Kenya Has Lost 4 Prominent Women

In an extraordinary turn of events, four prominent Kenyan women have died during the past month. One of them, Dr Margaret Ogola, gave MercatorNet one of its first and best interviews in 2005, speaking eloquently about the top issues facing her country and the continent: poverty, AIDS, healthcare and, above all, the need to strengthen the African family.

Africa needs good women leaders and it has many of them. But to lose four of its own distinguished daughters at once must be a severe blow to Kenya. They are: Virginia Wambui-Otieno, who for many years conducted a political campaign over matrimonial property law (died August 30); Professor Sophia Githinji, an educator and author (September 21); Dr Ogola, a paediatrician and healthcare administrator (September 22, at the age of only 53); and Professor Wangari Maathai, conservationist and Nobel Peace Prize winner (2004) (September 25).

These women were all staunch campaigners for their causes, but Margaret Ogola was a special kind of heroine. Many people, including a generation of Kenyan schoolchildren, have met her through her books, most famously The River and the Source, which won the 1995 Commonwealth Writer’s Prize for best first book in the African region, and the Jomo Kenyatta Prize for Literature the same year. The novel follows four generations of Kenyan women in a rapidly changing world -- a theme continued in its sequel, I Swear by Apollo (Michigan State University Press).

Her third novel, Place of Destiny, which won her a second Jomo Kenyatta Prize in 2007, is semi-autobiographical, telling the story of a woman dying of cancer and the rise to recognition of a former street kid. Dr Ogola battled cancer for many years and dealt with the dirt poor in society for most of her professional life, a colleague writes.

Read it all here. 

David Virtue reports that church leaders in Kenya paid tribute to Wangari Maathai, the first African woman Nobel Peace prizewinner, as a person who cared for God's creation through campaigning for environmental protection. Maathai died September 25th at the age of 71 in Nairobi Hospital. She had been battling cancer.

"She volunteered, mentally and physically, to save God's creation through her conservation efforts. She gave many trees to our church to plant. When [we] see these trees growing well, we remember her," the Rev. David Gathanju, moderator of the Presbyterian Church of East Africa, told ENInews on Sept. 26.

Former Anglican Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi of Kenya said, "I am glad she received the Nobel. She was a strong and consistent leader, especially in environmental care. The churches and other organizations benefited immensely from her work. Her work gives key lessons for the world."

Tribute to the Life of John Lee Tae-Sok

Catholic priests have been banned from North Korea for 60 years and John Lee Tae-Sok was a Catholic priest, a Salesian, and a medical doctor. Perhaps the DVD – “Don’t Cry For Me Sudan” -- will help the North Koreans to see the Church and the work of its priests in a different way. The Sudanese he helped christened Fr John “Father Jolly” because of his winning smile and gentle humour.

The story of his life has certainly had a phenomenal impact in South Korea, where newspapers reported that audiences have been leaving the cinemas in tears, having been so affected by Father John’s outpouring of love. Three hundred thousand people have now seen the film.

Father John was born into a poor Catholic family in 1962, the ninth of ten children – another of whom has also been ordained. John’s father died when he was aged nine and John would also die at too early an age – succumbing to cancer of the colon in 2010.

After his father’s death John’s mother brought up the family by herself, counting the pennies earned from her work as a seamstress. They lived in the St Joseph Parish of Song Do in Pusan: a parish built for the poor and needy of Pusan, after the Korean War, which had left many Koreans destitute and unemployed.

John was helped through his studies by his mother who encouraged him to read medicine. On qualifying, he practised as a surgeon in the Korean army but repeatedly he felt the call to be a priest. His mother felt she had already given one son to the Church – his brother is a Capuchin friar – and initially she tried to deter John from entering the priesthood but ultimately gave her blessing. He was ordained in 2001.

It was while he was training for the priesthood that John visited the Salesian mission in southern Sudan. It was the first time he had been in a colony of lepers – men and women with Hansen’s disease. He was so disturbed by the rotting limbs and squalor that in a state of shock he went off into the bush to get the disturbing encounter out of his sight and mind. The Salesians working there did not expect to see the young army doctor again.

They were wrong.

On his return to Seoul the memory of the lepers never left him and in 2001 he announced that he would “be a better missionary among the lepers than anywhere else.” Alarmed that he should want to go to Southern Sudan – where two million people had lost their lives during the civil war waged by Khartoum’s despotic government, his mother and family were deeply distressed but once again they finally accepted and endorsed his decision.

Arriving at a place called Tonj, Father John began the arduous task of erecting a medical clinic. Using the same hands that would treat 300 patients daily, he personally constructed the building to which desperate Sudanese would bring their illnesses. In his jeep he went out searching for the lepers.

A memo written by Lee Jae-hyeon, a policy director for South Korea’s Environment Ministry, who visited Tonj while working for the United Nations, and who was one of Father John’s sponsors, graphically described the working conditions in the village:

“The heat wave was deadly. It was 55 degrees Celsius. I didn’t realize thermometers had more than 50-degree markings until the priest showed me. I felt like my clothes were burning. The river in Tonj was a muddy puddle. Children splashed in the water, and instead of dabbling in it, they gulped up the water.”

After the clinic came classrooms for a school and other facilities. In the absence of anyone else to do it he would teach the children maths and music. A gifted musician, Father John persuaded Korean friends to send a crate-load of instruments and uniforms and he founded and trained the Don Bosco Brass Band.

News of his work spread and a South Korean film maker came out to make a documentary. Following Father John on his rounds they recorded the social developments and the health programmes which he had initiated.

This phenomenal outpouring of energetic love and commitment inevitably took its toll and it was during a short break in 2009 that cancer was discovered. In Seoul he underwent chemotherapy but on January 14, 2010, aged 47, his life came to an end.

