Protect the Unprotected

Stop The Use Of Child Soldiers.

BY Warren Bright

"I would like to say to other child soldiers...please do not lose your childhood as well as your future."-Abdi, former child soldier from Somalia. The military use of children takes three distinct forms: children can take direct part in hostilities (child soldiers), or they can be used in support roles such as porters, spies, messengers, look outs, and sexual slaves; or they can be used for political advantage either as human shields or in propaganda.

Throughout history and in many cultures, children have been extensively involved in military campaigns even when such practices were supposedly against cultural morals. Since the 1970s a number of international conventions have come into effect that try to limit the participation of children in armed conflicts, nevertheless the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers reports that the use of children in military forces, and the active participation of children in armed conflicts is widespread. There are an estimated three hundred thousand child soldiers around the world. Thousands of children 15 years of age and much younger are recruited every year in countries where contemporary conflicts are uprooting them from their childhood. The considerable numbers of child soldiers make one pause to think that the world is being sucked into a desolate moral vacuum, an endless void where children are now exploited as armed fighters. Angola recruits children at 17 and Uganda at 13 years of age as volunteers. The situation is urgent.
Child soldiers are considered to be all children under 18 according to Article 1 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. In reality, child soldiers are children young enough to lift a rifle. In 1998 alone, there were 35 major armed conflicts where children were used as soldiers. Violent conflict has always made victims of non-combatants, but now, more and more, the combatants are children. A Child Soldier with the Family in Angola

Contemporary armed conflicts have increased the risks for children because of the proliferation of inexpensive light weapons, such as the Russian-made AK-47 or the American M-16 assault rifles, which are easy for children to carry and use.

An AK-47, for example, can be easily assembled by a 10-year old boy. The international arms trade is largely unrestricted making assault rifles cheap and widely available in the poorest communities. In the Sub-Saharan area, for example, an AK-47 can be purchased for as little as six dollars on the streets.
It is often suggested that too much money is spent for defense in both the developed and developing countries of the world, and that some of that money might instead be used to relieve hunger and to promote children's survival and development. But, worldwide, many national budgets stay sharply skewed in favor of defense year after year. If security means the protection of our most precious assets, child survival should be high on the agenda of all defense departments. Why isn't it? Perhaps in reality, the operational function of defense establishments is not so much to maintain the security of the country as a whole but to assure that the powerful remain in power. Rather than serving all their citizens' interests, defense budgets serve the survival of the rich, not the children or the poor.
A Child Soldier in Siera lione

Participants in the African Conference on the Use of Children as Soldiers, held in Maputo, Mozambique, from 19-22 April 1999; Appalled that more than 300,000 children under 18 years of age are currently participating in armed conflicts worldwide;Acknowledging that poverty, injustice, displacement, lack of access to education, the proliferation of small arms and other factors contribute to the recruitment of children as soldiers;

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The Voices of Child Soldiers

BY Warren Bright

"The army was a nightmare. We suffered greatly from the cruel treatment we received. We were constantly beaten, mostly for no reason at all, just to keep us in a state of terror. I still have a scar on my lip and sharp pains in my stomach from being brutally kicked by the older soldiers. The food was scarce, and they made us walk with heavy loads, much too heavy for our small and malnourished bodies. They forced me to learn how to fight the enemy, in a war that I didn't understand why was being fought." - Emilio, recruited by the Guatemalan army at age 14.

A Child Soldier in Rwanda

"I was in the front lines the whole time I was with the [opposition force]. I used to be assigned to plant mines in areas the enemy passed through. They used us for reconnaissance and other things like that because if you're a child the enemy doesn't notice you much; nor do the villagers." - former child soldier from Burma/Myanmar.

A Child Soldier in Rwanda

"They beat all the people there, old and young, they killed them all, nearly 10 people... like dogs they killed them... I didn't kill anyone, but I saw them killing... the children who were with them killed too... with weapons... they made us drink the blood of people, we took blood from the dead into a bowl and they made us drink... then when they killed the people they made us eat their liver, their heart, which they took out and sliced and fried... And they made us little one eat."
- Peruvian woman, recruited by the Shining Path at age 11.
Central Africa
"I feel so bad about the things that I did. It disturbs me so much that I inflicted death on other people. When I go home I must do some traditional rites because I have killed. I must perform these rites and cleanse myself. I still dream about the boy from my village that I killed. I see him in my dreams, and he is talking to me, saying I killed him for nothing, and I am crying." A 16-year-old girl after demobilization from an armed group (Source: U.S. State Dept. TIP Report 2005)
Democratic Republic of the Congo
"When they came to my village, they asked my older brother whether he was ready to join the militia. He was just 17 and he said no; they shot him in the head. Then they asked me if I was ready to sign, so what could I do - I didn't want to die." A former child soldier taken when he was 13. (BBC report.) A Child Soldier in DRC

