Deputy Secretary Burns Travels to Africa January 26-30, 2012

Ghana President John Atta Mills hosting Deputy Secretary Bill Burns during his visit to Accra. Photo courtesy of the Office of the President of Ghana

Deputy Secretary Burns meets with Ghanaian alumni of U.S.-sponsored exchange programs in Accra.

Deputy Secretary Burns meets with Ghanaian alumni of U.S.-sponsored exchange programs in Accra

Deputy Secretary Burns meets with President of Ghana John Atta Mills.

Dr. Edwig Nagabirwa of Wagagai Health Center in Entebbe, Uganda, explains the facility's operation to Deputy Secretary of State Bill Burns (right) and the visiting U.S. delegation. To Dr. Nagabirwa's left is Dr. Dithan Kiragga, Chief of Party for U.S. Mission Uganda's Health Initiatives for the Private Sector (HIPS).

Deputy Secretary Burns visits Wagagai Medical Center in Entebbe, Uganda. The Center is an excellent example of a private-public partnership and one of over one hundred clinics in Uganda that benefits from the HIPS program. From left: Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for African Affairs at the White House Grant Harris; Assistant Secretary for African Affairs Johnny Carson; Deputy Secretary of State Bill Burns; U.S. Ambassador to Uganda Jerry P. Lanier; Dr. Edwig Nagabirwa of Wagagai Health Center; Wagagai Limited Managing Director Pim de Witte, and; Dr. Dithan Kiragga, Chief of Party for Health Initiatives for the Private Sector (HIPS

Two films dedicated to jailhouse lawyer, author and former Black Panther, Mumia Abu-Jamal

UK Premiere of Justice Denied, an independent documentary featuring an interview with Mumia Abu-Jamal, on death row in 1996. 11:00-12:30 NFT2
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In Prison My Whole Life, UK –USA 2007. Dir Marc Evans. 97mins. Story of Mumia Abu-Jamal, political activist.
14:00-16:30c NFT1

Chair: Colin Prescod, Institute of Race Relations. Key speakers: Selma James, who edited and introduced the UK edition of Jailhouse Lawyers, Avery F Gordon, Professor of Sociology, University of California and director, Marc Evans


The film screenings and discussion centre on the life of award-winning journalist, imprisoned activist and former Black Panther Mumia Abu-Jamal who in 1982 was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of a police officer in a trial widely condemned for constitutional violations as well as for racism. His death sentence was overturned in 2001 due to errors in his original sentencing hearing. However, Mumia remained on Death Row until December 2011, ten years after his sentence was voided and still continues to suffer harsh discriminatory treatment. It took a complaint by Archbishop Desmond Tutu for Mumia’s shackles to be removed during visits. Mumia records weekly radio commentaries from prison, two of his books are best sellers and his latest book: Jailhouse Lawyers: Prisoners Defending Prisoners v USA, is just published in the UK. Mumia continues to elicit wide support and admiration from notable celebrities including writers Alice Walker, Danny Glover and Noam Chomsky and musicians such as Snoop Dogg and Moss Def.
At 11:00 the BFI Southbank will screen Justice Denied a previously unseen documentary in the UK and features the last televised interview with Mumia Abu-Jamal on death row.
At 14:00 we will screen In Prison My Whole Life, an award winning film that was nominated in 2008 for 'World Cinema - Documentary' with the award of 'Grand Jury Prize' at Sundance. Colin Prescod from the Institute of Race Relations will chair discussion after the film and introduce key speakers including director Marc Evans; Selma James, who edited and introduced the UK edition of Jailhouse Lawyers and Avery F Gordon, Professor of Sociology, University of California and.
Tickets £5
This event is part of AFRICAN ODYSSEYS, a series of films by and about the people of Africa and its diaspora. In 2007 the BFI teamed up with cultural leaders and activists and set up a monthly programme of films that are introduced and discussed with key speakers.
The event is listed here. You can learn more about In Prison My Whole Life here.
The BFI Southbank is open to all. BFI members are entitled to a discount on all tickets. BFI Southbank Box Office tel: 020 7928 3232. You can find out where we are and what we do from our website.

For over 15 years, Talib Kweli has been the king of New York hip-hop. Now, Kweli brings the incredible power of his live shows to the UK with 2 very special nights in London and Manchester Spring 2012. He'll be premiering material from his latest release "Gutter Rainbows", an album that marks a new stage in the long and ever-evolving career of Talib Kweli, as well as performing some of his greatest tracks from his illustrious career.