This, however, was not the end of the story.

The film-maker, Koo Soo-Hwan, returned to Sudan and interviewed many of the families of the Dinka warriors whose lives had been so profoundly touched by Father John’s humanitarian work. The film that emerged was “Don’t Cry For Me Sudan” – taking its title from the Dinka boys who weep as they carry a picture of “Father Jolly” through the village of Tonj as they hold their own funeral in his memory. They are members of Father John’s brass band. Not much given to public displays of emotion these young people and their families are tearful as they describe the acute loss they experienced in learning that their priest and doctor would not be returning to them.

A copy of the Korean movie has now been made with English subtitles and extracts may be seen on You Tube.  The film’s director recently came to see me in London. He had been intrigued to learn that I had given a copy of his movie to the visiting North Korean delegation. What had I hoped to come out of this? “An appreciation that one man’s life can change a world, and that all Koreans should be inspired by and celebrate the life of a remarkable and truly wonderful man.”


David Alton is an Independent Crossbench Life Peer in the House of Lords in the UK. This review was republished from his blog at MercatorNet.

Iran-Paki Relations Warming: Iranian Bank to Open in Islamabad

ISLAMABAD: Islamabad and Tehran are discussing the setting up of a branch of an Iranian bank in Pakistan.

The opening of a branch of Bank Melli, Iran’s largest commercial bank, in Pakistan is on the agenda of the two-day 18th session of Pakistan-Iran Joint Economic Commission (JEC) that began here on Wednesday.

The bank, it may be mentioned, has been on the UN watch-list since 2008.

The commission is discussing cooperation between the two countries in the fields of industry, banking, oil and gas, communications, manpower, agriculture, education, culture and science and technology.

“We should provide better facilities to our people and we are duty-bound to cooperate with each other,” Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said at the opening session of the JEC. He expressed the hope that the meeting would prove a landmark in enhancing economic cooperation between the two countries.

Finance Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, who led the Pakistani side, noted in his inaugural remarks that warm bilateral relations provided a platform for enhancing economic cooperation.

The discussions assume significance because they are taking place against the backdrop of the UN Security Council Resolution 1929 adopted last year, which prohibits member states from “opening of Iranian banks in their territory … if there is reason to suspect the activities could contribute to sensitive proliferation activities in Iran”.

The Security Council had put Bank Melli, which has 18 overseas branches in 11 countries, on vigilance in 2008 for allegedly supporting Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes. However, the bank has not been blacklisted by the UN and has lately opened new branches in Iraq and Azerbaijan.

Iran has been aggressively trying to expand the international network of its banks to circumvent the impact of an array of international sanctions against its financial institutions.

Although it is unclear if the talks on establishment of the Bank Melli’s branch will make any headway at the JEC session, the issue is certain to raise eyebrows in the West, particularly in Washington.

Islamabad’s primary consideration for the proposal relates to its declining trade volume with Tehran. The bilateral trade had been on the decline since 2008, when the UN tightened its squeeze on Iran. It went down from $1,170 million in 2009-10 to a paltry $586 million during July-March 2011.

The drop in trade was specially referred to by both Mr Salehi and Dr Shaikh in their speeches at the JEC.

While there are a number of reasons for the decline, Pakistani officials say banking restrictions imposed by the UN, the US and the EU on Iran’s financial institutions affected Pakistani exports as Pakistani banks no longer accept letters of credit opened by Iranian banks.

Because of the sanctions much of the financial transactions between Iran and Pakistan now take place through the informal ‘havala’ system instead of the still available legal channel of Asian Clearing Union.

Additionally, the two countries are considering Iranian help for construction of Quetta-Taftan railway track and harmonisation of customs regulations for enhancing trade.

Iran is also seeking passage of its goods to India through Pakistani territory, which is potentially another intricate matter.

Gas pipeline: The two sides will also review the progress on a pipeline to provide Iranian gas to Pakistan.

Physical work on the Pakistan section is yet to start, but surveys and planning for the project have already been initiated. The pipeline, which is tentatively scheduled to be completed by 2014, would be used to import 750 million cubic feet of natural gas per day from Iran.

Resisting Western pressure, Pakistan signed a gas sale-purchase agreement with Iran in June 2009 in Istanbul.

Talking to Dawn, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Dr Asim Hussain expressed satisfaction over the pace of work on the pipeline and said the law and order situation in Balochistan would not have any serious impact on the project.

“We are in a position to finalise the project by the end of next year, but there are certain technical issues relating to the sale of gas, which need to be sorted out,” he said.

Dr Hussain said the imported gas was planned to be utilised for power generation and industrial use and it would spare locally-produced gas for domestic consumption.

Amin Ahmed adds: Pakistan and Iran have decided to conclude an agreement for promoting cooperation in trading of agricultural products.

The understanding was reached at the fourth meeting of Pakistan-Iran Joint Working Group on Agricultural Cooperation held here on Wednesday.

The meeting finalised matters relating to trade of agricultural products, implementation of plant quarantine agreement, establishment of required plant quarantine offices, plant protection and other areas of interest in the fields of agriculture and livestock.

The ministry of science and technology being the administrative ministry of Pakistan Agriculture and Research Council hosted the meeting.

Source:  Pakistan Dawn

US-Pakistan: Trade Not Aid

WASHINGTON, June 1: The United States needs to substantially revamp its approach to Pakistan, focusing on trade and investment, not aid, says a new study released on Wednesday.

The report by the Centre for Global Development, Washington, also urges the US administration to delay much of its multi-billion-dollar aid to Pakistan because it believes the aid has failed to bring prosperity to the nuclear-armed nation.

