Daily Press Cuttings

 

Tuesday 29th February 2000

FT: Mozambique: Britain said yesterday it was providing an additional £500 000 to help Mozambique cope with the catastrophic floods that have hit the country, and the US said it would donate an extra $1 million and send two planes with relief supplies to the region. Nigeria: Scores of people were killed in rioting that erupted in south-east Nigeria yesterday in reaction to the deaths of hundreds of people in religious bloodshed in northern Nigeria last week.

The Guardian: Education: Further coverage of the Oxfam and Guardian campaign to improve education in developing countries. Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the UN, writes: “Let us prove that a society which empowers its women is a society bound to succeed.” Articles cover education in Egypt, Mexico and Mauritius. In Mauritius two decades of free schooling have sent women surging into the work force.

The Independent: World Bank/Disaster: Norwegian minister for international development, Hilde Frafjord Johnson, says that the World Bank and other financial institutions need to consider whether their responsibilities should include insuring their loans against natural and other disaster. This would provide some relief to countries struck by disaster; they would not have to pay back loans for infrastructure that is no longer there or is severely damaged. Southern Africa: Africa's worst flooding in half a century has now claimed some 300 lives, with military and aid workers battling to save tens of thousands of stranded people as rescue operations run out of money.

IHT: Senegal: Early results from the presidential election in Senegal suggest that the Socialist Party's 40-year grip on power has been loosened, and the party said on Monday that an unprecedented run-off would probably be required.

Monday 28th February 2000

The Times: Mozambique/Jubilee 2000: Letter from Ann Pettifor, director of Jubilee 2000 Coalition UK, calling on western creditors to meet their obligations to Mozambique. Mozambique was promised enhanced debt relief last June by the G7 in cologne, but has yet to see the benefits. This, one of the poorest countries in the world, currently pays $1.4 million each week in debt repayments to the richest countries. The situation in Mozambique—half a million homeless, the threat of epidemics caused by water-related diseases, the devastation of thousands of acres of farmlands—can only get worse. It is the creditors' turn to fulfil their obligations and at the very least deliver on promises made last June. There is no excuse for delay.

The Observer: UNDP: Interview with Mark Malloch-Brown, head of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). He says that there is a terrible temptation in developed countries to raid aid budgets to pay for debt relief. Many people argue that HIPC debt relief is relieving countries which can use the money they would have used to reduce debt to spend on public services. That is worthwhile. However, aid now being diverted in lending countries is fully servicing the debt. this means that when aid is used for debt relief developing countries end up with even less to spend on services.

The Guardian: Mozambique: Dozens, possibly hundreds of people were swept to their deaths by surging flood waters in Mozambique yesterday as too few rescue helicopters battled to save survivors clinging to trees and roofs and crammed into ever shrinking strips of high ground. The government appealed for more aircraft to back up five South African military helicopters, which are battling to save thousands of people from surging waters. (Saturday's paper) Joint letter from Ben Jackson of Action for South Africa, Julian Filoschowski of Cafod, Dalip Mukherjee of Christian Aid, Ann Pettifor of Jubilee 2000 UK and Justin Forsyth of Oxfam, calling for creditors to cancel Mozambique's debt. More than ever, Mozambique needs to keep the dollars it currently pays out on debt servicing. It would be economically irresponsiblea nd morally reprehensible for western creditors to insist on any further payments. The debt needs to be cancelled outright. Mozambique has suffered enough. Arms/UK/ECGD: A bill is to be introduced in the Queen's Speech in the autumn to bring unregulated traders within the law for the first time. And in a separate but potentially more fundamental reform, the notorious government body that subsidises the arms trade, the Export Credits Guarantee Department (ECGD), is to be overhauled. Proposed changes will see the ECGD underwriting more civilian projects and backing small and medium size companies rather than the three or four large defence and aerospace companies. Environmental screening procedures will be built into its mission statement. Education: Two pages of coverage of the Oxfam and Guardian campaign to improve education in developing countries. The education of girls is the surest way in the world reduce poverty. If there is to be a serious effort to improve the lot of the billions of people deprived of the basic ingredients of a decent life, schools in poor countries have to be full of girls as well as boys. focus on education in Pakistan and Nigeria.

The Independent: Southern Africa: Africa's worst flooding in half a century has now claimed some 300 lives, with military and aid workers battling to save tens of thousands of stranded people as rescue operations run out of money.

IHT: Peru: Comment from journalist Tina Rowenberg that the US administration should speak out more forcefully on flaws in the upcoming elections in Peru. President Fujimori has shut down virtually all critical television news and effectively controls the agencies that will oversee the election. ECAs: Washington Post leader calls for movement on talks to improve environmental standards that define the activity of Export Credit Agencies (ECAs). The US Export Import Bank considers environmental impact in deciding whether to make loans, but most ECAs do not. The result of that disparity has been a harmful “race to the bottom” in which projects rejected by some institutions are eagerly snapped up by others. Senegal: Article looks at the presidential elections in Senegal and says that there is a possibility that the sitting leader President Abdou Diouf could be defeated.

FT: Mozambique: Further coverage of the floods devastating Mozambique and which are also severely affecting parts of South Africa and Zimbabwe. Joe Stiglitz: Joe Stiglitz, the World Bank's former chief economist, is set to joing the private sector. He will become chairman of the board of the Brookdale Group, a Manhattan based investment management group. Nigeria: The religious rifts in northern Nigeria are putting the fragile democracy to the test. positions are hardening on all sides over the issue of Sharia law. With passions inflamed, compromise seems unlikely.