* Afrique. De l’OUA à l’Union africaine — Le secrétaire général de l’Organisation de l’union africaine, Amara Essy, a déclaré le 22 mai à Addis Abeba que le projet de transformation de l’OUA en Union africaine (UA) est en cours et que l’UA sera lancée, comme prévu, au prochain sommet de l’OUA à Durban. Ce sommet devra discuter de l’Assemblée des chefs d’Etat, du Conseil exécutif (qui remplacera l’ancien Conseil des ministres), du Comité des représentants permanents et du statut de la Commission. (PANA, Sénégal, 23 mai 2002)

* Africa. African Union — The African Union (AU) should play a centre-stage economic role to help African countries move rapidly towards social progress, the Egyptian Ambassador to France, Ali Maher Al Sayed said in Paris, on 23 May. Al Sayed, who is also the dean of the African diplomatic corps in Paris, emphasised that only a strong economic and political union of African States can help the continent surmount the current challenges. «I remain deeply convinced that through unity, all 53 countries of the continent will be able to make important accomplishments for themselves and for their peoples,», he said. The Egyptian diplomat described NEPAD (New Partnership for Africa’s Development) as an initiative that would enable Africa to organise its priorities better and make external contribution more efficient. Africa is not looking for charity from the rest of the world, Al Sayed observed, saying that development partners who accept to be involved in NEPAD «will be helping themselves». (PANA, Senegal, 23 May 2002)

* Africa. COMESA leaders adopt protocol for Free Trade Area fund — Leaders of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) ended their 7th summit in Addis Ababa on 23 May after adopting a protocol establishing a fund that will provide budgetary support to countries which have joined its Free Trade Area (FTA). The summit, which ended a day earlier than scheduled, appealed for international support towards the fund that will compensate and assist member countries to meet transitional costs that may hamper the implementation of the FTA. The fund will also support priority infrastructure developments in the region. According to a final communiqué, the leaders asked non-FTA member states to indicate when they intend to join the preferential trading arrangement, including their timeframe for reducing tariffs before the end of the year. The deadline for joining the FTA is December 2004. Just nine of the 21 COMESA member states have joined the FTA since its creation in October 2000. (PANA, Senegal, 23 May 2002)

* Africa. Children in need — (N.B. ANB-BIA‘s Supplement (issue 435) has as its theme: «Africa’s children»). Nigeria:  «Harvest-Time Ministries», a non-profit-making organisation, has introduced a children’s project called the «Salama Children’s Project». Salama African children are those orphans, or children coming from traumatized or depressed families, who have suffered during religious, ethnic or political crises. The Project’s aim is to help raise these children in a peaceful and religious atmosphere, despite their previous experiences and setbacks. In a pilot project, twenty-five of these children come together twice a week to learn to praise and worship God. Use is made of indigenous musical instruments. Zambia: In a joint study funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the United Nations Childrens Emergency Fund (UNICEF), the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA), and the Republic of Zambia, the conclusion arrived at, was the state of Zambia’s children is bad. The study reveals the urgent necessity to address this situation. The fact is, only about 6,000 orphans in Zambia are being cared for. This suggests that many are homeless, living on the streets or in disused buildings. One expert working for an NGO has even gone so far as to declare the state of children in Zambia to be a «national disaster». Many of these children are left homeless because their parents have died from AIDS. (K. Dareng - Nigeria; J. Mupundu - Zambia. May 2002)

