaling up of best management practices in sustainable land management practices and technologies for smallholder farmers in the high potential/food secure areas that are increasingly becoming vulnerable to land degradation and food insecurity. The second component is the rural land certification and administration. The objective of this component is to expand the coverage and enhance the government's land certification project, with the aim of strengthening land tenure security for smallholder farmers. The third component is the project management. The focus of this component is to provide financial and technical assistance to the federal ministry of agriculture and rural development and local government units responsible for sustainable land management to effectively support coordination and implementation of the SLM project.'

http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2008/04/10/000334955_20080410050936/Rendered/PDF/429270PAD0P10710and0IDAR20081007211.pdf
WHAT ARE RAINFORESTS?
Tropical rainforests are forests with tall trees, warm climate, and lots of rain. In some rainforests it rains more than one inch every day! Rainforests are found in Africa, Asia, Australia, and Central and South America. The largest rainforest in the world is the Amazon rainforest

http://rainforests.mongabay.com/

AFRICA: What will we eat in the future?
size=1 width="100%" noshade style='color:black' align=center>
Photo: Flickr
Drought-tolerant crop varieties will be hard to come by
JOHANNESBURG, 17 June 2009 (IRIN) - It will take at least ten years to develop a variety of staple grain that will survive in the climates caused by global warming in most parts of Africa, and the continent has less than two decades in which to do it, warn the authors of a new study.

"The countries have to start developing varieties now, but many of these countries don't have breeding programmes," said Luigi Guarino, one of three authors of a study to be published on 19 June in the US journal, Global Environmental Change. "This study, we hope, at least raises the flag." The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), an international scientific body, has predicted that food production in Africa could halve by 2020 as global warming pushes temperatures up and droughts become more intense.

The new study by researchers at Stanford University's Program on Food Security and the Environment, in the US, and the Rome-based Global Crop Diversity Trust, noted that "For a majority of Africa's farmers, warming will rapidly take climate not only beyond the range of their personal experience, but also beyond the experience of farmers within their own country."
For a majority of Africa's farmers, warming will rapidly take climate not only beyond the range of their personal experience, but also beyond the experience of farmers within their own country

Guarino, a Senior Science Coordinator at the Global Crop diversity Trust, pointed out that many farmers could find staple crop varieties in other African countries, where current temperatures and conditions were similar to what they might experience in future. "For example, farmers in Lesotho [with one of the coolest climates in Africa] could find maize varieties grown in parts of Mali [one of the hottest countries in Africa] now, which would be tolerant to the very high temperatures they would face in another 20 years." Six countries in the Sahel - Senegal, Chad, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Sierra Leone, the hottest in Africa - are of major concern to the researchers, as they will face conditions unlike any currently encountered by farmers in the continent. "Of course, parts of these countries will never be able to grow maize [which is more heat sensitive]," he said, and would have to settle for the "drought-tolerant maize, which is sorghum". Many parts of Africa would no longer be able to grow anything.

Guarino said it was possible to develop crop varieties in simulated conditions, based on projections for the Sahel belt, but very few traditional primary cereal crops - African varieties of maize, millet and sorghum - selected by farmers over the centuries for their unique suitability to local growing conditions were available in genebanks. The researchers found that ten African countries, including Sudan, Nigeria, Cameroon and Mozambique, had current growing conditions very similar to those many other countries would soon face, but few of the crop varieties cultivated in the countries were found in major genebanks. In an earlier study, the Stanford University researchers projected that maize production, southern Africa's staple food, could drop by as much as 30 percent in another two decades. Cary Fowler, head of the Global Crop Diversity Trust, said climate change called for closer collaboration, sharing of resources and more investment. The researchers' call to help African countries came during the global debate over a legally binding funding mechanism to help poor countries adapt to climate change at the recent talks in Bonn, Germany. jk/he
Themes: (IRIN) Early Warning, (IRIN) Environment, (IRIN) Food Security
[ENDS]
Report can be found online at:http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=84892

Weather Monitoring Stations Will Help Africa Adapt To Climate Change

By Lisa Schlein Geneva18 June 2009

A new initiative has been launched in Geneva to radically improve Africa's weather monitoring network. Its aim is to help people across the continent adapt to the impact of climate change. The Global Humanitarian Forum headed by former UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, the United Nations World Meteorological Organization and leading mobile communications companies are behind the initiative dubbed "Weather Info for All." "Global warming is causing an ever increasing number of extreme weather events that affect the word's poorest and most vulnerable communities. The change means that age-old knowledge passed from one generation to the next can no longer be relied upon to protect peoples lives and livelihoods," explained a video presentation.


And, that is where science and the ability to better forecast the weather become increasingly important."The initiative brings together the technical expertise and resources of private and public bodies to help people adapt to the effects of climate change," said Kofi Annan.Former UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan is President of the Global Humanitarian Forum, which is spearheading the "Weather Info for All" initiative.

He says climate change is not a threat waiting to happen. He says climate change already is altering traditional weather and rainfall patterns and threatening the health, security and livelihoods of millions of people in Africa. He says Africa is the continent that will be hit hardest by the impact of climate change. Yet, he notes Africa badly lacks the facilities to effectively monitor ground level weather data."As a first important step, we urgently need to scale up both the quantity and quality of information about weather patterns in Africa," he said. "This will enable farmers to make informed decisions in planning the seeding and harvesting of crops. It will also enable accurate warnings to be given about extreme and violent weather conditions."The initiative involves a unique public-private partnership. Swedish telecom giant Ericsson will install weather stations at new and existing mobile network sites throughout Africa.

