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28 July 2006
ISS Today: Dimensions of Economic Meltdown in Zimbabwe
Informal, unlawful currency speculation has been rampant in Zimbabwe almost continuously since November 1997, when, in the first of many interludes of madness, the local currency tumbled from an exchange rate of Z$12,5 to Z$25 against the US dollar. As the impact of another monumental blunder - the farm invasions - continues to manifest itself in massive consumer and export commodity shortages, the exploitation of fluctuations in the availability, and consequently, value, of foreign currency has become a major commercial activity.
27 July 2006
ISS Today: Côte d’Ivoire: More Violence Surrounding Identification Programme
A programme of identification of Ivorian nationals, a key element to restoring peace in Côte d'Ivoire, has again sparked violence that left one dead in a tourist resort on the outskirts of the main city Abidjan. Hard-line supporters of President Laurent Gbagbo, the Young Patriots, descended on the tourist town of Grand-Bassam some 40 km from Abidjan to block the opening of a mobile unit charged with conducting hearings as part of the identification programme. But the Young Patriots met resistance from youths who support the political opposition against Gbagbo and the ensuing clashes left one dead and several injured.
Oil riches trickle down
...'The agreement gives Deby breathing space and is a face-saving device for the World Bank,' said Richard Cornwell of the Institute for Security Studies, who believes the World Bank wants to prevent Chad becoming a failed state and possible terrorist haven.
26 July 2006
Balanced action needed from the top as horror stories mount
... And that 'imbalance' in government spending on the criminal justice system is a key problem. Researcher Antony Altbeker highlighted in a paper last year that while police personnel had grown 31% over the past five years, the number of prosecutors had risen only 18%, and the number of prison warders by only 8%.
25 July 2006
Presence of Ethiopian Troops Is Divisive in Somalia
... 'It puts the government in a tricky position because they are turning to a foreign country that Somalis consider as their historic enemy,' said Mohamed Guyo, head of the Institute for Security Studies, a think tank in Nairobi, Kenya. 'The government is going to lose credibility in the eyes of the people.'
ISS Programme Highlights: 25 July
The Arms Management Programme will this week have a mid-year strategic planning session and be meeting with SaferAfrica to discuss a proposed collaborative project between ISS, PRIO and SaferAfrica on arms brokering in Southern Africa. Staff members will attend a seminar on disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration of ex-combatants at Bradford University (UK) from 26-29 July. Staff members will travel to Durban to undertake research on the firearms amnesty.
Staff members from the African Security Analysis Programme are observing the elections in the DRC and the programme co-hosted the “Responsibility to Protect” workshop in Addis Ababa.
The Crime and Justice Programme held a strategic planning meeting from 20-21 July. The programme is busy with preparations for the ICC conference to take place in August 2006.
The Defence Sector Programme last week participated in the ISS/Brookings Conference on 'Force and Legitimacy' in the Cape. They have published an article in 'Reality of AID Report 2006' (available at http://www.realityofaid.org/roareport.php?table=2006). This week, they will attend the SANDF Fourth Annual Phidisa Conference on HIV/AIDS in Port Elizabeth.
The Southern African Human Security Programme is finalising arrangements for the civil society and governance workshop as well as following up on a GTZ request for input into their SADC programme.
The Training for Peace Programme consulted with EAPCCO (SRB, Nairobi) on proposals for an EAPCCO UNPOC Task Team meeting and will follow up on a meeting for 4-5 September, to coincide with the EAPCCO Training Sub-Committee meeting in Kampala. They are also busy with preparations towards the APSTA AGM (28 August) and the Association’s participation in the AU ASF Workshop (KAIPTC, 29 August – 1 September).
The Cape Town office is busy preparing for the Judges Workshop in Malawi scheduled for 3-4 August. The workshop, which is expected to bring together 30 judges and court registrars, is to be co-hosted by the US Embassy in Malawi. The office is in contact with the ESAAMLG Secretariat regarding the forthcoming annual meeting in Harare and participated in the first meeting of the SA Department of Provincial and Local Governments’ (DPLG) Reference Group to implement the Department’s Anti-Corruption Strategy. The office participated in a Center for Civil Society (University of Kwa-Zulu Natal) Seminar in Durban on new social movements.
ICPAT in the ISS Addis Ababa office held an awareness building discussion on the Draft Report ‘Terrorism in the IGAD Region: Threat and Countermeasures.’ They also held a meeting devoted to a discussion on the fourteen regional and international legal instruments to counter terrorism. The Office was visited by the UK Regional Counter Terrorism Advisor, Col Rob Andrew, who is based in the British High Commission in Nairobi, and Nicole Nestler, desk officer for the Horn of Africa of the German Friedrich Ebert Foundation based in Bonn. Contact has also been made with an official in the Commonwealth Secretariat, who has agreed to support preparations to develop a training programme, by supplying ICPAT with the Secretariat’s training manual by the end of August 2006.
ISS Today: Aid Work Suspended in Darfur Area After Killing
International aid operations in refugee camps in the Zalinge area of Sudan's Darfur region have been suspended after three water workers were killed by a mob, the United Nations' refugee agency said on Friday. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said the three were beaten to death on Thursday in the region near the border with Chad in circumstances that were still unclear. It is the latest in a long list of security incidents. 'UNHCR is extremely concerned about the deterioration of the security situation in Darfur,' the agency said in a statement. The incident follows an attack on two non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the Djebel Mara area, north of Zalinge, two days ago and the fatal shooting of an NGO driver attacked by bandits in Darfur's El Geneina last week, the UNHCR said.
24 July 2006
ISS Today: Poor Financial Management Threatens Government Service Delivery
Hats off to Auditor General Shauket Fakie for mincing no words about the unsavory state of financial accounting in the public service. Such forthright critique is a voluminous contribution towards restoring the Institution�s public image, tarnished in the course of the infamous arms deal enquiry. Incidentally, this comes at the pinnacle of the man�s term, which expires towards the end of the year. In the process of finding a suitable successor Parliament needs to take special care to ensure that Fakie�s legacy (minus the arms deal) is preserved.
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