* Africa. Children are victims of slave traffickers — The number of people forced into slavery around the world has risen to 27 million, according to a report published by an international human rights group. The study — released to coincide with a special UN session on slavery — says millions of girls working as domestic servants are forced into sexual slavery. The trafficking of child camel jockeys to the United Arab Emirates, bonded labour in Pakistan and forced labour in Sudan are also highlighted. Slavery is fuelled by «poverty, vulnerability and lack of political will», Anti-Slavery International says. Last week, the US endorsed a report drawn up by an international group of «eminent persons» which concluded that slavery existed in Sudan. The report recommended that the Sudanese President, Omar Hassan al-Bashir, take the lead by launching an anti-slavery campaign and calling for the release of all slaves. The Sudanese Government comes in for criticism from Anti-Slavery International, which accuses it of «failing to take adequate steps to end raiding and slavery». Between 5,000 and 14,000 people are said by the group to have been abducted into forced labour in Sudan since 1983. There are also problems of forced labour in Mauritania where, the London-based rights group says, little has been done to secure the release of slaves or punish those who use them despite the abolition of slavery in 1981. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 27 May 2002)

* Africa. World Cup preliminaries — Cameroon: On 23 May, Cameroon’s World Cup trek ended when the squad finally touched down in Japan after a 60-plus hour journey. The Indomitable Lions’ arrival also ended the long wait of their hosts in the tiny Japanese village of Nakatsue. Cameroon’s journey began after their friendly against Denmark in Copenhagen the previous Friday. After the game, a row over players’ bonuses initially delayed the squad by 48 hours in Paris. Following a stop in Bombay, the squad’s charter plane was forced to make an emergency landing in Bangkok after failing to gain permission to fly over Cambodian, Vietnamese and Philippine airspace. Following another six-hour delay, the plane was allowed to leave Japan after obtaining clearance. Cameroon’s embarrassing delay risked a loss of goodwill after local residents in Nakatsue were forced to cancel several events, including a welcome ceremony and a practice match with local high school students. Lateness is rarely tolerated in Japan and some considered Cameroon’s tardy arrival an insult. Nakatsue, with a population of 1,400, has spent a considerable sum of money on improving lodging and training facilities for the visit of the Olympic and African champions. Despite the delay, the Japanese hosts were still preparing to roll out the red carpet in the small hours of the morning. — On 26 May, Cameroon held England to a draw 2-2, in a friendly warm-up. Nigeria: Nigeria’s World Cup team will receive substantial financial rewards if they reach the finals of the tournament, the Nigeria Football Association (NFA) has said. Largely made up of overseas-based players, Nigeria’s team has a history of pay disputes before and during major tournaments. There were huge arguments over bonuses and allowances during the Super Eagles 1994 and ‘98 World Cup outings. At the last African Nations Cup tournament in Mali, players protested against the non-payment of air fares. — Defender Celestine Babayaro has arrived in Japan and begun full training, relieving doubts that he might have had to withdraw from the squad. He survived his first training session with his team-mates on 28 May with no ill-effects from an injury that had kept him out of all Nigeria’s warm-up matches. It means the Nigerians now have a full strength squad from which to choose their line-up their opening match against Argentina on 2 June. Senegal: Senegal’s top striker El-Hadji Diouf was the star of the show as the Dakar Lions triumphed over Ecuador in their last warm-up game before the World Cup. Diouf showed great touch throughout the game and set up the winning goal. He created panic in the Ecuador defence with a well-placed cross that was turned into his own goal by defender Augusto Porozo on 69 minutes. The goal came only a minute after Diouf could have opened the scoring himself. He feigned to go outside before cutting back inside and curled a shot from long-range past Cevallos that bounced off the post. After the match Senegal boss Bruno Metsu singled the Lens player out for praise. South Africa: After the doubts that surrounded South Africa’s build-up to the World Cup, it has become quite a job to wipe the smiles off  the faces of coach Jomo Sono and his players. After all the doom and gloom following poor performances in recent friendlies, the euphoria in the camp is understandable following their 2-0 win over Turkey on 23 May. That victory meant they lifted the Reunification Cup in Hong Kong with a game to spare in the tournament. The euphoria in the team should however, not be misplaced. It was, after all, a warm-up friendly and the Turks used no fewer than nine substitutes. Nevertheless the victory would have given the team a tremendous psychological boost ahead of next weekend’s opening game against Paraguay. The important thing is that they have scored four goals in their last two games without conceding any. On 26 May, South Africa defeated Vissel Kobe 3-0, in a friendly warm-up match. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 28 May 2002)