Press release
Friday 3 February 2012
Speech on banking - Ed Miliband
Ed Miliband MP, Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party, said today in a speech at the Thomson Reuters Building:This has been a turbulent week for the British banking industry. On Sunday, Stephen Hester gave back his bonus, and on Tuesday, the forfeiture committee revoked Fred Goodwin’s knighthood. But these moments do really not change anything in themselves. This is about more than one man, one bonus, or one knighthood. These are symbols – and symptoms - of public discontent with a system that is not working as it should. For our economy. And for our society. That is why these moments do not and should not signal the end of the debate. Because, three years on from the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the debate is really only just beginning.We need a banking system that serves a more responsible capitalism, working for the majority of people and enabling us to pay our way in the world.Everyone can agree that the kind of tug-of-war we have seen in the past fortnight over bonuses is bad for the reputation of the banking sector. Nobody in this country - neither the banks’ most staunch defenders nor their most outspoken critics - believe that a public argument between executives, shareholders, politicians and the public is the best way for any sector to set pay. London is one of the world’s great financial centres and Britain’s banking sector is one of our most important employers. It is in all our interests to find a better way forward. But if things carry on as they are, I believe the same row over pay and bonuses will erupt again. So how do we make sure that that does not happen? We need to learn the most important lesson of the week: we cannot have a banking sector so divorced from the rest of the economy and the rest of society.We succeed or fail together.It is not about the politics of envy. It is about a culture of responsibility.We need what you might call 'one nation banking'. We need banks that serve the real economy.We need banking serving every region, every sector, every business, every family in this country. And we need banks run in a way that people believe are consistent with their values – the values of Britain. It is something I have been talking about for months: responsibility - from the benefits office to the boardroom.But to understand how we get there, we must understand how we got here. On almost any measure you choose, banking and finance is going through exceptional times. Everywhere you look, pillars of the conventional wisdom which have stood solidly for thirty-odd years are crashing to the ground. Until 2007, it was hard to imagine that: light touch financial regulation would be so thoroughly discredited; financial instruments designed to make each bank safer would make the banking system as a whole riskier; we would be facing interest rates lower than we have seen for decades without lending rising as a result; bank bonuses could be in the billions even as banks’ share price fell; all the banks in this country would be backed by an implicit government guarantee; and two of the biggest would be largely owned by the Government. We all know this has happened because something has gone deeply wrong.My party has accepted responsibility, along with governments round the world, for not doing more to prevent the crisis with regulation.We now must ask questions about the future of banking which have not been asked for a generation.The banking sector can choose either to continue down the path which led us to big bonuses, busts, and bailouts.Or it can take a different path. Today, I want to talk about that different path. Banking has to change. Throughout most of our parents and grandparents’ lives, banking was not prone to wild swings in value.It directed lending towards businesses and entrepreneurs efficiently and soberly.And the idea of a vote in the House of Commons to affect the pay of an individual banker would have been as outlandish as the idea of a vote to censure the pay of an individual doctor or lawyer. Thirty years ago, the word ‘banker’ was often used as a compliment to suggest solidity and reassurance. Since then, however, the sector morphed from something our parents and grandparents would have recognized into something else, with the rise and increasing dominance of investment banks. We can't turn back the clock. This mustn’t be about recreating a bygone era of banking. But if the rules and norms of banking have changed before, they can change again. And they must change. After the crisis and the bailout, we are left in a situation which nobody would have wanted. Where thanks to the crisis, ten per cent of this country’s tax receipts fell away between 2007 and 2008 alone.Banks have accepted they bear the burden of responsibility for helping to cause the crisis.The consequences of their reckless irresponsibility in that era are felt every time a library closes.Every time a school can’t afford a new book.And every time a policeman or policewoman is taken off the beat.Those consequences are being felt by everyone in society. The banking sector needs to understand this. People who did not cause the financial crisis are paying the price. And many feel that those who did cause the financial crisis are not. When most people see their incomes stagnate, their bills go up, their public services cut, and their jobs increasingly become insecure, pay and bonuses at banks seem to carry on as if the crisis never happened.The public services we rely on to educate our kids, look after us when we are ill, or help us afford a lawyer if we’re in trouble, cannot go back to normal any time soon. So when people see the pay of those who caused the crisis continuing to be so abnormal, they are understandably angry.This is a call for banking to recognise