"They gave me a uniform and told me that now I was in the army. They even gave me a new name: 'Pisco' They said that they would come back and kill my parents if I didn't do as they said." Report of interview with a 17 year old former child soldier in 2006 "Being new, I couldn't perform the very difficult exercises properly and so I was beaten every morning. Two of my friends in the camp died because of the beatings. The soldiers buried them in the latrines. I am still thinking of them". Former child soldier interviewed in 2002.
Liberia

"They gave me pills that made me crazy. When the craziness got in my head, I beat people on their heads and hurt them until they bled. When the craziness got out of my head I felt guilty. If I remembered the person I went to them and apologized. If they did not accept my apology, I felt bad." - a 13-year old former child soldier from Liberia.Sudan
"I joined the SPLA when I was 13. I am from Bahr Al Ghazal . They demobilized me in 2001 and took me to Rumbek, but I was given no demobilization documents. Now, I am stuck here because my family was killed in a government attack and because the SPLA would re-recruit me. At times I wonder why I am not going back to SPLA, half of my friends have and they seem to be better off than me." Boy interviewed by Coalition staff, southern Sudan, February 2004.
A Child Soldier in Sudan

Uganda
"Early on when my brothers and I were captured, the LRA [Lord's Resistance Army] explained to us that all five brothers couldn´t serve in the LRA because we would not perform well. So they tied up my two younger brothers and invited us to watch. Then they beat them with sticks until two of them died. They told us it would give us strength to fight. My youngest brother was nine years old." Former child soldier, aged 13.
A Child soldier in Uganda

"One boy tried to escape [from the rebels], but he was caught... His hands were tied, and then they made us, the other new captives, kill him with a stick. I felt sick. I knew this boy from before.We were from the same village. I refused to kill him and they told me they would shoot me. They pointed a gun at me, so I had to do it. The boy was asking me, "Why are you doing this?" I said I had no choice. After we killed him, they made us smear his blood on our arms... They said we had to do this so we would not fear death and so we would not try to escape. . . I still dream about the boy from my village who I killed. I see him in my dreams, and he is talking to me and saying I killed him for nothing, and I am crying." - Susan, 16, abducted by the Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda.

Zimbabwe
"There was no one in charge of the dormitories and on a nightly basis we were raped. The men and youths would come into our dormitory in the dark, and they would just rape us - you would just have a man on top of you, and you could not even see who it was. If we cried afterwards, we were beaten with hosepipes. We were so scared that we did not report the rapes The youngest girl in our group was aged 11 and she was raped repeatedly in the base." 19-year-old girl describing her experience in the National Youth Service Training Program.

Africa has the largest number of child soldiers. Child soldiers are being used in armed conflict in Burundi, Cote d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda.

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Key 2 Success

EDUCATION AS A MAJOR WEAPON TO FIGHT AGAINST POVERTY IN AFRICA

BY Chikaka, joseph.

Dodoma Tanzania
‘’ Mind is like a Parachute, function when it open.’’

Education! Education ! I usually ask myself how African countries which are facing poverty can be able to move towards sustainable development without education. Not only education, but ‘quality education’ which centred to a pupil as a key point to consider in all the process of teaching and learning.
Always hope for the best, even if tears will get you sympathy, sweet will get you progress. The sky is no limit.Currently, Tanzania is struggling to make gradual change to its education system from lower level ( Primary Education ) to high level ( University ). In educating teachers and curricular improvement.Some of the programmes are sounding good.
As educationist, I am a stake holder of those challengies on improving education system in the country; cos I know ‘ Don't destroy if you can't create.’ Am teaching science lesson from grade one to grade seven. What I did, is I learning by doing. Learning by doing – through experiments, observation, study tours, projects and discussion.Live and learn. My friend LIFE is what you make it. Smile .It cost nothing but creates much.
As we agree in mind, What the eyes do not see, the heart does not weep for. What does not kill you strengherns you!By that way we are focusing straight towards any challenge which will come across us.The best way to escape from your problem is to solve it. It is not possible to turn back the clock but you can wind it up again.

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My Education Journey

From Kilimanjaro to the Table Mountain.