* Africa. Action against the Media. — The Gambia: On 27 May, Article 19 expressed concern over the excessive control of the public media in The Gambia by the government. Malawi: On 23 May, Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) condemned the actions taken by Dumbo Lemani, an advisor to the President. He assembled a group of between 1,000 and 3,000 militant members of the ruling United Democratic Front (UDF) on 20 May in front of the publishing firm Blantyre Newspaper Limited, which publishes two pro-opposition newspapers, the Daily Times and the Malawi News weekly. He then incited the crowd to threaten two journalists, Mabvuto Banda, and Akimu Kaingana, who had written articles opposing President Muluzi’s candidacy for a third presidential term in 2004. Niger: On 23 May, RSF protested the arrests of Abdoulaye Tiémogo, publication director of the private weekly Le Canard Déchaîné, and Abarad Mouddour Zakara, publication director of the private weekly La Roue de l’Histoire. Rwanda: On 19 May, the Ugandan editor of the independent privately-owned weekly, Rwanda Herald, Asuman Bisiika, was deported by the Rwandan authorities, to Uganda. Somalia: On 27 May, RSF protested against the shutting down of the privately-owned Somali Broadcasting Corporation by the authorities of Puntland. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 27 May 2002)

* Africa. Statistics — On the occasion of the Meeting of Superiors of Missionary Institutes being held in Rome, the following statistics have been published concerning Africa: Population: 756.9 million (65% rural, 35% urban); Life expectancy: 50.7 years; Religions: Catholics — 14.9%; Other Christians —31.6%; Muslims — 40.5%; Traditional African religions and others: 13%. (Fides, Vatican City, 28 May 2002)

* Afrique. Bilan 2002 d’Amnesty — Dans son rapport 2002, rendu public le 28 mai, Amnesty International (AI) dresse un sombre bilan du monde de l’après-11 septembre. Les attentats du 11 septembre, “crimes contre l’humanité”, appellent “la  justice, non la vengeance”, avertit AI. Sous couvert de sécurité, les démocraties ont restreint les espaces de liberté et les droits des personnes par des législations draconiennes, alors que les régimes autoritaires en ont profité pour écraser leurs opposants ou relancer les opérations contre les minorités. En Afrique, AI épingle notamment l’Afrique du Sud et l’Egypte. En annexe de son rapport, AI a ajouté un chapitre “Bonnes nouvelles”; pour l’Afrique, y est notée la libération d’Alpha Condé en Guinée. (D’après Le Monde, France, 29 mai 2002)

* Afrique. Appel de la BAD — L’Afrique est la seule région en développement qui risque de ne pas atteindre la croissance voulue pour diminuer de moitié la pauvreté la plus grave d’ici à 2015, a indiqué le président de la Banque africaine de développement (BAD), M. Kabbaj, lors de l’ouverture, le 28 mai, de la réunion annuelle de la banque. Environ 30 des 53 pays africains qui ont établi, il y a deux ans, un plan de développement avec les Nations unies et la BAD, atteindront partiellement le niveau prévu; pour les autres, les prévisions sont mauvaises. En Afrique, quelque 340 millions de personnes (environ la moitié de la population du continent) ne disposent même pas d’un dollar par jour, la limite de la “pauvreté absolue”. M. Kabbaj a lancé un appel à la communauté internationale pour qu’elle double l’aide au développement de l’Afrique afin de pouvoir réaliser l’objectif de croissance économique prévu de 7%. (D’après De Standaard, Belgique, 29 mai 2002)