that continuing on its current path will lead to further isolation from society, greater public anger, more years in which each payday is a newspaper headline.This is a call on banking to recognise that it should take the path of change. To recognise that it is not isolated from the economy or society. To recognise that we succeed or fail together.We have a proud history of banking in this country.Banking has performed an invaluable service to the economy from Midland Bank's role restructuring the cotton industry in the 1930s, to Barclays' role in financing high tech start-ups in Cambridge in the seventies and eighties, And since the crisis, we have seen some welcome steps.Notably, the Independent Banking Commission’s recommendations about the ring fencing of retail and investment banking. And more recently, the way HSBC, Barclays, Lloyds, RBS and Standard Chartered have put up £2.5 billion for a business growth fund focused on British firms.But there is still a long way to go before we achieve one nation banking.Public discontent is, if anything, on the rise - as the long lasting impact of the crisis in living standards becomes clear.For all the reform of the way bonuses are paid, they remain on a scale beyond the imagination of the vast majority of the population.Although the Government has welcomed the Vickers proposals, their implementation remains a distant prospect.And most importantly, business frustration with the banks they rely on is as high as ever. Still, too often, they see the bank, not as a partner in a shared project, but as a problem to be overcome.I saw this only on Monday in Scotland when a wind turbine manufacturer complained that while he had employed 20 people in his factory it could have been 30 if only he had got the loan he needed from a leading British bank. Similar stories can be heard from thousands of other businesses around the country. Banks must not be isolated from the rest of the economy. Banks must lend to small businesses so we can get the growth and jobs we need for the future.That is how Britain will compete in the world. As things stand, that is still not happening enough. Lending was down £10.8 billion last year. There are two reasons why not enough capital currently reaches the small and medium sized enterprises in this country which are crying out for it. The first is that it’s always hardest to get credit when the economy is in a downturn, even though that’s when small and medium-sized firms need finance the most. And the second is that it is cheaper for banks to lend to big companies than small ones. Particularly when credit is already being rationed, lending to small firms is often deemed not worthwhile for banks. The market on its own does not work for small businesses. All the most successful economies around the world recognise this: from Asian capitalist states like Singapore, through active industrial states like Germany, to supposedly free market states like the USA.And they make sure that the state helps finance to reach the small and medium sized enterprises which need it. This isn't about picking winners. It is about the state getting the market moving, like our most successful competitors have been doing since the fifties.It’s no coincidence that in Britain we haven’t done as much to develop a Mittelstand like Germany.Or fast-growing young companies like Apple and Intel - both of which got growth funding from the US government’s Small Business Investment Company programme.When it comes to competing internationally, our small and medium sized companies are fighting with one hand tied behind their back. One nation banking means the private sector and the state need to work together in partnership to get the system working for small business.It means we will need a much more diverse and competitive banking system which is more rooted in our communities.And it means looking at the case for a British Investment Bank which would provide government backing for entrepreneurs when the market fails. How we achieve these goals is at the core of our business policy review. But one nation banking is not just about banks serving the economy. It also means that banks cannot be isolated from the rest of society either.They cannot expect their decisions to be immune from public debate. There will always be some who see public criticism of private decisions, like excessive bonus payments, as illegitimate. It is an argument I want to tackle head-on. I believe it is right to address these issues.Firstly, for economic reasons. The economy relies on banks to lend to small businesses. If banks show greater restraint on pay, there will be more money left over for them to lend to businesses. This is a point forcibly made by the Governor of the Bank of England.And in the aftermath of a crisis worsened by excessive leverage, if they show restraint on pay, there will be more money left over too for them to repair their balance sheets.The second reason is because banks have been taking one-way bets which have affected us all as taxpayers. Banks which were too big to fail were able to take positions in the knowledge that if they profited they could keep the gains, but if they didn’t, the taxpayer would absorb the losses. I believe in rewards for entrepreneurs and wealth creators. Exceptional rewards for exceptional performance.But even banks in this country which are not publicly owned still enjoy an implicit taxpayer guarantee whose value is estimated as at least £10 billion.That means that many of the bets they make are one-way bets, backed by an implicit taxpayer-funded safety net. Thirdly, we need change is because banks have a responsibility to society. Because at the core of one nation banking is the idea that as a country, we succeed or fail together. We are not isolated individuals, and however affluent we are, whatever the world we