And, Zain, one of Africa's largest telecommunications companies, will provide band width to send raw data and disseminate forecasts and early warnings.Both companies are in the process of installing 19 automatic weather stations in new wireless network sites in the Lake Victoria Region. And, in the last quarter of the year, hundreds of new installations will be made in East Africa. The goal is to install up to 5,000 new observation stations across Africa over the coming years. Members of the initiative say huge benefits in mitigating climate change will be achieved for a relatively small amount of money. They estimate the cost of installing 5,000 new weather stations is a relatively modest $30 million. http://www.voanews.com/english/archive/2009-06/2009-06-18-voa46.cfm?CFID=267912270&CFTOKEN=22412058&jsessionid=de30365460f1a3f66e172b31356266d4dfb6

Male Circumcision Improves Sex for Women

Male Circumcision Improves Sex for Women

Survey Results Are Part of Study That Showed Circumcision Reduces a Man's HIV Risk

By Charlene LainoWebMD Health News

Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD

July 21, 2009 (Cape Town, South Africa) -- Women whose male sexual partners were circumcised report an improvement in their sex life, a survey shows.
Researchers studied 455 partners of men in Uganda who were recently circumcised. Nearly 40% said sex was more satisfying afterward. About 57% reported no change in sexual satisfaction, and only 3% said sex was less satisfying after their partner was circumcised.
Also, some women said their partner had less or no difficulty maintaining or getting an erection.
Among the 3% of women who reported reduced sexual satisfaction, the top two reasons were lower levels of desire on the part of either partner.
Top reasons cited by women for their better sex life: improved hygiene, longer time for their partner to achieve orgasm, and their partner wanting more frequent sex, says Godfrey Kigozi, MD, of the Rakai Health Sciences Program in Kalisizo, Uganda.
Kigozi tells WebMD he undertook the survey because some activists have objected to male circumcision as a means of combating HIV because of a lack of data on female sexual satisfactions.
The findings were presented at the Fifth International AIDS Society Conference on Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention of HIV.
The women in the study all participated in the landmark Rakai circumcision trial, one of three studies that showed that the procedure reduces a heterosexual man's risk of acquiring HIV by more than 50%.
"We included only women who said they were sexually satisfied before [their partner was circumcised]," Kigozi says. "Then we asked them to compare their sexual satisfaction before and afterward."
Men feel much the same way, he adds. In a previous survey, 97% of men said their level of sexual satisfaction was either unchanged or better after they were circumcised.
Naomi Block, MD, of the CDC's HIV Prevention Branch, who chaired the session at which the study was presented, says that other surveys have shown that women don't expect their sex lives to change if their partners are circumcised.
But those were "what if?" surveys, she tells WebMD, while the new study involves women whose partners were actually circumcised.
The findings are "good news" as they show that the use of circumcision to fight HIV is acceptable to women, Block says.

Source:
http://men.webmd.com/news/20090721/male-circumcision-improves-sex-life-for-women


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UNCCD

UNCCD

G8 Summit on Desertification
The G8 Summit ended Friday, 10 July 2009. See what these governments declared concerning sustainable development, and desertification, land degradation and drought in particular, at: http://www.unccd.int/publicinfo/g8/menu.php

UNCCD News
The first issue of the UNCCD electronic newsletter, UNCCD New, was published last week. See the message from Executive Secretary Luc Gnacadja. Get a quick snap-shot of the Land Day's focus and engagement with climate change participants regarding the significance of the Desertification Convention in addressing climate change. Find out what the UNCCD’s first Scientific Conference will be offering. Read Ambassador Bo Kjellén’s candid view of the UNCCD. Kjellén was the Chair of the group that negotiated the Convention. Explore the technological innovations being used to address desertification and land degradation, and browse through the latest publications on DLDD. Visit: http://newsbox.unccd.int/

World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought From Internet social networks, to space observations, to village rallies and tree-planting activities, regional seminars and national conferences, the observance of the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought was characterized by variety and innovation. Get inspired to share ideas of your unique event or to organize your 2010 observance events from the latest reports that are available at: http://www.unccd.int/publicinfo/june17/2009/menu.php?newch=l4

RIGHTS: Against Sexual Violence: Solidarity Among African Women

KAMPALA, May 2 (IPS) - Increased cases of rape and sexual abuse of women and girls is closely associated with armed conflict and its aftermath in Africa.

"Rape has been used as a weapon of war by militia, and this hurts women forever, because even in peacetime you find little response in terms of repairing the effects and providing justice," Marie Jalloh told IPS.

Jalloh, a member of Parliament from Sierra Leone was among the gender activists brought together in Kampala between April 28-29 by Akina Mama wa Afrika - the name means "solidarity among African women" in Swahili, and the organisation has worked to support African women in identifying issues and organising around them since 1985 - to discuss ways of strengthening the women's movement against gender-based violence in conflict and post-conflict Africa.

"To be honest with you, people - even women - don’t take rape seriously [in Sierra Leone]," she said. "To them, it is a way of life but they don’t know how it is affecting them. Even when the victims try to speak out they don’t get justice. If they go to the police station, the rapist will go and pay money to police and the victims will remain suffering. So some resort to silence but suffer from trauma forever."

Françoise Mukuku, the coordinator of a young feminist group in Democratic Republic of Congo, told IPS that rape remains rampant in the eastern part of the country.

"The people who are fighting in DRC, they come from Rwanda, Burundi, some are coming from Uganda like the LRA who are active in Congo. We have the same culture where the woman belongs to men. So if you want to humiliate the husband, you rape his wife or daughter," Mukuku said.

"I have come across women who have been gang-raped and contracted HIV/AIDS as a result. Eastern DRC has [so many] cases of fistula not just resulting from childbirth but mainly as a result of gang rape."

Mukuku said rape and other forms of sexual violence not only humiliate women but break their confidence, and prevent them from participating in development activities.

"We are raising awareness of women on taking the floor, speaking out on rape. We are telling women that our culture is not helping us, religion is not helping us to end rape. We should find a third way of speaking out because it is we who understand what it feels like when we are raped." she said.

Akina Mama Wa Africa (AMwA) executive director Solome Nakaweesi Kimbugwe said the failure of legal protections, as well as poverty and illiteracy have left women vulnerable to gender-based violence.

She said women generally lack economic independence, and denied the opportunity to decide how to use even the limited resources available to them, face an uphill task to defend their legal rights. "Even if a woman sold a chicken, the money is not even enough to hire a lawyer. The laws are there but they are not implemented. The judicial systems and procedures are to the disadvantage of a woman," said Kimbugwe.