* Afrique de l’Ouest. La Nouvelle Air Afrique — La Nouvelle Air Afrique, qu’on croyait “mort-née”, semble de nouveau intéresser les responsables politiques africains. Pour faire le point du dossier, les ministres des Transports et des Finances des onze pays membres se retrouveront à Abidjan les 30 et 31 mai, et les chefs d’Etat le 12 juin. Toutefois, l’échéance de juillet 2002 fixée pour la résurrection de la compagnie multinationale ne sera probablement pas respectée. Beaucoup d’Etats s’embarquent dans la nouvelle aventure presque à contrecoeur. La plupart d’entre eux ont créé ou relancé, ces derniers mois, leurs propres compagnies nationales, dont les avions ne désemplissent pas. La création d’une nouvelle compagnie panafricaine signifierait, à coup sûr, la fin de ces expériences juteuses. (JA/L’Intelligent, France, 27 mai 2002)

* Afrique de l’Ouest. Sierra Leone, Guinée et Liberia: civils en survie. — Un rapport MSF retrace les conditions de survie des civils et la gestion de l’aide dans ces 3 pays. Aujourd’hui, l’Afrique de l’Ouest présente une situation extrêmement complexe, tant au niveau politique qu’humanitaire. Alors que la guerre est officiellement terminée en Sierra Leone et que le plus gros contingent de Casques Bleus a été déployé sur l’ensemble du territoire, le conflit libérien reprend de la vigueur. De nouvelles vagues  de Libériens arrivent en Sierra Leone, en Guinée, en Côte d’Ivoire; des milliers d’autres se trouvent déplacés, encore et encore, au gré des combats en territoire libérien. Au moment des élections présidentielles du 14 mai 2002, des dizaines de milliers de Sierra Léonais rentrent chez eux, en provenance du Liberia et de Guinée, où ils étaient réfugiés, ou encore depuis les camps de déplacés à l’intérieur du pays. Des centaines de milliers d’individus sont donc simultanément en mouvement, rendant la situation pour le moins confuse. (News Press, France,  28 mai 2002)

* Afrique australe. Menace de famine — Dix millions de personnes dans quatre pays du sud de l’Afrique sont menacées de famine, selon le PAM et la FAO. Selon les deux agences de l’Onu, le Malawi, le Zimbabwe, le Lesotho et le Swaziland auront besoin d’importer plus de 4 millions de tonnes de vivres dans l’année à venir pour nourrir leurs affamés. La situation alimentaire du Mozambique et de la Zambie est encore en cours d’examen, et les agences, pessimistes, estiment que lorsque le bilan sera fait, il risque d’accroître encore le nombre de personnes menacées par la famine. (AP, 29 mai 2002)

* Africa/USA. O’Neill and Bono on tour — Paul O’Neill, US treasury secretary, has run into criticism during his African tour of US plans to extend tens of billions of dollars of subsidies to American farmers. Trevor Manuel, the South African finance minister, yesterday complained directly to Mr O’Neill about the effects of the farm bill, which could increase subsidies by about $80bn over the next 10 years, on developing countries. South African ministers said the bill would imperil Africa’s ability to grow out of poverty. «It is strange that Mr O’Neill is in Africa talking about debt relief, giving with one hand and taking with the other,» one senior official said. The farm bill, which is likely to lead to more cheap produce flooding into global markets, has aroused fury in many developing countries. Alec Irwin, the South African trade minister, warned against a «spate of protectionism in the US». Bono, the rock star travelling with Mr O’Neill, also accused the US of hypocrisy. «The trade issue is really infuriating me,» Bono said. «We can’t have people in Congress who agree with debt cancellation and want to do something on Aids and then sponsor the farm bill.» But Thabo Mbeki, South Africa’s president, drew back from making it a significant political issue during a meeting with Mr O’Neill. (Financial Times, UK, 24 May 2002)