By Warren Bright

Cape Peninsula University of Technology Cape Town Campus

Its a great pleasure to make the history at Cape Peninsula University of Technology,Cape Town Campus. The road to success is not straight. There is a curve called Failure, a loop called Confusion, speed bumps called Friends, red lights called Enemies, caution lights called Family.

Warren Bright pose on modelling photoshot

You will have flats called Jobs. But, if you have a spare called Determination, an engine called Perseverance, insurance called Faith, a driver called Jesus, you will make it to a place called Success.

Warren Bright CPUT PR Graduates Student 2004-2007

What can I say? On graduation day I also want to congratulate the Ladies and Gentlemen who devote their professional lives to making the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT),Cape Town Campus a place of excellence and achievement the outstanding Public Relations Management department of business faculty.

Timothy Lamberetchts CPUT PR Graduates Student 2004-2006

I want to join hands with the graduates in saying thanks to the people who did so much to make this day (16 April 2008) possible the ones who rooted for us, believed in us, prayed for us, and paid for us, the parents of the PR class of 2004-2007.

It's been a long and memorable journey, one that has consumed 3 years of our lives,,,,,actually 4 or 5 for some of us,,,,,but whose really counting--,right moms and dads? But the fact is, we all made it here together and are soon to be graduates of the CPUT,Cape Town South Africa.

But as we head off into this place some call the "Real World" let us never forget where we all came from,,Our parents and siblings gathered around to give us words of encouragement,,,[Don't drink too much].

As we told our parents goodbye, many of us cry,and saw our mothers,,,,,and sometimes our fathers cry for the very first time in our lives,because they wish us for the best. We tried to hold back the tears but the emotions got the best of us as well. As we watched our family drive away, we knew we wanted to be with them but we also knew it was time to move on. I always cry when I separate with my Mum and the people I love the most, I real hate saying "goodbye" but life goes on. As we entered Cape Technikon eventually Cape Peninsula University of Technology CPUT, some of us lived in the residence our Freshman year.

This was the only time in our lives where you will have a TV, Toilet, Bed, and Fridge all within 5 feet of you,,,,,or at least that's what I thought until I saw some apartments a few years later,, but regardless,,,,Freshman year does bring back some good memories Sophomore year we got a little bit older and a little bit wiser,,,,,[Freshmen Girls], we found out about "The Key" and realized that 8:00 classes were no longer a reality.

When we were first years, we started to schedule our classes around our sleep patterns and worried about that big internship before Senior year,,,,,[Working for our parents]. That was also the year most of us turned 21 and above,,,,,

Then we become seniors and knew we had to compile everything the CPUT had given us and sell ourselves on a single sheet of paper to get that great job,,,,,"I as number one brand" thank you Marian Pike our Media studies Lecture for such wonderul and powerful topic… Regardless, there is one thing that connects us all. Within each and every one of us is a Voice. I am not sure where it comes from. Maybe it's the natural or the supernatural, maybe its from within or a land far away I don't know.

This voice speaks to us when we are younger and we think we can conquer the world. As we get older, however, other people tell us everything we are un-able to do in life and sooner or later most people start believing this until one day that voice is gone and never comes back again. Thank you Elza Myburgh the best lecture of Communications Science and English for Public Relations for creating the bright future for us.

CPUT has helped us Find, Listen, and Follow that inner voice, that Dream,,,,,that Desire to DARE to be the person we were meant to be. CPUT is tough and certainly has its ups and down but it has taught us many lessons along the way. When we came to Cape Tech/CPUT that first time at Freshman Orientation we all fell in love,,,,,some of you with your Freshman Orientation leaders,,,,, and others with the fact that you were a new CPUT Bulldawg.

Regardless love in some form or another had its fare share with all of our hearts. Maybe you moved on quickly or maybe it takes half a decade just to get over that one person but the fact is there are those people out there who make an impression in your life and on your heart that you,,,,,will never forget.

Thanks to my classmates 2004/2005 Tim, Sofie, Tanya, Lamees,Olivia, Mitchel ,Catlin and Jaco you guys helped me a lot,Just keep in mind that I real appreciate.To Stacey Carney,we will always Miss you,we love you,REST IN PEACE.You passed away in a tragic car accident on Saturday morning,few days to start your final exams,I know your in the better place and smile down on us says every thing is ok,we dedicate this graduation to you,because we love you.