Activists at the regional meeting in Kampala noted that cases of rape and sexual abuse have not been properly documented, with limited exceptions in Sierra Leone, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. AMwA has launched a three-year gender-based violence programme in the Great Lakes Region and West Africa that will, among other activities, involve the documentation of abuse to strengthen advocacy for better policies.

Annie Chikwanha, Senior Fellow at the African Human Security Initiative Institute For Security Studies, said documentation of such experiences is necessary to overcome the silence imposed on survivors of sexual violence.

"There is an aspect of shame that constrains many women’s actions. What will communities say if the whole world knows that I have been raped? We stigmatise ourselves even more because of the whole aspect of shame," she asserted.

"And women who are violated are the poorest, so they don’t have any recourse because they don't have a voice. But it is women who suffer these atrocities so they should talk about them instead of a third party who can distort the information."

Chikwanha pointed out the difficulty in gathering information about gender-based violence.

"There are so many cultural inhibitions against women. It is very difficult for women to speak out freely; sometimes women require permission just to speak to a stranger," she said.

"I have experience in conducting surveys in rural areas in Africa. Most times you have to seek permission of men to access the woman’s voice. Men insist on listening to the conversation. So the women feel constrained to speak out. We are now saying let us empower women with skills to have these experiences documented."

She said that the lack of statistics has affected planning for pro-women services in areas affected by conflict. Taking up a similar theme, Awino Okech told IPS there is a need to include responses to gender-based violence in political interventions in conflict and post- conflict situations.

"In situations where there is no psycho-social support for traumatised women, girls and even men whose relatives have been raped - how do you expect recovery of that family? Women are dying silently from rape-related effects like fistula. Many have HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections... But where can they go for treatment?"

Okech works works for the Agency for Cooperation and Research in Development (ACORD) as Gender and Conflict Themes Manager. She said that responding to gender violence has rarely been a priority, but such a response is important for recovery.

Hyacinthe Budomo, gender advisor at International Conference on the Great Lakes Region secretariat told IPS that impunity for perpetrators of sexual crimes could be eliminated if countries took advantage of existing regional institutions and legal frameworks.

"We need to reform penal codes in member states of the Great Lakes region. We need judicial cooperation among member states in the region. We need to train the police in order to end gender-based violence," said Budomo.

"I strongly believe if the women come together as a network and push for reforms where there are no laws, and implementation where the laws exist, I believe we shall find a way out of this. We have good laws at international level but most of these laws have not been domesticated. So the implementation of these laws is still far-fetched. So there is a lot of work to first of all ratify and domesticate them other wise they have remained on shelves as women continue to be raped and sexually abused."

(END/2009)

http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=46702

WOMEN'S HUMAN RIGHTS IN AFRICA: BEYOND THE DEBATE OVER THE UNIVERSALITY OR RELATIVITY OF HUMAN RIGHTS

WOMEN'S HUMAN RIGHTS IN AFRICA: BEYOND THE DEBATE OVER THE UNIVERSALITY OR RELATIVITY OF HUMAN RIGHTS.©
Diana J. Fox

INTRODUCTION

In the fifty years following the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948, anthropology as a discipline has embraced a predominantly ethical relativist stance toward the idea of human rights as a legitimate universal concern for all cultures. In the past decade, however, the rising prominence of women's rights as human rights has challenged this point of view. Within the context of the global women's human rights movement, feminist anthropologists are in the forefront of this challenge, striving to uphold anthropology's important focus on cultural context, while at the same time exhibiting a deep concern for practices which harm women, including female genital mutilation and satie, both of which may be argued to be morally objectionable outside of any given culture. Feminist anthropological theory and feminist legal scholarship have questioned the desirability of objective ethnographic reporting of such practices, claiming that to remain aloof from statements of value implies complicity through silence (1).

Objective reporting, it is argued, denies the existence of the researcher as a "positioned subject" with a point of view, such that the absence of a point of view in reality is a point of view that is not articulated. The effort to articulate a feminist anthropological position on human rights not only undermines the validity of ethical relativism, but also emphatically argues that the western liberal tradition, which informs the bulk of the contemporary human rights movement, represents a fragmentary discourse on human rights, and so cannot currently make claims for universality. In addition, human rights are not yet recognized as universally valid, and the dominant focus in the movement is still on political and civil rights, or first generation rights, as compared to the weaker emphasis on important economic, social, and cultural rights. These second generation rights, in addition to third and fourth generation rights (group rights and women's rights, respectively), are not nearly as well integrated into the existing international instruments dealing with reporting, evaluation, and monitoring procedures of human rights violations.

Feminist anthropology endorses the view that context is critical in our understanding and explication of any given situation; however, it also insists that cultural context, like any particular situation, is only a part of a much deeper and complex totality within which a particular context is necessarily subsumed. To strive toward completeness is to strive to embrace multiple traditions under the umbrella of universal human rights, and to do so the significance of second, third, and fourth generation rights must be regarded as significant a priority as first generation rights.

Feminist anthropologists who support women's human rights must face the same conundrum that feminist legal scholars, such as Rebecca Cook, have articulated, namely, "how can universal human rights be legitimized in radically different societies without succumbing to either homogenizing universalism or the paralysis of ... relativism?" (2).

This question is the central concern of this paper. It rests on the assumption that international human rights norms should indeed become part of the legal culture of any given society, and to do so, they must strike responsive chords in the general human public consciousness (3). This paper argues that a defensible way in which this challenge may be met is to acknowledge that universality and specificity are not necessarily intrinsically oppositional forces, or, if you wish, they are not mutually exclusive, either conceptually or practically (4).

To demonstrate this point, a number of prerequisite points must be made: (1) ethical relativism is an untenable position; (2) relativism does not preclude cultural context, but the anthropological position generally has overlooked this fact; (3) a human rights discourse containing universal principles which are culturally meaningful depends on inter- and intracultural dialogues; (4) the topic of women's human rights in Africa encapsulates many of the contentious issues swirling around international human rights, prominently among them, the relationship between the individual and society.