inhabit, we owe responsibilities to each other.So what does that mean in practice? What are the steps that banks need to take if they to reflect better the values of the British people - the values of their customers. It starts with transparency. That means that banks should publish the details of all their large bonuses. Pay packages at the top should be simpler, so that we can easily understand who is paid what, and shareholders can hold them to account more easily.We have called on the Government to implement rules we legislated for to make banks reveal how many employees are earning over one million pounds, so that shareholders can hold them to account.It is absurd for David Cameron to claim this simple effective measure is too onerous for banks and will make British banks uncompetitive. It is the very least the public has a right to expect and demand.The next priority is to improve accountability at the top.That means accountability to employees so that companies put some of their ordinary workers – maybe a teller normally at high street bank window - on the committee which sets executives’ top pay. If you can’t look a member of your own staff in the eye when you receive a huge bonus, you should not get it. We need to simplify the current rules on pay packages so that say that executives get just one salary and just one bonus.When banks are majority owned by the taxpayer, the Government must exercise some shareholder oversight on top pay. All I ask is that the Government should practice what it preaches to other shareholders and take some responsibility for the pay and bonuses of publicly-owned banks. But – after transparency and accountability – must come the recognition that executives have a responsibility to wider society. Of course, there is an international market in banking. But there is also a national imperative: that everybody, from top to bottom, reflects our values of responsibility.The kind of responsibility shown by the chairman of RBS, Sir Philip Hampton, who recognised that taking his bonus at a time when families are feeling the pinch was wrong. The kind of responsibility which others in the banking sector could learn from manufacturing in this country: when the crisis hit, managers took pay cuts to save jobs and retain talent for the long-term.Responsibility means ending the culture of excessive bonuses.This bonus culture has ultimately been corrosive. It has enriched individual bankers, but weakened the banking sector as a whole by encouraging a form of risk which crossed the line into sheer recklessness. Exceptional rewards for exceptional performance means million pound bonuses should not be handed out to people for just doing their job. It means that performance-related pay should be related to your performance. It should be earned, not expected.A reward for exceeding expectations, not meeting them.I am not talking about the couple of thousand of pounds that employees, including bank tellers, might receive.I am talking about the couple of millions of pounds which too many people seem to receive as a rule, not as an exception.The first step towards tackling this problem is recognising it.Some will argue that the best remedy is the discipline of the free market. But this argument was proven wrong the day the sector collapsed and had to be rescued by the taxpayer. Anyone who looks at recent history will find it hard to believe that the discipline of the market will prevent runaway bonuses.The answer is to change the rules and change the culture.That is what the House of Commons will debate on Tuesday. We will say that that too many are getting bonuses which are too big, too often. All companies must show responsibility, but banks have a particular responsibility because they are either directly or indirectly supported by the taxpayer. We will give MPs the chance to vote on having another bank bonus tax to get 100,000 of our young people back to work. But we will also ask MPs to vote on ending a bonus culture based on one-way bets rather than genuine reward for exceptional performance. It will not be legislation and it will not be binding. But it will be another step towards hearing the voices of millions of people up and down this country who do a fair day’s work for a fair day’s pay without seeking any extra reward on top, let alone one worth millions. Because the alternative to this path of one nation banking is a banking and finance sector which continues on its current path. The path which it has been on for the last decade or so. The path which leads to a gradual separation from the rest of society. We are once again at risk of becoming a country separated economically, geographically, and socially.We are once again at risk of becoming two nations in this country. That is not the kind of society in which I want to raise my children. And it is not the kind of society in which the vast majority of people in this country – including bankers - want to raise theirs.It is over 160 years since Benjamin Disraeli wrote his novel, Sybil, in which he warned of:“Two nations, between whom there is no intercourse and no sympathy; who are as ignorant of each other’s habits, thoughts and feelings as if they were dwellers in different zones or inhabitants of different planets.”For the banking community and the rest of us, that is how it has felt this week.That is not good for Britain and it is not good for banks. We need a healthy and successful banking sector, creating jobs and wealth, helping the real economy and connecting to the rest of society. Responsible capitalism can only be built with a successful banking sector. I believe we can achieve this by changing the rules of the system and the culture of our banks.That is how we will have a fairer society and an economy which pays its way in the world.That is how we will create one nation banking.
Ends