* Algérie. Nouveau massacre de militaires — Dix militaires ont été assassinés et sept autres blessés dans un convoi militaire qui a été attaqué sur la route d’Aïssaoui (région de Blida, à 50 km au sud d’Alger), à un endroit situé sur les hauteurs de Bougara, qui constitue depuis 1993 un véritable fief des groupes armés. Les groupes armés qui sont actifs dans la région, sont majoritairement affiliés au Groupe salafiste pour la prédication et le combat (GSPC) de Hassan Hattab, même si certains groupes se revendiquent du Groupe islamique armé (GIA), dirigé par le nouvel émir Abou Tourab, et mènent dans la région des incursions épisodiques. (La Croix, France, 24 mai 2002)

* Algeria. Parliamentary elections — 23 May: Some 17.98 million Algerians have registered for the country’s 30 May parliamentary elections to choose 389 MPs, Interior Minister Yazid Zerhouni announced on 22 May. About 1,052 candidates are contesting for the seats either as independents or sponsored by political parties. Zerhouni said 55.1 percent of the registered voters are men, while 44.9 percent are women, adding that 45 percent of the candidates have university education, while 38.75 percent possessed other high school certificates. The parties have started campaigning since 20 May. The Minister noted the violent demonstrations in the Kabylie Prefectures, where some political parties are calling for the boycott of the elections. 27 May: Campaigning has ended for Algeria’s parliamentary election which is due to be held on 30 May. People living in remote areas cast the first ballots inside Algeria today, while citizens living overseas began voting at the weekend. Ethnic unrest in the largely Berber-speaking region of Kabylie has led to a boycott of the polls there, while the country as a whole is suffering from economic hardship and a war against Islamic rebels. Established pro-government parties will be vying with moderate Islamist parties for the 389 seats in the National People’s Assembly. Police and customs officers have joined nomads in voting at roving polling stations in the desert south, to be followed by soldiers today. Around 18 million people out of a population of about 31 million are eligible to vote, including about 800,000 Algerians living abroad. In the days running up to the vote, President Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s authorities have been cracking down on dissent, banning foreign media from Kabylie. Berber activists have been trying to seize polling-stations in a bid to halt the vote altogether and are urging a general strike. The Berbers make up about 17% of Algeria’s population. — President Bouteflika pardons a group of students jailed for insulting him. 28 May: Berber activists in Kabylie have called a five-day general strike as part of their boycott of the election. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 28 May 2002)

* Algérie. Législatives le 30 mai — Les élections législatives en Algérie auront lieu le jeudi 30 mai. Selon les observateurs, la majorité islamo-conservatrice sortante devrait être reconduite, malgré le boycottage de la Kabylie, en révolte larvée contre le pouvoir depuis un an. Depuis le samedi 25 mai, les autorités algériennes ont interdit les déplacements de la presse internationale en Kabylie. Cette mesure a été notifiée aux journalistes par le ministère de la  Communication, suite à un incident survenu le 23 mai, lorsqu’une escorte militaire suivant une équipe de télévision française a été prise à partie par des manifestants à Tizi Ouzou. Le lundi, le ministre des Affaires étrangères s’est dit “surpris” par cette mesure, mais le président Bouteflika l’a confirmée. Finalement, le 29 mai, les autorités ont tout de même autorisé la presse étrangère à se rendre en Kabylie. - Le 27 mai, les corps constitués ont commencé à voter, tout comme les nomades et les habitants des zones reculées du Sahara. - “La composition de la future chambre est déjà connue en haut lieu”, a estimé le 28 mai Taleb Ibrahimi, dirigeant du parti islamiste Wafa qui, avec plusieurs autres formations politiques, prône le boycottage des élections. “Le FLN obtiendra 40% des sièges et le RND 30%”, a-t-il pronostiqué lors d’une conférence de presse. -30 mai. Quelque 18 millions d’Algériens sont appelés aux urnes pour désigner 389 députés. Selon AP, sur les 23 partis politiques, seulement une demi-douzaine, dont trois d’orientation islamiste, ont présenté des candidats; les autres ont appelé au boycottage. Après les fraudes massives du scrutin de 1997, le pouvoir a promis des élections “propres”. On annonce un taux d’abstention supérieur à 30%. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 30 mai 2002)