To explore these claims, I draw primarily upon my recent experience co-editing a volume of essays entitled, "Women's Rights As Human Rights: Activism and Social Change in Africa" (5). The process of pulling the project together produced significant discussions around the tensions between relativism and universality, and the tendency to confuse universality with moral absolutism--a rigid position which obscures the flexibility which universality can encompass. Because the process by which the editors have come to adopt such a perspective sheds light on the argument itself, this paper outlines the stages through which these perspectives emerged.

The project's initial goal was to bring together scholars and activists to think about women's human rights in diverse African situations. The co-editor of the volume, Dr. Naima Hasci, is both a social anthropologist and an international development worker with the World Bank, most recently the United Nations Development Program, and thus brings perspectives from both endeavors. Hasci's work with Somali refugee women in Kenya provides an especially interesting example of not only the value but the necessity of bringing together universal principles and cultural context so that women's human rights can be upheld. I begin the inquiry into this process first by examining some of the internal contradictions of ethical relativism.
ETHICAL RELATIVISM

Ethical relativism is an extreme and highly conservative position. I employ the term here, as historian Merrilee H. Salmon has recently argued (6), to refer to the understanding that ethical principles emerge within specific cultural contexts, shifting from culture to culture. In this view, extracultural standards of moral judgments are not possible; moral judgments can only be determined through the standards of a culture's norms. This view is unacceptable, as Salmon points out, since it relies on a notion of culture which we anthropologists have ourselves rejected over the past few decades, namely, that culture is a bounded and internally coherent whole.

Anthropology's revised notions of the culture concept render ethical relativism an incoherent perspective. It has become common place over the past decade to refer to culture as unbounded, although attempts to erect boundaries through political coercion and cultural nationalism are rampant in the world. Culture is also described as heterogeneous, fluid, shifting, emergent, contradictory, processual, and other such descriptions which aim to capture an indeterminateness about the idea. In this alternative view of culture, both moral values and a society's norms emerge out of a conglomeration of interwoven ideas obtained through a complex array of processes which include various forms of historical and/or contemporary contact with "outsiders."

In a recent article in the New York Review of Books, Clifford Geertz discusses these two contrasting notions of culture, invoking Mary Louise Pratt's idea of "contact zones," a term she employs to refer to the power-laden dynamics of cultural intersections. Contact zones are defined as "the spaces in which peoples geographically and historically separated come into contact with each other and establish ongoing relations, usually involving conditions of coercion, radical inequality and intractable conflict" (7). Norms and moral values are neither wholly shared or fixed, and they are never culturally "pure", for indeed there is no such thing.

Even in relatively isolated and/or egalitarian groups, variations in values and the existence of power dynamics should challenge us not to accept too easily the ethical relativist perspective, since the expressed or ideal moral standard is clearly never the only view, but typically that of the powerful. It is in this sense that ethical relativism is a conservative position. It unwittingly supports the hegemonic moral standard, subverting the voices of resistance whose moral values may have emerged either through contact zones or from intergroup dynamics. Given these inconsistencies with the ethical relativist stance, the book's contributors have endeavored to move beyond the polarizing debate to embrace instead Rebecca Cook's ideal of a concept of universal human rights which is neither homogenizing nor subject to the errors of relativism. In so doing, however, we cannot accept the notion of a "universal human nature," which fails to see particulars. Rather, we must recognize that persons have rights as concrete persons, not as abstract constructions.

Gail Linsenbard, moral philosopher and Sartre and De Beauvoir scholar, sheds further light on the possibilities for an intersection of the universal with the culturally specific in her chapter "Women's Rights as Human Rights: An Ontological Grounding." Linsenbard contends that arguments in support of women's rights as human rights involve both specific claims about the conditions of particular women and groups of women, as well as universal claims about women as human beings who, by virtue of their humanity share a fundamental ontological existence. She expresses what this shared ontology is in her defense of women's rights as human rights:

An adequate account of women's rights as human rights must reveal women's oppression as culturally, socially, and historically situated; that is, it must pay attention to the particular kind of oppression that women suffer in situation ... It is in this sense that Simone de Beauvoir and Jean Paul Sartre have emphasized that women and men are "singular-universals." That is, they are understood in virtue of their particular situation which is lived by them singularly, but their situation--as situation--has a universal dimension to the extent that all situations are lived and experienced in a particular way by everyone. Thus we might offer a ... defense of women's rights as human rights in light of the fact that their situation--as situation--has a universal dimension in so far as it is one aspect of the human condition which, as situation, all persons share (8).
THE BOOK PROJECT: A CROSS-DISCIPLINARY DIALOGUE

This section explores in some detail the actual process by which the project's participants embraced a position which seeks an intersection between cultural specificity and universal principles. Again, the process is valuable since it demonstrates how abstract ideas are negotiated and hashed out in an actual setting involving groups of people who are often seen as antagonistic. "Western" and "African" feminists each are labels which lump together diverse groups of people and disparate theoretical frameworks emphasizing sameness over diversity. The range of perspectives, by contrast, proffered by the diversity of the project participants was crucial to our task. Scholars hailed from cultural anthropology, moral philosophy, social history, political science, and feminist legal studies. Activist participants worked with four primary organizations: Oxfam America, Grassroots International, the UNDP, and the Center for Third World Legal Studies.

While the diversity of the members remains crucial, the labels which characterize variations--westerners/Africans; western feminists/African feminists--do so sloppily, subverting existing commonalities for the sake of emphasizing differences, implicitly suggesting the deterministic view that nationality and culture are the dominant factors in human interaction and primary influences in differences of opinion. When liberal, Marxist, socialist, and radical feminisms can all be subsumed under the label "western" feminism, the starkly reductionist quality of the label reveals itself. While differences did indeed exist, commonalities did as well, generated both through shared experiences and through independent development of similar conclusions. Frequently, the tensions which surfaced were more the result of differences in methodologies and approaches to a shared topic. We discovered this at a conference held on December 5-6, 1997 at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, where participants presented their papers for discussion and critique.