Some people get married, some people move on and others of us stay single knowing that one day our time will come,,,,,[well at least that's what I keep telling myself]. So if you could endulge with me for just one second,,,,,look to your left,,,,now look to your right,,,,Now grab the hands of those beside you,,,,,oh I'm serious here people,,,,come on grab those hands.

My point,,,,they say that your chances are greatest for finding love in life during your time in university. The way I see it (look at watch),,,,There is about 30 minutes left before graduation is finished and university is over.Some of us will continue studying,some of us due to some circumstances the journey will end here and open the new chapter. There's still time people -- We must Act FAST!

All I can say is that love is a work in progress. Never let yourself get so angry that you stop loving because one day you will wake up from that anger and the person you love will be gone. Remember that marriage is indeed a commitment, the wedding ring is a circle of trust and the time you spend with your significant other and those treasured moments you spend with the children you bring into the world are more important that any job you will ever get or money you may make. We are the luckiest graduating class in the continent ever.

This University has allowed each and every one of us the ability to believe in ourselves and has instilled in us the value of giving a little bit more of ourselves than people may ever expect. As we go out and descend upon the world,,,,,Always leave more than anyone expects. Our lives are not all the same, but the voice inside of us is. Where it leads you-may all of you follow it.
Sometimes we go back, sometimes our life changes, the race is long but in the end, it's only with ourselves. Challenge the Process, Disregard the Status Quo, sometimes you'll be ahead, sometimes you'll fall behind, but always trust in Yourself. For as a great writer once wrote, "never tell a young person that anything cannot be done. God may have been waiting centuries for someone ignorant enough of the impossible to do that very thing."

One little boy on a continent far away in the village asked me to make a promise: a simple request to always remember him. My time in South Africa helped me truly rediscover the inner voice within me, for the past year I have followed this inner voice-and my heart-to try and help abandoned children with AIDS and traumatised have a series of unforgettable experiences-before the inevitable.

So with the encouragement and assistance from several other individuals, I begin to work with International NGo, Save the Children UK-Tanzania Programme in Zanzibar, as a Corporate Communications Coordinator a non-profit organization . Although I am only one person trying to make a difference, I know that I am also keeping a promise to one little boy "Justine" who called me his best friend. "I as Number one Brand" Currently am working with Tanzania Electric Supply Company Limited (TANESCO) as the Corporate Communications Officer External Affairs.

When working with Redcross Childrens Hospital Trust in Cape Town,the path is not easy and often times I struggle trying to figure out fundraising, where to get the money to even get this off the ground, or where to turn for help. Sometimes I wonder what I am even doing pushing everything I have worked so hard for to the side in order to take a risk that no one understands and go out on a limb so far that the chances are it might break before I even reach it.

Warren Bright,CPUT Graduate PR Student 2007

But it's in those moments that I remember back to the final time that I walked away that summer. Some friends were a little too tired to say goodbye, others were a little too sick, and one friend was still at the big grey stone at the back sleeping. It was as if they felt a pain I didn't understand. And I realized just how fortunate I was because, as I stand here today, somewhere out there, somewhere in a land far away, there is a little boy who never had this same opportunity.

To the Graduating Class of 2005/2007, let us be a HERO for someone or something in life. Just like you, I am searching for answers,,,I want to be someone's HERO,,,and maybe one day that person will be a HERO for someone else who knows? But follow that inner voice regardless of how long it might take or how difficult it may be, because in the end, there is probably some little boy or girl, some cause, or something out there that is speaking to you.

Maybe even at this very moment, that is just waiting for you to listen. We may not understand the world around us, we may not always make the right decisions, and we may not always succeed in this game we call life. But on this day as we step through the Arch our life will take on a new meaning but our times here in university will last forever.There were friendships built and relationships lost, there were laughs that have brought us together and tears that have driven us apart, but it is all of this that has made college worthwhile.

One of the things I love most about our continent and our profession "Public Relations Management" is that we have such great opportunities. Africa there is still changes the future is bright for the second chance guys let join hands together to make changes from Cape Town to Cairo. Most of us end up needing one. And when we've gone on to accomplish something, we can be that much more grateful. Gratitude, in general, is a good habit to get into.

It is usually a correct appraisal of our situation. Most of us are able to succeed and rise in the world because someone helped out along the way whether it was a memorable teacher, or a boss who handed us a great opportunity, or the person who took a chance and gave us the first big break in our career.