* Angola. Aid arrives for former rebels — 23 May: The first consignment of foreign aid destined for the families of former rebels has arrived in the Angolan capital, Luanda, and will be distributed in the coming days. In terms of a peace plan signed by the government and the Unita rebel movement last month, more than 50,000 former fighters, plus their family members have arrived in camps, where the soldiers are to be disarmed. But there is a severe shortage of food in the camps, with reports of up to five people dying every day. The arrival of help has been delayed by prolonged negotiations between the United Nations and the government. This first consignment donated by the United States, consisted of items like blankets and plastic sheeting for the construction of shelters. But there is still an urgent need for food for the soldiers and their families, as well as for the other people previously displaced during the war, and who are now starting to come within the reach of humanitarian help. The medical relief agency, Medecins sans Frontieres, estimates that at least 100,000 Angolans are suffering from acute malnutrition. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 23 May 2002)

* Angola. Angola may relax control of industry — Angola may loosen state control of its $700m diamond industry in response to the ceasefire in its 27-year civil war, during which Unita rebel forces used the sale of «conflict diamonds» to finance their army. All official Angolan diamonds are bought and sold by Ascorp, the state marketing company. Foreign and local miners — including small-time diggers and army generals with diamond interests —complain it uses its monopoly position to pay sharply below-market prices for its gems, worth more than $700m last year. «We created the single channel to tackle the problem of conflict diamonds, and during the war it was radically impossible to consider changing this,» said Carlos Sumbula, deputy minister of geology and mines. «Now the war is over, the government could consider other possibilities of an exceptional nature.» But he said Ascorp — a joint venture including Sodiam, the state diamond marketing monopoly, and Lev Leviev, an Israeli businessman — which has kept such companies as De Beers at bay since it was set up in 2000, would be unharmed. «Ascorp helped us to victory; we will not turn against them.» Angola says the creation of Ascorp helped it get a better grip on a chaotic industry, increasing state revenues and helping squeeze out Unita. (Financial Times, UK, 24 May 2002)

* Angola. Attirer la diaspora — Selon des sources diplomatiques, le gouvernement de Luanda est en train de travailler à un projet pour faciliter le retour des émigrés qui avaient quitté le pays durant la guerre civile. L’objectif est d’attirer les compétences et les capitaux accumulés par les Angolais de la diaspora pour les mettre au service de la reconstruction du pays. Plusieurs milliers d’entre eux vivent dans le monde occidental: près de 40.000 au Portugal, 7.000 en France. (Misna, Italie, 27 mai 2002)

* Angola. HIV/AIDS training for journalists — 27 May: A network of Angolan journalists concerned about HIV/AIDS is taking shape, following a workshop on reporting on HIV/AIDS held in Luanda last month, the first such training to take place in Angola. Twenty journalists, half from the provinces and half from the capital, attended the 15-18 May Workshop sponsored by the UN agencies — UNAIDS and UNICEF under the «Telling the Story» (TTS) project. TTS focuses especially on youth and HIV/AIDS and is supported by grants from CNN mogul Ted Turner’s United Nations Foundation, which targets seven countries in Southern Africa, where the pandemic is most serious. Angola, with a population of 13.4 million, has an infection rate of 8.6 percent as indicated by sentinel sites in four out of 17 provinces. The rate may be higher when all provinces start collecting data. An estimated half a million people are living with HIV/AIDS. (IRIN, 27 May 2002)