Instead, the report advocates providing duty- and quota-free access for all Pakistani exports to the US market for at least five years and to increase incentives for investment in that country.

Suggested incentives include new forms of risk insurance and credit programmes for Pakistan`s small and medium enterprises.

“The United States is way off course in Pakistan,” says CGD president Nancy Birdsall, who convened the study group and is the lead author of the report. “It`s heavily focused on security while neglecting low-cost, low-risk investments in jobs, growth, and the long haul of democracy building.” She also advises “a sense of humility”, acknowledging that “the US can`t accomplish that much. If the Pakistanis aren`t ready politically, we can`t expect miracles overnight”.

The report says that the administration`s integrated “Af-Pak” approach — lumping Pakistan together with Afghanistan — has “muddled” the Pakistan development mission. Similarly, “the integration of development, diplomacy and defence has left the programme without a clear, focused mandate”.

The report offers five procedural recommendations to get the US development programme on track:1. Clarify the mission: separate the Pakistan development programme from the Afghanistan programme and from the Pakistan security programme.

2. Name a leader: put one person in charge of the development programme in Washington and in Islamabad.

3. Say what you are doing: set up a website with regularly updated data on US aid commitments and disbursements in Pakistan by project, place, and recipient.

4. Staff the USAID mission for success: allow for greater staff continuity, carve out a greater role for programme staff in policy dialogue, and hire senior-level Pakistani leadership.

5. Measure what matters: track not just the outputs of US aid projects, but Pakistan`s overall development progress.

Three of these recommendations are on better ways to deploy aid resources — including paying for verified outcomes and co-financing with other donors for established education programmes that are already working.

Two recommendations focus on the largely untapped potential of trade policy and private investment.

In 2009, the US Congress authorised a $7.5 billion package for Pakistan, hoping that it will help fight anti-Americanism by switching the focus from the military to building the economy and civilian institutions.

“We recommend that much of the $7.5 billion Kerry-Lugar-Berman aid package not be disbursed immediately,” the report says.

The report concedes that setting conditions to assistance is an “extremely sensitive subject” but warns that US assistance would be ineffective without reforms in areas such as education, energy and fiscal policy.

“Pakistan must make a significant course correction if it is to join the ranks of India, Indonesia and other large Asian countries on a clear path of sustainable growth and transformation,” the report says.

 
Source: Pakistan Dawn

US Wants Gaddafi's Assets to Aid Libyans

The Obama administration wants to use some of the billions of dollars in frozen assets belonging to Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi and his government to provide humanitarian and other assistance to the Libyans affected by the country's ongoing civil war, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Thursday.

The move, announced at a high-level meeting in Rome on how to shore up Libya's rebels, appeared to be the first time a country has sought to tap some of the massive Libyan wealth blocked by U.N. sanctions in February.

For more information, go here.

WikiLeaks and the Question of Legitimacy

The ethical standards that apply to an organization depend in part on what kind of organization it is. Some standards are either universal or nearly so: lying, cheating, stealing are generally bad whoever you are. But lots of other rules, principles, and values will vary, at least in terms of the weight attached to them. It matters for lots of purposes whether you are a corporation, a government agency, a non-governmental organization (NGO), a social club, a church, or a newspaper.

What kind of organization is WikiLeaks? It is sometimes referred to as a news agency, though that designation is disputed. Let’s look at WikiLeaks as a straightforward cause-oriented NGO, for the sake of argument.

One key question we ought to ask with regard to any NGO has to do with its legitimacy. In other words, for any NGO, we need to ask, “does this group have the right to speak and act on behalf of the cause it claims to speak and act for?” In other words, anyone may claim (for example) to “represent the forces of Good” or to “stand for justice” or to “speak for the whales.” And anyone is free to say what they want in defence of goodness or justice or whales. But saying you speak for goodness or justice or whales doesn’t mean that you actually do, and it doesn’t mean that anyone should listen to you or consult you on important decisions. Being a legitimate spokesperson takes something else. But what?

One framework that I’ve found useful is the one provided by Iain Atack in his paper “Four Criteria of Development NGO Legitimacy.”1. Atack’s framework is intended to apply to development NGOs, but I think that the basic idea can be applied more broadly.

Atack suggests that an NGO may gain legitimacy from one or more of 4 sources:

•Representativeness (Does the organization, for example, have a large membership base for which it genuinely speaks?)

•Effectiveness (Does the organization have a proven track record of getting the job done?)

•Empowerment (Does the organization work not just to achieve its goals, but to make sure that those it helps are, in the long run, left better-able to achieve those goals themselves?)

•Values (Does the organization embody and promote the values that are essential to the sort of organization it is, whatever those may be?)

Each of these is a way in which an NGO might acquire legitimacy. Some NGOs might score well on several of those. Some on just one. Some on none — and those that score well on none of those criteria are, according to Atack’s framework, lacking in legitimacy. Stated negatively, we could put the point this way: if an organization doesn’t have a membership base, isn’t effective, doesn’t work to empower those it seeks to help, and doesn’t embody the relevant values, then just what makes it think it has the right to speak or act for anyone other than itself?

Of course, these are not all-or-nothing questions. An organization can be representative, effective, etc., to a greater or lesser degree, and hence be either more or less legitimate.

This framework isn’t the be-all and end-all of assessing NGO legitimacy, but it’s a starting point. So, consider an NGO like WikiLeaks. Where does its legitimacy come from? In other words, what is the source of whatever moral authority is has? Is it from one of the sources Atack suggests, or is it something else?

—–

From here.

Pakistan-US Rift Widens

ISLAMABAD: In the run-up to the third round of strategic dialogue, Pakistani authorities are getting irritated over the lack of US interest in resolving the country’s long-term regional issues and in providing economic support despite publicly declaring it a key ally in the war on terror and appreciating its sacrifices.