Hi Everyone,

Happy New Year! I hope that you all had a great time over the holidays.

To kick off the year with a bang Community Projects Africa is hosting a side splitting evening of top notch comedy to raise funds for a school build in Tanzania. We have a fantastic line up of award winning comedians to entertain you on Thursday the 9th of February at Headliners Comedy Club. Tickets can be purchased online for £12, all proceeds from the event will be used in the Laiboni school build taking place in October 2012. Full details of the event are noted in the below invitation.

It would be brilliant to see you all there, please forward the invitation to your friends... the more the merrier!

Thanks & Kind Regards

President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has been elected President of the Africa Leaders Malaria Alliance (ALMA). The Liberian President was elected by members of ALMA to succeed the founding chair, Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete. The Africa Leaders Malaria Alliance (ALMA) is an alliance of African Heads of State and Government working to end malaria-related deaths.




Addressing a forum of Heads of State and Government in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, following her election, the Liberian leader praised President Kikwete for his exemplary leadership during his tenure as chairman of the Alliance. The President assured the Alliance that her administration will build upon the progress that has already been made towards the eradication of malaria on the continent.

During the past decade, she said, there has been a 33-percent decline in malaria related deaths throughout Africa. The President attributed much of this to persistent efforts by many African governments, individuals and institutions. President Johnson Sirleaf boosted of a hundred percent decline in the deaths of babies, but insisted that efforts must continue to achieve the desired results.

Dear friends,
We are forwarding this appeal from the Bradley Manning Support Network and invite you to call General Linnington right now at +1 202 685-2807 – he is expected to make his decision imminently. Tell him to drop all charges against Bradley.
We also invite you to join the vigil to support Wikileaks Julian Assange on 1 and 2 February (details below). Many thanks.
Payday men’s network & Queer Strike (Lesbian, Bi, Trans, Queer in the Global Women's Strike)
Call General Linnington Tell him to drop the charge of ‘aiding the enemy’
BRADLEY MANNING SUPPORT NETWORK, JANUARY 19, 2012
The Bradley Manning Support Network has just been notified that the recommendations made last week by Lt. Col. Paul Almanza, who presided over last month’s Article 32 hearing, have been passed up the chain of command by Col. Carl R. Coffman Jr. This means that Lt. Col. Almanza, and now Col. Coffman, have decided that all charges against Bradley Manning — including the most odious charge of “aiding the enemy” — should be referred to a full military court-martial. At this moment, these recommendations now sit on the desk of Major General Michael S. Linnington, who represents an entity known as the General Court-Martial Convening Authority. He now has the final power to rubber stamp these recommendations, which would formally refer these charges and initiate the court-martial process.

We need you and everyone you know to call General Linnington right now at +1 202 685-2807
If the general’s staff are not answering their phone, please call the DoD as FireDogLake is asking their supporters to do. We’re calling the Department of Defense to demand they drop the “aiding the enemy” against Manning. To make your voice heard: 1. Dial +1 703-571-3343 2. Press 5 to leave a comment.
* If the mailbox is full, leave a written comment for the DOD here: http://t.ymlp211.net/esyhapaejmwacaujaxam/click.php”

Tell him that we’re watching him. Tell him to drop the charge of “aiding the enemy” and allow the defense team access to the critical evidence and testimony that they have so far been denied. Tell the military to stop preventing consideration of evidence which shows that these WikiLeaks revelations were never a threat to our national security. Tell them to stop the show trial.
1 and 2 February 2012 - 8.30 am to 5 pm
Solidarity with Julian Assange & WikiLeaks
Vigil outside the Supreme Court, London
Parliament Square, London SW1P 3BD (Wesminster Tube station)
organised by Veterans for Peace & the Giuseppe Conlon House network
During this two day hearing, Julian Assange will appeal against his extradition
to Sweden that could lead to him beeing prosecuted in the US. Info here.
Queer Strike (Lesbian Bi Trans Queer in the Global Women’s Strike) http://uk.mc274.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=LBTQ@globalwomenstrike.net +44 207 482 2496
Payday men's network http://uk.mc274.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=payday@paydaynet.org +44 207 2094751 http://www.refusingtokill.net/