A grateful heart is an honest understanding of all that we have been given, and all that is expected in return. There is always the temptation to forget this to carry ourselves with an air of entitlement, as if good things come to us by right. They rarely do. And life has a way of working out better when we don't take things for granted, when we have a long memory for what others have given us, when we look for the blessings, great and small, that come with every day we're alive on this Earth. For all of us, this day of ceremony in the Mult-Purpose Hall CPUT Cape Town Campus,will stand out forever as a marker of gifts well used, aspirations fulfilled, hard work rewarded. Its my wish and It's been my privilege to share it with you and your families. Sure, I generalize. There is a certain thrill in figuring out a particularly nitty contract provision; there is a certain excitement in producing a well-written brief. But it's a different sort of stimulation--related more to problem-solving than to notions of achieving justice (which, I'll bet, at least sixty percent of us made reference to in our application essays.) This is not unique to law.
Patients can become tests and intellectual puzzles to the fourth year medical student. Movies can become technical conundra to the second year film student. This phenomenon is, perhaps, part of higher education itself. But now here we are. Graduating. While our educational process is by no means over, opinions, briefs and oral arguments can again be inspirational, rather than only instructional. Parties can become human, rather than names on a page. And our daily work can and will affect others' lives, rather than just our grades. We now have the opportunity to reassemble everything with the tools we've gained. We just have to remember that we can. Thank you DR Van Der Merwe,Prof Slabbert,MR Pierre Le Roux,Deidre Porthen,DR Nirvana Bechan,Daniela Charles,Alen Young,Mpho Chaka,and Prof Braam Rust.You made us proud for ourselves,became professional public relations practitioners, and for this reason,CPUT the Department of Public Relations Will always have a special place in our hearts. Again thank you very much. I want to say thank you to everyone, thank you to my family,thank you Mama,I love you so much and thanks to each and every member of the Graduating Class of 2006/2007. Remember,the journey beggined 2004,some of us end 2006 and eventually we end 2007.

Cant forget nice time we shared together at PIAZA the most beautful place in the campus ever, all fun presentation we did together, fundraising events,without forgeting our open day the best events ever in the campus 2004/2005.

May you find happiness in all you set out to achieve,good lucky for the jobs and go on to become the best mothers and fathers of the children you may one day bring into this world. "I've been waiting for this day for so long.And this year I have the honor to graduate alongside so many of my peers in what I feel to be one of the most esteemed and worthy graduating classes that has had the privilege to pass through CPUT.Remember,time is not time if its not the God's time,I always said to myself,I shall wait for the God's time,because I know the God's time is the best,I have come this far by faith".Today some one proud for me,yap my Mum, of course am proud for myself and am proud for CPUT for creating a bright future for me. Graduation: The End of a Journey, the Start of the New Beginning. I love you all and I will always miss you so much.

Now let's have fun.

Warren Bright the super model on Catwalk

Tim,this dude is always fun and charming

Warren Bright CPUT Graduate PR Student 2007 Super Model for sure!

Congratulations and Best of luck! Cape of Good Hope! Cape Town, a.k.a Mother City ,this is where hope begins.

Much Love,
Warren Bright,
Cape Peninsula University of Technology.
Public Relations Management Graduates Student 2007

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Poverty in Afrika!

Challenges Africa Faces Today:

By Warren Bright

Angola-

The Republic of Angola is on the coast of south-west Africa, bordered to the south by Namibia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the east and north. It has breathtaking scenery and pure white beaches, and is one of Africa's most beautiful countries. With its vast reserves of diamonds, it is also potentially one of the wealthiest. But most of its 13 million people live in grinding poverty as a result of over 25 years of civil war that finally ended in 2002.

Angola, as well as recovering from the affects of a prolonged civil war, is having to come to terms with a rising rate of HIV/AIDS. Nearly 4% of the adult population is affected and more than 100,000 children were orphaned as a result of HIV/AIDS in 2003 (source UNICEF). Malaria is a bigger problem.

The country's three decades of civil war ended two years ago.

Most of its 13 million people live in poverty. But Angola is rich in oil, and government critics are pushing Angola to do more for its own people.

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Botswana-

CHALLENGES 2006-2007:

Poverty in Botswana Persists Despite Growth

By Joel Konopo

GABORONE, Jan 15 (IPS) -

Despite Botswana’s high rate of economic growth over the past two decades, it is unlikely that the country will halve the proportion of people living on less than a dollar a day by 2015. However, significant progress has been made towards halving the proportion of people suffering from hunger.Botswana’s average economic growth has been more than seven percent over the past 20 years. Per capita gross domestic product figures show an increase from about 1,600 dollars in 1980 to almost 10,000 dollars today. However, according the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) 47 percent of the population live below the poverty line of a dollar per day. Half of female-headed households live on less than one dollar a day. Dorcus Sebina of the UNDP is positive that the Botswana authorities are committed to the U.N.

Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which include halving poverty and hunger by 2015. A recent UNDP report states that Botswana is showing potential for long term growth that will raise standards of living. The UNDP believes that it is ‘‘likely’’ that Botswana will reach the target of halving the proportion of people suffering from hunger by 2015. The proportion of children under five who are underweight was reduced from 17 percent to 13 percent between 1996 and 2000, according to Botswana’s Central Statistics Office. Over the same period the proportion of children under five who are too thin for their age was reduced from 11 to five percent, while the proportion of under-fives who are too short for their age dropped from 29 to 23 percent. But ordinary Batswana are less optimistic about developmental progress in their country.

For Thomson Tekere, a taxi driver in the capital of Gaborone, the picture looks bleak. ‘‘Nothing has changed. Many people are still marginalised and ignored in rural areas.’’ For him, the recent history of the Basarwa (San people) in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve exemplifies the problem. The government’s decision to force the Basarwa out of the reserve has recently been reversed through legal action, but he still feels they do not have much of a future. Neo Moreri, also a Gaborone resident, agrees. ‘‘People living in remote areas will never enjoy the fruits of economic development in this country.’’ ‘‘Progress is slow,’’ says David Morwang of SOS Children’s Villages, an orphanage located in Tlokweng, a small village a few kilometres east of Gaborone. While poverty was more widespread in Botswana before 1990, authorities still lack strategies for integrating poor rural communities into the mainstream economy.

This view is shared by the European Union (EU) in its report ‘‘EU Strategy For Africa’’ released in February 2006. The document identifies Botswana as one of the countries in which the rural poor are particularly marginalised. Changing this picture will require sustained action over the next decade, argues Modireemang Klass, chairperson of Molepolole Village Development Community in the south-eastern part of the country. Klass argues that political commitment is vital to change levels of inequality in Botswana. These levels are striking given Botswana’s status as an upper middle-income country. According to the UNDP, the poorest 20 percent of the population get a measly four percent of the total national income. The richest 20 percent of Batswana earn almost 60 percent of the total national income. The unemployment rate is also high, at almost 16 percent. It seems economic development has mostly benefited the politicians, professional people and civil servants. This also explains the high level of inequality, writes Ian Taylor, an academic who has studied development in Botswana, in the 2003 book ‘Limits to Liberation in Southern Africa’. The urban-rural divide exacerbates inequality. Four out of five households in rural areas are still dependent on income from a family member in the urban areas. About one-fifth of rural households do not have any income source that statisticians could discern, writes Taylor.

The difference in the level of access to resources means that development outcomes still vary considerably between rural and urban centres. That is why people like Morwang and Klass doubt that Botswana will achieve the MDG on eradicating poverty and hunger. They feel that it would be a major achievement for Botswana to reach a poverty level by 2015 which is lower than that of 1990. In contrast, Pedzani Malikongwa, a vendor in Gaborone, argues that most Batswana are lazy and over-reliant on government. ‘‘We should work hard and stop complaining. Government is doing its part. Who else can afford to give you money for free just because you have aged?’’ she asks with reference to the government pension of about 154 pula (about 20 dollars) for people over the age of 65. (END/2007)

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Congo-

Rural poverty in Congo

Poverty has worsened in the republic of the Congo since the 1980s. At that time the country had a relatively high gross domestic product (GDP) and was classified as a middle-income country. But the situation has changed. The troubled transition from centralized planning under a Marxist government to a market economy, together with economic mismanagement, military coups and brutal civil conflict during the 1990s, have left a large part of the population poor and vulnerable.
The civil war that flared up in 1997 and again in 1999 left a wake of destruction and loss of life in the southern regions of the Congo, where most of the people live and where most of the country’s food crops are produced.

The vital national rail line and adjacent rural roads forming the Congo’s economic lifeline were ruined. At the height of the conflict, about one third of the country’s people were displaced. The chronic financial crisis became acute and the financial sector came close to collapse. Poverty became deeper in the rural areas of the Congo. Throughout the country, the income gap continues to widen. Most of the productive capacity of rural poor people, especially in the south, was destroyed by warfare. People lost savings, assets and tools and their capacity to withstand shocks and respond to changing circumstances. Poor people in rural areas in the Congo are powerless, vulnerable and isolated. Disease and malnutrition have sapped the strength they need to produce food and income for their households.