The authorities are also dissatisfied with the ‘triple accounting’ by the United States of its economic assistance to Pakistan, although the overall assistance remained less than $1.5 billion in a year. They also grumble that Pakistan has not been given market access for its products they believe it deserves in comparison to other countries.

“Since our engagement with US after 9/11 about more than nine years ago, the United States has made wide-ranging trading arrangements with Latin American countries, African nations and even some states in the Middle East but greater market access to Pakistan still remains far off,” said a government official.

Officials said that these were some of the issues Pakistani delegation led by Army Chief Ashfaq Parvez Kayani would raise again with the US authorities as part of the Pakistan-US strategic dialogue to be held in Washington next week.

“The US actions and assurances do not match when it comes to Pakistan’s role and returns it should get,” the official said.

In background discussions, the official said the US leadership never missed an opportunity to assure Islamabad how central they considered a stable Pakistan to achieve global and regional peace and yet they looked the other way when the government discussed US role in resolving a ‘proxy water war launched by India’ besides the longstanding Kashmir issue that was the key to regional stability.

They said India had launched a full-scale water aggression against Pakistan by initiating a number of controversial projects on rivers allocated to Pakistan under the 1960 waters treaty.

Pakistan wanted the US to play its role in addressing its concerns, they said.

They said these irritants had repeatedly been discussed with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and President Obama’s special envoy Richard Holbrooke but without any tangible progress beyond diplomatic pleasantries. They, however, agree that the US has moved in appreciating Pakistan’s concerns relating to the Afghan situation.

Sources said the United States had committed to provide $7.5 billion assistance in five years to Islamabad under the Kerry-Lugar-Berman Act at the rate of $1.5 billion in a year.

As part of Friends of Democratic Pakistan, the United States had assured last year to help Pakistan overcome its economic problems by offering more assistance but “when we got back to the US authorities for follow up, we realised that its pledges at FoDP were part of its earlier commitments made under the KLB Act”.

The flood-related US support, the sources said, also came under the KLB amount of $1.5 billion a year.

Talking about trade facilitation, the official said that Pakistan had also not been able to materialise Reconstruction Opportunity Zones (ROZs) in areas affected by war and earthquake for which the US had given assurances many years ago. “We now believe that ROZs have lost their opportunity cost.”

He said the even the European Union had been favourable in extending market access to Pakistan after the 2005 earthquake but the US did not make any progress on that account.

Between 2000 and 2009, the US trade with Latin America increased by more than 80 per cent because of North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta), the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement and bilateral FTAs with Chile while its trade with African nations increased by about 30 per cent under the 2000 African Growth and Opportunity Act, but Pakistan’s ROZs and bilateral investment treaty remained a pipedream.

They said the US cooperation with Pakistan for resolving the energy sector problems had also remained limited to lip-service. Rather it opposed the Iran-Pakistan Gas Pipeline that was key to Islamabad’s energy sector needs over the next couple of decades.

From here.

Pakistan has many complex problems.  The US can't be expected to fix what the Pakistanis and Mother Nature have broken.

John Kerry Pitches Bill to Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, Oct 17: John Kerry, the chairman of US Senate’s Foreign Relations Committee and one of the authors of the much-debated $7.5 billion aid package, arrives here on Sunday to a warm reception by the government.

But he also faces ‘hot sessions’ with the opposition leaders and army officials over the issue. The government intends to praise his role in formulating the legislation and also getting it approved. He is going to be praised particularly for his efforts in helping Islamabad to secure an explanatory note that sought to allay the concerns of opposition leaders.

Senator Kerry will meet President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi. He will also have an opportunity to interact with Army Chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, ISI Chief Lt-Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha and PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif — all of whom have criticised the package and appear to be dissatisfied also with the explanation on the intent of the law.

Senator Kerry will try to reassure his interlocutors that the US has no intention of undermining Pakistan’s interests. It will probably be the best chance for the military leadership to convey their reservations and fears about the law.

Sources say that Gen Kayani will present his point of view to Mr Kerry. They claim that the army has decided not to publicly confront the government or the US on the issue, although it is still uncomfortable with some controversial clauses and believes that the explanatory statement attached to the bill hardly addresses their concerns.

Senior army commanders are of the opinion that, notwithstanding the clarification on the intent of the law, the issues mentioned in those clauses will create problems at later stages.

Opposition parties have also rejected the explanatory statement.

PML-N leader Javed Hashmi told reporters after a speech by the foreign minister in parliament on Friday that his party had rejected the Kerry-Lugar bill.

The sources said the government would use the occasion to discuss with Mr Kerry the legislation on appropriations that would authorise disbursement and utilisation of the aid.

Although the Kerry-Lugar-Berman Act and the attached explanatory note is expected to be the main focus of Mr Kerry’s deliberations during his two-day stay in Islamabad, diplomatic sources said the government of Pakistan would also raise the issue of Gen McChrystal’s report on Afghanistan, which called for a change in the strategy of coalition forces and provision of about 40,000 more troops.

Islamabad is averse to increase in foreign troops in Afghanistan and says it will have a destabilising effect on Pakistan.

Pakistani Military to Assess Kerry-Lugar

ISLAMABAD, Oct 6: The Kerry-Lugar bill is expected to consume a fair share of the corps commanders’ time when they meet in Rawalpindi on Wednesday.

There are indications that the US aid legislation is likely to find little support at the General Headquarters and may ultimately sour relations between the armed forces and the government, which favours the bill and claims it as a major foreign policy success. According to sources, the bill appears unpalatable, not just because of its feared impact upon the nation’s sovereignty, but primarily because it imposes strong checks on the country’s security matrix.