One of the first concerns the participants wanted to address was the fact that the structure and institutions of women's international human rights law needs to be strengthened. As feminist legal scholar Hilary Charlesworth demonstrates, the structures supporting women's human rights are more fragile than the mainstream human rights instruments which do not address gender specific rights. Charlesworth argues that the international instruments dealing with women have "weaker implementation obligations and procedures; the institutions designed to draft and monitor them are under-resourced and their roles often circumscribed compared to other human rights bodies" (9). The explanation for this state of affairs pertains to the still marginal status of women's human rights on the general agenda of the human rights movement. This fact in and of itself demonstrates that no matter what differences women have with one another, the marginalization of their human rights affects all women by virtue of their being women.

In addressing this problem, the rather distinct purviews of scholars and activists emerged, although it would be overly simplistic to say that these divisions were rigid along disciplinary lines, and to do so would only reify the labels and their generalized characterizations. Thus, some scholars placed greater weight on the theoretical frameworks adopted to describe and explain the predicament of women's human rights, and some used the frequently jargonistic language of poststructuralism and its focus on discursive analysis. Activists generally analyzed the successes or failures of specific women's rights projects designed with the assistance of their organizations. These particular perspectives gave rise to some important questions about the relationship between theory and practice. What I found particularly interesting was the way in which the creative process of imagining the book itself distilled many of the difficulties which exist at a much larger scale in any effort to articulate connections between the academic world and the world of social movements.

For example, the book's essays had been organized into two sections, the first theoretical, the second case studies. Activists protested that this organization privileged theory over practice, implicitly supporting scholarly approaches over activist ones. They urged instead for a thematic organization which, it was argued, would do away with such a dualism. Ironically, it is theory itself which ultimately helps to move beyond the theory/practice dualism. As poststructuralism and Marxist theory have made abundantly clear, practices are always supported by a set of assumptions and often unspoken or unrecognized suppositions, hence the notion of praxis. But activists, not necessarily guided by poststructuralist theory, were nonetheless aware that the book's initial organization would perpetuate a false theory: that theory has more to say than concrete examples.

Once we agreed on the framework of the book, a second discussion ensued around the origins of theoretical works used by researchers. A Kenyan scholar argued that the historical tendency of western scholars to overlook the contributions of African theorists was reflected in the choice of theorists that scholars employed in their discussions. How could we not include leading African thinkers in a project designed to embrace cultural context in the search for a truly universal human rights? This point led to a commitment on the part of participants to read and incorporate in their chapters some articles by African thinkers such as Oloka-Onyango, Wa Matua, and others, examining their approaches to the cultural relevance of international human rights.

To summarize, these exchanges helped to clarify the intellectual terrain of the book, and to identify a common objective: to work toward a theoretical position which recognizes the validity of African women's rights within their respective, concrete socio-historical settings as human rights with universal import.
WHY WOMEN'S HUMAN RIGHTS IN AFRICA?

The arenas of women's human rights and human rights in Africa specifically, are domains which emphasize the polemic of the relativist horn and the universalist horn. The perspectives of each surface in sociocultural and philosophical questions about the relationship of the individual to society in Africa. The African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, adopted in 1986, underscores for many the tension between individual human rights and group or peoples' rights. In the relativist view, the sanctity of the extended family in Africa undermines the legitimacy of individual rights, viewed as a western import. Other human rights instruments too, such as the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), adopted by the General Assembly in 1993, privileges an independent, free woman.

Women's human rights activists do indeed emphasize the idea of personal autonomy, precisely as a means of addressing the oppression of individual women within the family unit where women's human rights are frequently violated through domestic violence, restrictions on access to resources, and in matters of marriage, divorce, and property rights. In other words, the human rights of women epitomize questions about the relationship of the individual to the group. Those in support of universal precepts, including African legal scholar Makau Wa Matua, argue that individual rights must always be applied in a social milieu. Matua says:
"... a thorough understanding of the meaning of human rights, and the complicated processes through which they are protected and realized, would seem to link inextricably the concepts of human rights, peoples' rights, and duties of individuals. Individual rights cannot make sense in a social and political vacuum, devoid of the duties assumed by individuals. This appears to be more true in Africa than any other place"(10).

Matua is principally interested in the nature of the relationship between the individual and society in Africa, which he characterizes as dramatically different from the relationship between the individual and the state in western societies. What is significant to this argument, in addition to the nature of the relationships described, is simply the acknowledgment that a relationship exists. The oversimplified opposition between the individualistic west and communitarian Africa ignores the ways in which individuals with varying degrees of personal autonomy are constituted as members of society through groups, everywhere.

Women's struggles for human rights often position them in opposition to family and social networks where their roles and rights have been defined; however, because of the sanctity of the family, they often choose not to seek empowerment and freedom which sets them against their kin. It is therefore crucial to find ways for women to be protected as individuals against abuses. Doing so should not mean that the family will be undermined as an important social institution. Coomaraswamy makes a fundamental observation when she asserts that "the family is the place where individuals learn to care, to trust and to nurture each other. The law should protect and privilege that kind of family and no other" (11).

Although attention to the realm of the family in Africa is central to any discussion of women's human rights, this focus should not distract from other sources of abuse against women which occur outside the local cultural context. To place a spotlight on the family as the exclusive source of discrimination against women puts disproportionate blame on this particular cultural domain, to the exclusion of other violations of women's integrity. For example, in many parts of Africa discriminatory practices remain unnoticed as such, and many states--Algeria, for instance--uphold patterns of conduct which some deny are disadvantageous to women, claiming instead that the attitude toward women is essential to the cultural integrity of those countries and significant constituents of national identity.

International practices too, such as the structural adjustment programs (SAPs) of the World Bank and IMF, which in many ways contribute to suspicion toward international human rights agendas, may themselves constitute violations of personal economic rights. As Illumoka has pointed out, SAPs have led to the depreciation of local currencies and the "rationalization of industry, including privatization of public enterprises and reduction of government expenditure on social services, resulting in spiraling inflation ... and severely restricted access to education and health facilities" (12). In their wake, SAPs have contributed especially to the devaluation of women's work. Nurturing cultural institutions are thus threatened through international financial arrangements.