The spread of HIV/AIDS is a major concern and an obstacle to reducing poverty in the Congo, where an estimated 90,000 adults and children were living with HIV/AIDS at the end of 2003. About 5.5 per cent of people in the Congo between the ages of 14 and 49 were affected by HIV/AIDS. In 2003 some 97,000 children under the age of 17 had lost one or both of their parents to AIDS. The government supports a multi-agency initiative implementing a ten-year programme to assist people living with HIV/AIDS.

Now the Congo has a new constitution, and there is hope that the ongoing pacification process will foster a return to normalcy. Progress since early 2000 has exceeded expectations, and almost all displaced people have returned to their homes.

Who are the Congo’s rural poor people?
The poorest people in rural areas are small-scale farmers and fishers and their households, and some people in certain areas, such as poor people living in peri-urban areas who have no access to land. Because of the low population density in rural areas, access to land is not a major problem for most rural people. But in peri-urban areas, where small plots can yield profitable garden produce, land has become a scarce resource, and people without access to land or off-farm employment are the poorest of the poor. The most vulnerable of all poor people are youth and particularly women, who are the primary agricultural producers and processors.

Where are they?
Poverty is most severe in the Congo’s rural areas, where per capita GDP is one to two thirds lower than in urban areas.

Why are they poor?
The main causes of poverty in the Congo are:
low agricultural productivity as a result of traditional cultivation methods, insufficient use of agricultural inputs such as improved seeds and planting materials and fertilizers high transaction costs that are mainly the result of inefficient rural transport infrastructure, including poor rural roads and vehicles marketing inefficiencies such as weak collection and distribution organizations, rudimentary processing equipment, scarce financial services and a frail communication system connecting producers, traders and consumers Despite liberalization of agricultural marketing and the prices of agricultural products, few private operators have stepped in to provide the services once furnished by the public sector.

Source: IFAD
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Somalia-

Rural poverty in Somalia

Somalia faces a number of major obstacles to development: civil conflict, the lack of a fully functioning central government, and natural calamities such as drought and floods. In addition, the ongoing armed struggle has often prevented much-needed humanitarian assistance from reaching the population. Poverty has inevitably increased since the early 1990s and the collapse of the government and onset of civil war. About 43 per cent of the population lives in extreme poverty, or on less than US$1 per day. This figure rises to 53 per cent in rural areas, where extreme poverty is more prevalent.

Health indicators for the population have shown a decline since 1991, an inevitable consequence of the collapse of public services and destruction of infrastructure. Child survival improved after the famine of the early 1990s, but is still low and has deteriorated since the end of the 1990s. Malnutrition continues to be prevalent throughout the country.

Who and where are Somalia’s rural poor people?
The regions that have established autonomy and experienced relatively peaceful conditions — Somaliland in the north-west and Puntland in the north-east — have achieved a greater degree of stability than the rest of the country. The southern part of the country, where conflict has raged for more than 15 years, is inevitably poorer and in a more critical situation regarding food security, infrastructure and services.

Social groups that were already vulnerable prior to the 1990s have been further marginalized by the conflict and general instability. In particular indigenous groups and ethnic minorities have fallen into greater poverty, and many have been expelled from their traditional lands.Women have particularly low status in Somalia. Many are illiterate or poorly educated, and they have inadequate access to health and family planning services. Female genital mutilation is widespread. The country has one of the highest rates of maternal mortality in the world. Every day about 45 women die as a result of pregnancy and childbirth.

Why are they poor?
Somalia does not abound in resources and depends heavily on agriculture to sustain its economy. Agricultural productivity is often at the mercy of climatic extremes, including periodic droughts and flooding. In 2006 floods in parts of southern and central Somalia caused widespread devastation, destroying food stores, cutting off access to food supplies and contaminating water supplies and sanitation facilities.

Livestock is essential to the economy. Over 60 per cent of the population depends directly on livestock for food and income. Outbreaks of disease frequently go unchecked and untreated as a result of the lack of an effective disease control strategy. Over the last decade Saudi Arabia has imposed several livestock bans because of disease concerns, and these have severely hampered the sector and generated serious problems for the pastoralists whose livelihoods depend upon the sale of livestock.

Large stocks of animals put considerable pressure on grazing land, causing land degradation and generating disputes over land rights. In the absence of regulatory measures, competition over resources, especially land and water, is a major component of the current conflict. Qat addiction among the population has become a real problem. Excessive chewing of qat leaves leads to listlessness and disinterest in family and work: It reduces productivity and leads farmers to abandon animal husbandry.