The most contentious parts of the otherwise pro-democracy document that are viewed as highly intrusive by certain circles are three certifications that the US secretary of state is required to provide to congressional committees for continuing security assistance and the format of monitoring reports.

The certifications include confirmation that the government continues to cooperate in investigating nuclear proliferators; is making sustained efforts against terrorists, including blocking support by elements within the military and intelligence network for terrorists, taking action against terrorist bases and acting on intelligence about high-value targets provided to it; and that the security forces are not subverting the political and judicial processes.

Almost all these aspects are covered in the format prescribed for the assessment reports, but an additional stipulation that has sent alarm bells ringing in the military establishment concerns an assessment of how effective a control the government has on the military, including oversight and approval of defence budgets, chain of command, promotions of senior commanders and civilian involvement in strategic planning.

Apart from these, there are hardly any other conditions for the development and economic assistance which forms the core of the bill. Its stated objectives are supporting democratic institutions; assisting efforts for expanding the rule of law and promotion of human rights; aiding economic freedom and development; investing in people, particularly women and children; and strengthening US public diplomacy.

Senior military officials confirmed that they were concerned about certain elements of the bill and saw it as interference in the country’s internal affairs.

“Obviously the Kerry-Lugar bill is related to security and would be examined at the corps commanders’ conference,” an official said.

Analysts believe that the apprehensions in the military have played a role in setting the agenda for a public debate on the issue in spite of the fact that the bill supports democracy. PML-Q secretary general Mushahid Hussain, like many other politicians opposing the legislation, centres his criticism on US double-standards, threats to Pakistan’s sovereignty and security, its destabilising effects and demeaning the country’s dignity. But he makes a valid point that differences over aid may create a rift between the civilian and military leadership as emboldened political leaders would try to gain influence over the monitoring and control of the armed forces’ professional matters.

The US Embassy’s Counsellor for Political Affairs, Bryan D. Hunt, told Dawn that the rationale behind the conditions was that the Congress felt very strongly that the US should be dealing with civilian governments.

“Pakistan also agrees that we should be dealing with civilians, and not the military.”

However, he regretted that this shared agreement on promoting democracy was getting lost in the ‘nationalist debate’ that had followed the approval of the bill by the Congress.

Mr Hunt described much of the criticism as “unfortunate and short-sighted”.

But more importantly, politicians wrangling over the military-related conditions have lost sight of a caveat that follows the certification clause: “The secretary of state, under direction of the president, may waive the limitations… if the secretary of state determines that it is important to national security interests of the United States.”

Seen against a history of US support for military-led removal of civilian governments, there is every likelihood that Washington, in case of any military intervention, may find an excuse for dumping politicians because of its ‘national interests’. This waiver clause would be handy in such an eventuality.

From here.

14 Million from IFAD to Mauritania

5 October - Mauritania has received a US$6 million loan and a US$6 million grant from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) to help develop the value chains of agricultural products and lower the country’s dependence on food imports. An additional $2 million will be provided as grant co-financing from Italian supplementary funds to IFAD.

According to an announcement by IFAD yesterday, the value added to vegetables, dates, milk, poultry, skins and hides, red meat and non-timber forest products, will enable rural poor people to realize the market potential of what they produce and to lift themselves out of poverty.

The loan and grant agreement for the programme was signed Sunday in Istanbul by Sidi Ould Tah, Minister of Economic Affairs and Development of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, and Kanayo F. Nwanze, President of IFAD.The statement said this programme comes at a crucial time in the country’s development, as it is estimated that by 2010 two thirds of the Mauritania’s population will live in urban areas. The capital, Nouakchott, is already a major consumer of agricultural products, most of which are imported.

Agricultural products become more marketable once processed; when farmers process milk to produce cheese or butter or when they clean and package vegetables, they can be sold at a higher price. This chain of activities is known as a value chain, said the IFAD statement.

It further stated that an increase in national production will help reduce Mauritania’s reliance on food imports and make it less vulnerable to price increases.Women, young people and men living in the rural dry areas of Adrar, Assaba, Brakna, Gorgol, Guidimaka, Hodh Ech Chargui, Hodh El Gharbi, Tagant and Trarza will be the main actors in the programme. It is estimated that some 9,500 households will benefit directly from the programme and 32,000 households indirectly.

To date, IFAD has funded 12 projects and programmes in Mauritania for a total investment of about US$ 97.2 million.

From here.

Tokyo to Assist Pakistan Development Efforts

NEW YORK, Sept 24: Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada has assured Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi of his government’s commitment to reconstruction and economic assistance for Pakistan.

Mr Okada, who became Japanese foreign minister just days ago, said during a meeting with Mr Qureshi here that the newly elected government in Tokyo assigned top priority to cooperation with Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Mr Okada, who saw first hand the devastation wrought by the 2005 earthquake in Pakistan’s northwestern areas, said he would like to visit the region to see reconstruction and recovery efforts.

Mr Qureshi welcomed Tokyo’s reiteration of its commitment to close relations with Pakistan. The two diplomats discussed the Friends of Democratic Pakistan summit, being co-hosted by President Asif Ali Zardari, President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Japan, Mr Qureshi said, had been a great development partner of Pakistan and Islamabad looked forward to continuing this important relationship. He expressed the hope that the international community would step up implementation of the pledges made at the Tokyo conference early this year.

Mr Qureshi also had productive bilateral meetings with his counterparts from Italy, Argentina and Sierra Leone. Franco Frattini, the Italian foreign minister, discussed prospects for UN reforms with Mr Qureshi. The two countries share views on United Nations reforms and have been cooperating at diplomatic forums towards that end.