As the African women activists working on the book project argue, the participation of African women in the international women's rights movement emphasizes that the affronts women suffer to their human dignity cannot only be solved through local institutions. This being the case, the debate over the relativity or universality of human rights is one which actually distorts the problem, rather than illuminating the condition of women. The harm in maintaining this bipolar debate is that it perpetuates "international hierarchies of power that contribute to the on-going polarization of the West and the Third World and [limit] ... the definition and scope of struggles perceived to fall within the purview of women's human rights" (13).

Oloka-Onyango and Tamale suggest that one possible remedy lies in an "intra-cultural and cross-cultural dialogue" which recognizes that "the personal is political, but the political is extremely rich and diverse" (14). It is this remedy which has the potential to push anthropology past its commitment to the philosophy of relativism. Although anthropologists have always engaged in cross-cultural dialogue, these dialogues were not exchanges in the manner supported by Oloka-Onyango and Tamale which require recognition of cultural assets and limitations on all sides. Nor have these dialogues been inspired by the feminist consciousness that introduces the dialectic between the personal and the political.

Since the book project has fostered both a cross-disciplinary and cross-cultural dialogue of this nature, for the remainder of the paper, I examine how a dialogue of the type proposed by Oloka-Onyango and Tamale can be useful in moving beyond the debate toward an alternative approach to women's human rights. I begin by exploring how the historically relativist perspective toward human rights in anthropology impeded intra-cultural exchanges, in spite of its intentions to defend the powerless.
ANTHROPOLOGY, HUMAN RIGHTS AND ETHICAL RELATIVISM

In 1948, the American Anthropological Association (AAA) distributed a statement written by Melville Herskovitz rejecting the universality of international human rights norms. In formally advocating such a rejection, the AAA posited that the recently released Universal Declaration of Human Rights enumerated rights and freedoms which were culturally, ideologically, and politically nonuniversal (15). Rather, the rights and freedoms cited therein contained a western, Judeo-Christian bias, and therefore could not be regarded as rights which are inalienable.

In a recently published article in Human Rights Quarterly, Ann-Belinda Preis explores the way in which the 1948 decision formed a foundational and predominantly uncritical approach to human rights on the part of anthropologists which remained unchallenged for the next thirty or so years. Herskovitz's point of view emanated from his concern, and the larger anthropological concern, with the impact of western colonialism on two-thirds of the world, and the hypocrisy of supporting the claim for human rights while colonial regimes which drafted and signed the Declaration simultaneously committed atrocities in the name of the civilizing mission (16).

In an article which addresses statements of this kind, Wa Mutua states that while the current human rights movement has its roots in the western liberal tradition, and this fact indicates a lack of completeness, it does not, however, deny "the universality of many of its ideals and norms." Mutua argues:
In the West, the language of rights primarily developed along the trajectory of claims against the state; entitlements which imply the rights to seek an individual remedy for a wrong. The African language of duty, however, offers a different meaning for individual/state-society relations; while people had rights, they also bore duties. The resolution of a claim was not necessarily directed at satisfying or remedying an individual wrong. It was an opportunity for society to contemplate the complex web of individual and community duties and rights to seek a balance between the competing claims of the individual and society.
This view is not relativist. It does not advance or advocate the concept of apartheid in human rights or the notion that each cultural tradition has generated its own distinctive and irreconcilable concept of human rights (17).

Moreover, Matua recognizes that relativism in human rights serves as an anti-imperial device, as Herskovitz intended as an advocate for colonized societies; but, its use as such represents a misunderstanding inspired by cultural-nationalism. While arguments against relativism are often ethnocentric and, in Matua's view, a symptom of the moral imperialism of the west, he also insists that both extremes--relativism and ethnocentric arguments against relativism--"only serve to detain the development of a universal jurisprudence of human rights" (18). Herskovitz's position deserves more critical reflection than this paper allows but, suffice to say, his position had a profound effect on anthropological thought, such that the anti-relativist position has only recently begun to amass proponents.

Perspectives proffered by Canadian Africanist Rhoda Howard and political scientist Jack Donnelly represent some of the well-known challenges to the position of ethical relativism. Donnelly recognizes that there are other trajectories for human rights within the liberal tradition, outside of the conception of the individual as "atomistic and alienated from society and the state." Howard's position, according to Matua, however, represents an ethnocentric critique of relativism. Matua says of Howard that:
[S]he refuses to acknowledge that pre-colonial African societies knew human rights as a concept ... Howard is so fixated with the Western notion of rights attaching only to the atomized individual that she summarily dismisses arguments by African scholars, some of whom could be classified as cultural relativists, that individual rights were held in a social, collective context (19).

Howard does point out that while women and men have more formal rights in post-colonial Africa, the western model has essentially deprived women of the political influence they had in many indigenous societies. Her example of the 1929 "Women's War" in Nigeria is a case in point, in which tens of thousands of Igbo women attacked chiefs appointed by the British, as a protest against the abrogation of their traditional power. Moreover, Howard also insists that there can be no adequate analysis of the human rights of African women, or improvements made for their effective implementation without understanding the sociohistorical context of women's lives. Legislation that does not recognize the influence of culture and tradition on male and female perceptions of each other will be ineffective (20).

While Donnelly and Howard are two examples of engagement with human rights in the African context, the more widespread challenge to relativism which has swept the discipline has just begun to move more seriously into the realm of human rights, emanating especially from feminist circles. The context for this challenge, as I have stated throughout, is within the increasingly prominent place of women's rights issues on the general agenda of the human rights movement. Since feminism aims to connect the academic world with social change, feminist anthropologists work not only to describe and analyze the lives of women and gender relations, but to generate strategies to improve them. The feminist agenda is antithetical to relativism--but not subsequently, cultural context--since it depends on judgments in order to develop strategies for change.