Conflict and instability aggravate poverty More than 15 years without an effective central government and a chaotic state of ongoing civil conflict and lawlessness have had a devastating effect on the country's population and the resources they depend upon for their survival. Extreme poverty has become widespread and large numbers of people are unable to meet basic food requirements. Many Somalis have been internally displaced, often from rural to urban areas. The strongest clans have taken over valuable agricultural land, expelling weaker clans and indigenous peoples from their traditional lands. Vulnerable people have lost their assets and livelihoods. Famine and disease have raged unchecked, causing the death of about one million people. Extensive damage to roads and other infrastructure makes it extremely difficult to deliver humanitarian assistance to those who need it.

Extended civil conflict has had a direct or indirect impact on many resources, but competition for access to some resources has also been and continues to be a source of conflict itself. In the absence of a central government and regulation, many traditional forms of natural resource management have been abandoned, leading to unsustainable exploitation. For example, overgrazing and uncontrolled harvesting of trees to make charcoal in parts of the north-west and the Kismayo area have led to environmental degradation that may be difficult to reverse. Un-regulated off-shore fishing threatens marine resources.

Poverty, in Somalia , is a way of life. People have been adjusting themselves to a situation of depriviation. Living with severe shortages in terms of basic services has become an accepted norm of life. I think a change must come from within ourselves rather than waiting it to come from outside. We should work hard to make a change in our life and not rely on mere textbook information which says Somalia has potential mineral endowments but not actually coming up with strategies to tap these resources. Leadership failure in Somalia has caused our people to sit on a golden rock while starving to death. That has to change, no matter how long takes. And change does not come out of the blue. It has to start from somewhere, some point.

The political contest between the Islamic courts and the TFG must come to an end otherwsise we shall always be moving along the viscious cycle of war. The traditional systems of government must be replaced with new modalities of administration in which people are allowed to participate the leadership of their country. Previously a group of politicians or military junta hyjacked the political authority of the country thereby marginalizing the people and pushing them to corners of destitution.

The TFG is built upon the basis of tribe which is no different than what we used to see in the last fourty years. And they did not do much to rebuild the nation as it was a seatless government over the two or so years of its existence. It had spent most of its time unwisely in unnecessary travels to attend flag-showing conferences. On the other hand the Islamic courts are giving more emphasis to the political side of their struggle instead of thinking of a way to devise strategies to rebuild the nation and to make peace with the TFG.

Somalis warn the UIC not to throw us in yet another war with the TFG or get absorbed in this expensive war on terror raging on between Bush and Bin Laden. They should know that while away in the war there are international mafia who suck all our natural heritage and resources while letting our people die from lack of food and medical attention. So in that case they should not go to war.

I call the UIC to end this stalemate with the TFG and, together with the TFG, to put in place some sort of an administration and begin to reconstruct the nation. If not then the UIC are another interest group who emerged to milk chaos just like the warlords they had chased out. UIC, please be always on the positive side, if things get out of hand let it not be your fault. Look at the Somali children who are everyday dying from hunger and disease, the poor mother who is bleeding in the camps of displaced populations etc. and don't look for the personal advantage you will gain if you insist on wearing a straight political jacket. Stretching your influence in new areas is nothing more than a power show if you are not actually coming up with viable strategies of security and development .

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South Aftrica-

Poverty – South Africa has an extreme poverty problem with over half of the population living below the poverty line. Areas of the country, such as Soweto (a large district of Johannesburg) have millions of people living in Informal Settlements (also known as Shantytowns in less politically-correct terms).

AIDS/HIV Pandemic – In 2003, the population of South Africans infected with HIV reached 53 million. This epidemic affects most of Africa as a continent, it is estimated that by 2015, 3/4 of young adults (ages 18-35) living in South-Saharan Africa will be dead to AIDS. One of the main reasons it is such a problem is lack of education. Schools and churches are hesitant to speak about AIDS or sex and so the young population does not have many reliable resources to learn on how to prevent being infected.

Racism/Discrimination – Even though Apartheid is over, there are still major problems with racism and discrimination in South Africa. It will take a long time for many of these issues to be resolved.

If you stop to think about it, you may realize that even after the end of slavery in the U.S. and the Civil Rights Movement throughout the 1960’s, the United States also has a long way to go concerning racism and discrimination. These issues take a lot of time.