Italy has been a leading supporter of expansion in trade and economic relations between The European Union and Pakistan and favoured the process of engagement as well as Pakistan’s quest for getting preferential trade access to the robust European market with initiatives like GSP.

Mr Qureshi said that increase in Pakistani exports to Europe would step up economic activity in the country, which in turn would bring jobs to unemployed youth.

Mr Qureshi and his Argentine counterpart Jorge Taina discussed consolidating trade and economic relations. Mr Taina said he looked forward to visiting Pakistan.

In a meeting with Sierra Leone Foreign Minister Zainab Hawa Bangura, Mr Qureshi reaffirmed cooperative ties. Ms Bangura said her country would host a donors’ conference in London and invite Pakistan to attend the meeting.—APP

From here.

RIP Norman Borlaug

Nobel Laureate Norman Borlaug (1914-2009) with wife Margaret.

ASHINGTON: Norman Borlaug, the father of the ‘Green Revolution’, died in Texas on Saturday, 12 Sept. He helped Pakistan, India and Mexico achieve food self-sufficiency in the 1960s.

Mr Borlaug led the Green Revolution while working on semi-dwarf, high-yield, disease-resistant wheat varieties in Mexico. In the mid-20th century, he worked with the governments of Mexico, India and Pakistan to introduce a combination of modern agricultural production techniques and his new high-yield wheat varieties.

As a result, Mexico became a net exporter of wheat by 1963. Between 1965 and 1970, wheat yields nearly doubled in Pakistan and India, greatly improving the food security in the subcontinent.

These collective increases in yield have been labelled the Green Revolution and Mr Borlaug is often credited with saving over a billion people from starvation.

He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 in recognition of his contributions to world peace through increasing food supply.

Mr Borlaug was one of only five people in history to score the feat of winning the Nobel Peace Prize, the US Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal – placing him in the company of the Rev Martin Luther King Jr, Mother Teresa, Nelson Mandela and Elie Wiesel.
He was also named by Time magazine in 1999 as one of the 100 most influential minds of the 20th century.

In the early 1960s, India and Pakistan were confronting famine and Mr Borlaug was asked to help. He planted demonstration plots of the new dwarf variety, but was unable to convince the state-owned seed companies to adopt them.

By 1965, however, famine in the region was so bad that the governments acquiesced. Mr Borlaug organised a shipment of 35 truckloads of dwarf wheat seeds. Because of customs problems, the seeds couldn’t be shipped from Mexico in time for planting, so he sent them to a port in Los Angeles.

Meanwhile, the $100,000 cheque drawn on the Pakistani ministry bounced because of three misspelled words on its face.

Ultimately, the cargo ship set sail for Karachi and Mumbai but before they reached their destinations, India and Pakistan went to war.

Despite these problems, he succeeded in planting the new varieties in the two countries. Consequently, the new crop was 98 per cent bigger than the previous year.

India ordered 18,000 tons of seed from Mexico and the harvest was so big that there was a shortage of labour to harvest it.

By 1968, Pakistan was self-sufficient in food production. India joined it in 1974.

Mr Borlaug, a Norwegian-American, was born on March 25, 1914, in Cresco, Iowa.

He received his PhD in plant pathology and genetics from the University of Minnesota in 1942 and took up an agricultural research position in Mexico, where he developed the new varieties of wheat.

Mr Borlaug is survived by his wife, the former Margaret G. Gibson, daughter Jeanie Borlaug Laube, son William Gibson Borlaug, five grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren.

Source: Pakistan Dawn

Homeless Islamabad Christians Need Our Help!

Local doctors and experienced news correspondents are shocked by the appalling conditions being endured by some 2,000 Christians in downtown Islamabad, the Pakistani capital. Despite being only ten minutes from health centres, two people have died in the 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43 degrees Celsius) heat, with many more in danger of dying from dehydration, infection or the cumulative effects of poverty.

How did they end up here? Approximately a year ago, around 214 Christian families were promised land in the Chak Shahzad district of Islamabad. The Capital Development Authority (CDA) of Islamabad arranged their move and told the families to set up tents there until possession had been finalised. Then three months ago the CDA changed their minds forcing the Christian families to live in the road amidst squalid conditions, where their only water supply runs all too close to an open pit latrine and a waste dump. There are up to 20 people sharing one tent, which only adds to the discomfort.

Our partners in Pakistan commented, “Since Christians are discriminated against by the majority population, nothing has been done to help them.”

Whilst the Pakistan authorities are still to act, Barnabas has been able to secure a way to provide practical aid to the families now. This aid will take the form of food items including rice, lentils, onions and cooking oil for each affected family, as well as buckets and water containers to reduce the risk of typhoid affecting the tightly packed camp.

For only £34.75 ($56.94 or €40.33) you can feed a whole family for a month. Five water containers each capable of carrying 20 litres, costs only £7.40 ($12.15 or €8.60). Any one of these items could be a lifesaver.

Dr Patrick Sookhdeo, International Director of Barnabas Fund says, “Here is a real opportunity to save lives. Our brothers and sisters in Islamabad are in dire need of material assistance to prevent disease ravaging their already stricken camp. Please be praying that we can raise the necessary funds quickly to meet this life-threatening need.”

To donate, see here.

Scovel to Investigate FAA's Selection Process

The Obama administration used economic stimulus money to pay for 50 airport projects that didn't meet the grant criteria and approved projects at four airports with a history of mismanaging federal grants, a government watchdog said Monday.

Transportation Department Inspector General Calvin Scovel said he plans to examine the Federal Aviation Administration's process for selecting programs for the $1.1 billion in grant money.