* Angola. Measles campaign launched — More than 150,000 Angolan children are to be vaccinated against measles through an emergency campaign in newly accessible and Quartering Family Areas (QFA)s, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said in a press release. «We are already providing support in several provinces and continue today through MSF-Switzerland in Peso Velho quartering site,» Mario Ferrari, UNICEF‘s Representative has said. Vaccination campaigns are also  underway in Sanza Pombo, Menongue, Londiumbali and Luena in Uige, Cuango Cubango, Huambo and Moxico provinces respectively, where children who have never before been vaccinated can now be reached. Angola’s ceasefire has allowed humanitarian assistance to reach communities previously cut off by the war. It has also led to the quartering of former rebel UNITA troops, and separately their families. But the Angolan government-run demobilisation operation has come under criticism over the limited amount of relief supplies available to UNITA troops and their families. Assessment missions in the newly accessible areas and QFAs have confirmed the critical nutritional situation among children as well as adults, and the immediate needs for measles vaccination campaigns and nutritional support. (IRIN, 27 May 2002)

* Angola. Aide de l’Union européenne — L’Union européenne a décidé de débloquer 125 millions d’euros pour venir en aide au peuple angolais, annonce un communiqué publié le 29 mai à Bruxelles. Ces crédits, qui seront gérés par différentes organisations humanitaires partenaires de l’UE, sont destinés à financer les programmes de secours d’urgence, l’aide à la sécurité humanitaire, l’assistance aux personnes déplacées et aux réfugiés qui regagnent par milliers leur pays, ainsi qu’aux opérations de déminage. L’UE entend apporter son soutien à l’accord de paix, signé le 4 avril entre le gouvernement et l’Unita, aider la population qui continue de souffrir, et contribuer à l’immense tâche de reconstruction du pays, souligne le communiqué. (PANA, Sénégal, 29 mai 2002)

* Bénin/Nigeria. Coopération transfrontalière — Le 28 mai à Cotonou, une trentaine d’experts du Bénin et du Nigeria ont commencé des concertations pour finaliser un projet de traité de coopération transfrontalière, dont les premières études avaient déjà démarré en 1992. Ce projet devrait faire de l’espace bénino-nigérian une zone intégrée au profit des agents économiques des deux pays, et favoriser la circulation des personnes et des biens de part et d’autre de la frontière. Une fois finalisé, le projet de traité sera transmis aux autorités gouvernementales pour adoption. (PANA, Sénégal, 28 mai 2002)

* Burkina Faso. Grève générale de 48 heures — Le 28 mai, au premier jour de la grève générale de 48 heures déclenchée par les centrales syndicales et des syndicats autonomes du Burkina, l’enseignement secondaire et supérieur public, ainsi que le secteur de la santé étaient paralysés dans la ville de Ouagadougou. Peu d’affluence dans les établissements secondaires et à l’université, où seuls les services administratifs ont fonctionné. A l’hôpital Ouédraogo, le plus grand centre hospitalier du pays, certains services étaient totalement paralysés, d’autres fonctionnaient au ralenti. Par contre, le mouvement était peu perceptible au niveau des ministères, et le commerce  fonctionnait normalement. La grève fait suite à une autre, les 23 et 14 avril, qui n’a pas donné satisfaction aux travailleurs. Ils revendiquent notamment une augmentation de 25% des salaires et pensions, et une baisse de l’impôt unique sur les traitements et salaires de 30%. (PANA, Sénégal, 28 mai 2002)

* Burkina Faso. Project to help street children — United Nations Volunteers (UNV) has announced that it will run a five-year project aimed at transforming the lives of some 1,200 disadvantaged children in two of Burkina Faso’s towns, Bobo-Dioulasso and Hounde. Under the project, UNV teams will counsel street children, juveniles and other marginalised youth on educational and vocational options that can improve their prospects. Emphasis will also be placed on psychosocial help, UNV said. The volunteers will conduct an information campaign to discourage exploitation of young women and children, it added. So far, the project has received US $2.2 million from Luxembourg and close to $300,000 in kind from the government of Burkina Faso. Based in Bonn, Germany, UNV was created in 1970 as the volunteer arm of the UN system. It extends hands-on assistance for peace and development in 140 countries. (IRIN, 27 May 2002)