Feminist anthropology has inevitably intersected with international women's human rights movement asserting, as feminist anthropologist Martha C. Ward puts it: "flatly stated, the treatment of women in human societies transcends cultural boundaries" (21). These statements are not ethnocentric rejections of relativism, but rather claims supported by diverse groups agreeing with Oloka-Onyango and Tamale's dictum that the personal is political, but the political is extremely rich and diverse. Feminists from both camps have argued that "it is simply unacceptable to subject women to subordinate treatment that enslaves them to men," and that "human rights is about regulated civilized behavior and conduct toward all human beings" (22). These positions reflect a coming together in feminist anthropology of applied and academic approaches, with clear activist points of view attached to research agendas.

The women's human rights movement now faces the challenge of carrying "women's voices, interests, and concerns into the mainstream human rights law-making arena so that the diversity of women's experiences in different cultures is introduced into international human rights law" (23), establishing new forms of contact zones which eschew coercion, radical inequality, and intractable conflict. It is through this process that anthropologists can be especially valuable participants, employing their strengths in collecting and analyzing ethnographies which establish avenues to disseminate the voices of the women with whom they collaborate.

I now turn to Naima Hasci's work with Somali women refugees in Kenya. As an anthropologist and human rights activist, Hasci provides a wonderful illustration of the need to unite activism and scholarship as an approach for bridging international, national, and local institutions for women's human rights so that they may assist more effectively the communities they endeavor to serve.
THE EXAMPLE OF SOMALI WOMEN REFUGEES IN KENYA

In her chapter, "From the Frying Pan into the Fire", Hasci examines the rights of refugee women in Africa, focusing on Somali refugee women in Kenya during the period 1991-1997. She seeks to address "the inconsistencies between the high level standard setting of human rights laws by the international community and the low level enforcement of such rights at the national level", especially with respect to the protection of refugee women's rights in countries of asylum.

Hasci begins with a discussion of the location of refugee settlements in border communities (24), where "the state's juridical presence is minimal or non-existing." In such instances, the host community wields de-facto powers at the local level often with negative impact on refugees. At the international level, CEDAW has been instrumental in highlighting and interpreting violence against women. Article 1 of the Convention is relevant to female refugees, condemning "any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or private life." Also, since 1988 the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has discussed the issues of safety, discrimination, and sexual exploitation, and in 1995 finally published guidelines on violence against and protection of refugee women. While these guidelines on refugee women's protection are "extensive, detailed and drawn from various refugee women's experiences in the camps, including Somali women in Kenya in the last 7 years ... it remains to be seen how effective CEDAW and the UNHCR's guidelines will be in contributing to the prevention or mitigation of sexual violence and the promotion of equity among refugees" (25).

Since national governments are ultimately responsible for effectively implementing international human rights standards, it is the Kenyan government which is responsible for implementing the UNHCR's guidelines. According to Kenya's national law, rape is a crime punishable by imprisonment with hard labor for life, with or without corporal punishment (26). In spite of this, the police and military in Kenya have "not only been negligent in their duties to stop the rape crimes, but on the contrary, in many instances the Kenyan police were reported to have raped, beaten and killed refugee women."

Hasci argues that given Kenya's poor human rights record, especially toward women, and its policy of persecution of Somali-Kenyans, "the international community and particularly the UNHCR could have taken appropriate measures in time to avoid the establishment of the refugee camps in such a dangerous region where border disputes play a role in acts of aggression against refugees."

Clearly, protection by the host government of refugees is not occurring; instead, the camps create "prison-like conditions providing minimal assistance, water, food, shelter and medicine" (27). Although international agencies are theoretically supposed to work in conjunction with host governments for the protection of refugees, the paradox, says Hasci, is that "the UNHCR itself is in a sense, like the refugees, a guest of the Kenyan government, and in the final analysis, it operates in an environment over which it has little control, and therefore unable to fulfill effectively its mandate" (28).

In exploring ideas which may lay the foundation for future solutions to these kinds of paradoxes, it is imperative to generate a commitment and sense of ownership of laws at the national and local levels. Existing laws should be linked to or drawn from existing indigenous socio-legal norms and principles, such as, for instance, the Somali "xeer". The international community faces a dilemma: how to uphold the universality which breathes life into international legal instruments of women's rights while at the same time minimizing those laws' disassociation from local socio-legal norms.

Attention to institutions such as the "xeer" is essential. The "xeer" is a socially constructed set of norms established to safeguard security and social justice for Somalis in Somalia and in the diaspora. While there is no room within the confines of this paper to delve into the specific structure and principles of the "xeer," it is nonetheless significant to point out that it stands as one of the pillars of communal relations, and as such codifies accepted standards of conduct and behavior. Since the international and national normative systems function inadequately, refugee women must gain access to their rights by negotiating all three levels: international, national, and cultural. Institutions which draw from legal structures that societies can identify with are crucial if human rights are to become integrated into the legal culture of a given society.

Action toward this end is occurring. In the past few years, the United Nations General Assembly and the Commission on Human Rights have successfully urged Mary Robinson, the High Commissioner, to establish through her Technical Cooperation Program, National Human Rights Institutions. These Institutions refer to bodies established by governments through constitutional or legislative processes for the express purpose of supporting and protecting human rights.

The idea behind these organizations is that "the development of a culture of human rights at the national level depends on the existence of a vigorous civil society, one which encourages the formation of community groups; which not only tolerate but encourage respect for individual differences" (29). This mission represents the parallel aim of the women's human rights movement to acknowledge women as autonomous persons within the realm of family relations, in that both strive to integrate the individual and the community as two essential components of coherent human rights principles.

The General Assembly and the Commission on Human Rights recognize the importance of diversity among those who comprise the National Institutions, since "an effective, credible National Institution will be one which reflects in composition, the community it is established to serve" (30). Moreover, because those individuals who require help the most are unlikely to seek out the Institution, one of its purviews is to develop approaches to assist those with physical disabilities and those in remote locations without adequate transportation.

Community groups established to support the work of the Institution will promote decentralization and greater accessibility. Since it is crucial that National Institutions respond to particular community needs, the nature of the assistance has been varied. Over the past few years in Africa, Institutions have been established in South Africa, Uganda, and Zambia. Ultimately, National Human Rights Institutions have the potential to manifest the rhetoric of international instruments such as CEDAW and the African Charter. Moreover, they can achieve this
... in a manner which is consistent with the standards prescribed in the international treaties, while accommodating constitutional particularities and the extraordinarily disparate challenges posed by local conditions and cultures -- thus respecting ethnic, cultural, religious and linguistic diversity in a more informed and sensitive manner than any regional or international body (31).