Among the projects that Scovel said didn't meet the FAA's minimum score was $14 million that went to Akiachak, Alaska, a town of 659 residents, to replace its airfield. The town has a seaplane and is only 14 nautical miles from the state's fourth busiest airport.

Nearly $15 million went to another Alaska town, Ouzinkie, that has 167 residents, to replace its gravel runway. The town has a float-plane landing area in its harbor. Barges also provide cargo delivery from Kodiak, 10 miles away.

Other projects Scovel said didn't meet FAA's threshold were $4.8 billion for a new taxiway in Findlay, Ohio; $2.2 million for a runway extension at Wilbur Airport in Washington, $2 million for an apron at Warrensburg-Skyhaven Airport in Missouri, and $909,806 to design a new runway at a small airport near Dover, Del. He said those airports don't provide commercial passenger service and have limited flight operations.

Read it all here.

Iran-Pakistan Gas Deal

TEHRAN, May 25: There are no outstanding issues impeding the project for laying a gas pipeline between Pakistan and Iran and a final deal will be signed in three weeks, an Iranian official said on Monday.

“The final contract will be signed between the National Iranian Gas Export Company and Interstate Gas System of Pakistan in three weeks,” chief executive officer of the National Iranian Gas Company, Reza Kasaizadeh, told ISNA news agency.

Read it all here.

Pakistan-Afghanistan-Iran Accord

TEHRAN, May 24: President Asif Ali Zardari, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Afghan President Hamid Karzai expressed on Sunday their resolve to combat religious extremism and drugs smuggling. They signed the ‘Tehran Declaration’, pledging to work for security in the region.

“All three nations, by relying on their strengths, good organisation and cooperation, can resolve these issues (extremism and smuggling),” Mr Ahmadinejad said at the summit’s closing session. “The Tehran Declaration is a serious declaration of comprehensive cooperation towards achieving the interests of all three nations.”

Mr Karzai said: “We are faced with several problems, but there are also opportunities for finding a solution through dialogue and talks. We have to bring about security and stability for our future generation who live in the region.”

The summit followed Afghanistans largest-ever drugs seizure in an operation that ended on Saturday in a Taliban stronghold and opium-production centre in the south of the country, in which troops killed 60 militants.

Afghanistan is the source of 90 per cent of the world’s opium, most of which is converted into heroin inside the country and smuggled out via Pakistan and Iran, where drug use is growing.

Referring to US-led forces in Afghanistan, Mr Ahmadinejad said at the opening session of the summit that the presence of foreign forces had “not succeeded” in stabilising the region.

President Zardari proposed that the next three-way summit be held in Pakistan, which was accepted by Iran and Afghanistan. The dates for the next summit in Islamabad will be finalised later.

He also called for a separate trilateral mechanism on the dialogue on development, to realise the true potential of trade and economic cooperation. Mr Zardari called for joint efforts and increased cooperation among Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan and said Islamabad was committed to fighting “terrorism, extremism and narcotics which has threatened the region. We can tackle them through a comprehensive approach.”

“We have to get together to tackle these challenges. It is not just the matter of our survival, but for the betterment and safety of our future generations,” President Zardari said.

Presidents of the three countries had met less than three months ago in Tehran with leaders of other neighbouring states for a regional economic summit that pledged to help rebuild Afghanistan.

Source: Pakistan Dawn

Iran-Pakistan 'Peace Pipeline'

TEHRAN, May 24: President Asif Ali Zardari and his Iranian counterpart Dr Mahmoud Ahmadinejad signed on Sunday an inter-governmental framework declaration to support a gas pipeline agreement between the oil ministries of Pakistan and Iran.

According to APP, a gas sale-purchase agreement was signed by the managing directors of the National Iranian Oil Company and the Inter-State Gas System (ISGS) under which Iran will provide 750 million cubic feet of gas a day to Pakistan over the next 25 years.

The deal, called ‘Peace Pipeline’ by Iran’s oil ministry, was signed on the sidelines of a tripartite summit of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran on eliminating terrorism, drugs and human trafficking.

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Interior Minister Rehman Malik, Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance Shaukat Tarin and Adviser to Prime Minister on Petroleum and Natural Resources Dr Asim Hussain attended the signing ceremony. About 1,100 kilometers of pipeline for gas supply would be laid inside Iran and 1,000 kilometers in Pakistan. The pipeline will be completed in five years.

Dr Asim Hussain said the two sides also signed the final consultative process document. Kalbe Ali adds from Islamabad: A delegation member told Dawn that work on the project design would start soon.

“Pakistan has already appointed the German company ILF for designing the pipeline,” petroleum ministry sources said, adding that the pipeline would enter Pakistan near Gwadar and it would be connected with the national gas distribution network near Nawabshah.

The project, originally called the Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) gas pipeline, was conceived in 1995. India quit the project in 2008.

Read it all here.

Delta 1st to Schedule Flights to Africa

22 May - If major foreign investments are a sign of a normalised economy and society, Liberia can celebrate a major milestone. The US giant Delta Air Lines today announced it will open a direct air link between Monrovia and New York next month.

Delta Air Lines, the world’s largest airline, today announced that on 9 June it will launch flight services between the Liberian capital Monrovia and New York's John F Kennedy Airport, via Dakar, Senegal, following government approval. The weekly flight will be the only direct service to the US from Liberia.

As the US airliner exclusively bases its decisions on market and profit analyses - not political considerations - it has obviously found the Liberian destination economically sustainable, despite Liberia's small national economy, its very low level of tourism and its still shaky reputation due to its recent history of civil war.

From its situation of despair only a few years ago, the Liberian economy has experienced steady growth lately. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Liberia's GDP grew by 7 percent in 2008 and, despite the global crisis, is still projected to grow by "5-6 percent in 2009." And US businessmen are the main source of investments while USAID is Liberia's main donor, with a large presence of American aid workers and advisors.

For Delta, the new link with Monrovia fits neatly into its new focus on Africa as the only US airliner connecting the two continents. Delta already operates or soon plans to start up connections between the US and nine cities in Africa, ranging from South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt, Ghana, Senegal to Liberia. In the US, the African flights arrive in Delta's hub in Atlanta or in New York.

Delta is the only carrier operating scheduled service between the United States and Africa, and we are excited to be adding Liberia to our African network," said Bobby Bryan of Delta in a statement.

Read it all here.

Pakistan's Continuing Turmoil

Pakistan's latest crisis – the confrontation between former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and President Asif Ali Zardari – is deeply worrying for the US and Britain as they prepare for a big spring push, military and economic, against the Taliban on both sides of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. It has again underlined the west's limited power to control events in a region often portrayed as the front-line in the fight against terrorism and Islamist extremism.

Britain's high commissioner, Robert Brinkley, is urging the two sides to step back from the brink as a nationwide opposition protest movement, known as the Long March, gathers pace, Pakistani newspapers reported today. The US ambassador, Anne Patterson, is also said to be pressing for a compromise deal, fearful that the protests may degenerate into violence and bring down the weak civilian government in Islamabad.

Also looking for a way out, Pakistan's prime minister, Yousuf Raza Gilani, has advised Zardari to end direct rule in Punjab and allow the provincial assembly in Lahore to elect a leader, the Dawn newspaper said. Zardari's dismissal last month of the Punjab government led by Sharif's party triggered this latest conflagration. There is also talk that Zardari may reverse his refusal to reinstate the former chief justice, Iftikhar Chaudhry, as the price of his own political survival.
"I am speaking at a time when the country is on the crossroads," Gilani said. "I will advise the president to lift governor's rule [as direct rule in Punjab is known] ... It is the right of whichever party has the majority to form its government ... We want to [maintain] the vision of our slain leader, Benazir Bhutto."

Gilani was optimistic that Pakistan would overcome its egregious economic problems with help from the IMF, but said it could not afford the sort of vicious political infighting that has led senior officials to accuse Sharif of sedition and insurrection. "A condition for the world's support is that we show to the world that we are a politically strong and stable country," he said.

Understanding the necessity for firm, steady governance did not mean Zardari and co could deliver it in practice, said Maleeha Lodhi, a former senior diplomat and political commentator. "Developments in the past week ... [are] raising afresh the question of whether such a floundering government can run the country at such a critical time." Pakistan's history showed governments could not rule effectively if they pursued iniquitous policies towards their political rivals, she wrote.

Lodhi also set the political stand-off against a bleak backdrop of growing social despondency, especially among the young. According to a worldwide Gallup poll of young Muslims aged 15 to 29, Pakistanis were by far the most pessimistic, she said. "When asked if they thought they were thriving, struggling or suffering, 51% in Pakistan said they were struggling and 35% said they were suffering." This was a higher level of discontent than that registered in Indonesia or in poor African countries such as Niger and Mali – and higher even than in Palestine.

Pakistan's political volatility, its economic impoverishment, and deepening social alienation are at the heart of the challenge that the Obama administration's current review of regional policy is trying to address. But while Washington tries to mediate a political truce, appropriates billions of dollars in additional economic and development aid, and wonders how hard to push Pakistan's military in confronting the Taliban, anti-western hardliners and jihadis are not sitting on their hands.

One Islamist party, the Jamaat-e-Islami, has joined forces with Sharif's marchers; its supporters clashed with police in Karachi this week. And according to the Daily Times, intelligence agencies have warned Sindh's government that terrorists linked to al-Qaida are planning new attacks, including possible attacks on the marchers, following last week's assault on Sri Lanka's cricketers in Lahore.

"Agencies have been specifically warned that terrorist organisations can strike during the Long March ... with March 14 and 15 being sensitive days," a Sindh home department official told the paper. Security had been increased in Karachi and additional forces sent to Islamabad. A local television station reported meanwhile that al-Qaida planned to use unrest on the streets as cover for attacks on US consulates and citizens.

With Afghanistan also facing political upheaval ahead of August elections and with President Hamid Karzai under a cloud of western disapproval, these are far from ideal conditions in which to launch Barack Obama's new "Af-Pak" strategy. Obama effectively admitted the west was losing the war in Afghanistan. The growing worry now is that it may "lose" Pakistan, too.

From here.

Deng Deng National Park

afrol News, 19 February - Cameroonian government has created a new national park to protect a population of 600 gorillas, and other threatened species such as chimpanzees, forest elephants, buffaloes, and bongo.

The new Deng Deng National Park, approximately 580 square kilometers comes just three months after Cameroon announced the establishment of Takamanda National Park which now forms part of a trans-boundary protected area with Nigeria's Cross River National Park and protects the world's rarest gorilla population.

According Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), the creation of the new national park is the result of years of conservation planning, including the first gorilla population surveys in the former forest reserve in 2002 by the society.

President and CEO of the WCS, Dr Steven E. Sanderson said Deng Deng National Park is a major step towards conservation of all Cameroon's gorilla population and wildlife in the country which is facing serious deforestation.

"We applaud the government of Cameroon for continuing to be a leader in conservation and for taking this important step to protect these species," he said.

Cameroon Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife, Cameroon Railways and WCS are also collaborating to enforce regulations that will ban transportation of bushmeat or any other wildlife products from remote locations to urban markets by local trains.

"This effort in part has helped Cameroon uphold its obligations as a member nation of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)," WCS said.

Cameroon has one of the highest deforestation rates in Africa, losing some 220,000 hectares of forest per year, mostly to logging and agriculture.