National Institutions reflect the burgeoning awareness of the limitations to relativism and the necessity of developing a truly universal human rights discourse, one which recognizes that women's rights are indeed human rights, and that African women's rights need to recognize that African women exist as "singular-universals" as do we all. In her chapter's conclusion, Hasci concurs:
... the issue here is not about maintaining relativism as a dichotomy to universalism, but about integrating, adapting and building on what is universally human and gender-sensitive about a society's cultural and juridical heritage so that it can be genuinely sustained locally, nationally and internationally (32).

NOTES
1. I would like to thank Dr. Gail Linsenbard for her insights and critical reading of parts of this paper. This article is dedicated to my parents, Sanford and Vivian Fox, whose own scholarship and activism for human rights continues to inspire me.

2. Cook, Rebecca J. "Women's International Human Rights Law: The Way Forward," in Cook, Rebecca J., Human Rights of Women: National and International Perspectives. University of Pennsylvania Press, 1994.

3. See Coomaraswamy, Radhika, "Reinventing International Law: Women's Rights as Human Rights in the International Community," Human Rights Program, Harvard Law School, 1997.

4. Colligan, Sumi, "`To Develop Our Listening Capacity, To Be Sure that We Hear Everything': Sorting Out Voices on Women's Rights in Morocco," in Diana J. Fox and Naima Hasci , eds., Women's Rights As Human Rights: Activism and Social Change in Africa, . . Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, forthcoming, 1999.

5. Fox, Diana J. and Naima Hasci, eds., Women's Rights. Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, forthcoming, 1999.

6. Salmon, Merrilee H., "Ethical Considerations in Anthropology and Archaeology, or Relativism and Justice For All," Journal of Anthropological
Research , vol. 53, 1997.

7. Pratt, Mary Louise, Imperial Eyes: Travel Writing and Transculturation. Routledge. pp. 6-7, cited in Clifford Geertz, 1998. "Deep Hanging Out." New York Review of Books, Vol. XLV: 16, pp. 69-72, 1992.

8. Linsenbard, Gail, "Women's Rights as Human Rights: An Ontological Grounding," in Diana J. Fox and Naima Hasci , eds., Women's Rights as Human Rights: Activism and Social Change in Africa, Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, forthcoming. 1999.

9. Charlesworth, Hilary, "What are 'Women's International Human Rights'?" in Cook, Rebecca J., Human Rights of Women: National and International Perspectives. University of Pennsylvania Press, 1994.

10. Matua, Makau Wa, "The Banjul Charter and the African Cultural Fingerprint: An Evaluation of the Language of Duties," Virginia Journal of International Law Vol. 35: 39, pp. 340, 341, 1995.

11. Coomaraswamy, Radhika, "To Bellow Like a Cow: Women, Ethnicity and the Discourse of Rights," pp. 52-53, in Cook, Rebecca J., ed., Human Rights of Women: National and International Perspectives,. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1994.

12. Illumoka, Adetoun, "African Women's Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights--Toward a Relevant Theory of Practice," In Rebecca Cooke, ed., Human Rights of Women: National and International PerspectivesPhiladelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1994.

13. Colligan, Sumi, "'To Develop Our Listening Capacity, To Be Sure that We Hear Everything': Sorting Out Voices on Women's Rights in Morocco," in Diana J. Fox and Maima Hasci, eds., Women's Rights As Human Rights,. Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, forthcoming, 1999.

14. Oloka-Onyango, J. and Sylvia Tamale,"'The Personal is Political', or Why Women's Rights are Indeed Human Rights: An African Perspective on International Feminism," Human Rights Quarterly , Vol. 17: 691-731, 1995.

15. Preis, Ann-Belinda S., "Human Rights as Cultural Practice: An Anthropological Critique" , Human Rights Quarterly ,Vol. 18: 286-315, 1996.
16. Personal communication with Dr. E.P. Skinner 5/27/98.

17. Mutua, Makau Wa, "The Banjul Charter and the African Cultural Fingerprint: An Evaluation of the Language of Duties," Virginia Journal of International Law , Vol. 35: 39. pp. 344-345, 1995.

18. Ibid.

19. Both Howard and Donnelly uphold the importance of establishing the universality of human rights, although both recognize that universal acceptance does not exist. Howard, for instance, has most recently argued that concepts of human dignity exist in many African cultures, but dignity should not be equated with the notion of rights; therefore, attempts to establish the existence of universally held notions of rights overlook the significant distinctions therein.

20. Howard, Rhoda, "Women's Rights in English-speaking Sub-Saharan Africa," In Claude E, Welch, Jr. and Ronald I. Meltzer, eds., Human Rights and Development in Africa.. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1984.

21. Ward, Martha C., A World Full of Women, Waveland Press, 1996.

22. Cook, Rebecca J., "Women's International Human Rights Law: The Way Forward," in Cook, Rebecca J., ed., Human Rights of Women: National and International Perspectives. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1994.

23. Ibid.

24. Hasci defines border communities as "... culturally coherent territories where people of definite cultural identities have had to be split into two or more units, each faction placed in the area of jurisdiction of a distinct state; which functions to integrate such a pre-existing culture area into a new socio-economic system removed from the whole original culture." "From the Frying Pan into the Fire: Somali Refugee Women's Rights in Kenya," In Dian J. Fox and Naima Hasci, eds., Women's Rights as Human Rights: Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, forthcoming,1999.

25. Hasci, Ibid: 3

26. Goodwin-Guy, Guy S., The Refugee in International Law. Oxford University Press, 1996, p. 257, cited in Hasci, Ibid.

27. Hasci Ibid: 3

28. Ibid: 4

29. Burdekin, Brian and Ann Gallagher, "The United Nations and National Human Rights Institutions," Human Rights Watch, No. 2, Spring, pp. 21-25, 1998.

30. Ibid: 5

31. Ibid: 7

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