A Tanzania Masai woman doing bussiness with pleasure-What a way to live

U.S. Preparatory Conference for Rio+20: Rio+2.0 - Bridging Connection Technologies and Sustainable Development
February 1, 2012
The Department of State, in close collaboration with the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University, will hold a three day conference, Rio+2.0: Bridging Connection Technologies and Sustainable Development, at Stanford, February 2-4, 2012. This unique gathering of more than 400 global policymakers, development practitioners and technology innovators will be the principal U.S. Government event to prepare for the June United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, or Rio+20.
Rio+2.0 will explore ways we can apply existing and cutting edge connection technologies, including the web, SMS and mobile phones, to advance sustainable development in the fields of health, the environment, agriculture and sustainable economic growth. Panel sessions will examine the innovation culture, and the role of governments and civil society, in fostering innovation. As the source of many of the technologies and new ideas that have powered Silicon Valley for decades, Stanford is an ideal environment in which to explore innovations that will drive sustainable development.
Department of State speakers at Rio+2.0 include Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy and the Environment Robert D. Hormats, Assistant Secretary for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs Kerri-Ann Jones, and Senior Advisor for Innovation Alec Ross. Other U.S. Government speakers include Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson, Department of Agriculture Deputy Undersecretary for Research, Education and Economics Ann Bartuska, USAID Counselor for Innovation Maura O'Neill, and Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality Nancy Sutley. The conference also features Google’s Chief Technology Advocate Michael Jones and numerous other leaders in policy, academia, development and technology.
Rio+2.0 is designed to help draft innovative and results-oriented solutions to development challenges using connection technologies. The United States intends to present the outcomes of this conference at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) in June.
Live streaming of many sessions will allow interested individuals worldwide to view conference proceedings.
Conference Page, Agenda, and Live Video Stream: http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/rio20-conference.Conference Twitter Hashtag: #USRio20U.S. programs and policies for the June Rio+20 UN conference: www.state.gov/rio20
Points of Contact:
Barbara BuellCommunications DirectorStanford Graduate School of Business650-723-1771http://uk.mc274.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=bbuell@stanford.edu
Press OfficeU.S. Department of State202-647-2492http://uk.mc274.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=MediaRequests@state.gov

South Africa has pushed its campaign for Home Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma to head the African Union executive, a key post to be decided at a summit this week.
But who is she?Born 27-01-1949 in South Africa

Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma is a South African politician and was an anti-apartheid activist. She is Minister of the Department of Home Affairs as well as a member of the African National Congress (ANC) National Executive Committee (NEC) and National Working Committee (NWC). She is also a member of the African National Congress (ANC) Women's League National Executive Committee, National Progressive Women's Movement of South Africa.

Ayoub mzee with former Ghana President Jerry Rawlings

Nigeria Foreign Affairs Minister Olugbenga Ashiru in hard negotiations here with the the Kenya Foreign minister hon watengula

The kenya and nigeria foreign ministers

As African heads of state and government arriving ahead of the African Union (AU) summit scheduled to begin in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa,
Observers say a record number of African leaders are expected to attend this year’s summit.


The foreign ministers are kept busy negotiating and strategsing as the leaders are expected to elect the new head of the African Union commission, as well as formulate a framework to promote trade and commerce among African countries.

For immediate release: 27 January 2012





EU takes step towards conflict-free supply chains



Global Witness and CCFD-Terre Solidaire welcomed a commitment today by EU Trade Commissioner De Gucht and Development Commissioner Piebalgs to make supply chains more transparent, a move that will help prevent natural resource-fuelled conflict. The two groups called on the Commission to swiftly roll out regulation requiring companies sourcing minerals to do checks – known as due diligence – on their supply chains.



Abusive armed groups in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have illegally used proceeds from the minerals trade to fund their fight in a brutal civil war that has lasted for over 15 years. These minerals – tin, tungsten, tantalum and gold – are used in products sold to European consumers, but few companies actually carry out checks on their supply chains to find out whether their purchases are causing harm.



The EU Trade and Development Communication follows a move by the US Congress to address the dire humanitarian situation in eastern DRC by introducing legislation on conflict minerals. The law, which forms part of the July 2010 Dodd Frank Act, requires US listed companies to carry out supply chain due diligence on minerals sourced from DRC or neighbouring countries and report to US regulators and the public on the measures they have taken.



“The Communication is an encouraging first step towards conflict-free supply chains in Europe and beyond. The EU must now follow the US example and introduce regulation obliging companies to do due diligence and make sure their business activities aren’t funding war – in DRC or elsewhere,” said Annie Dunnebacke from Global Witness. “It’s no longer acceptable for companies to be allowed to claim ignorance about where their products come from and how they’ve been produced.”



Today’s announcement states that the EU will advocate greater use of the due diligence standards published last year by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The OECD guidance applies to companies sourcing minerals from conflict zones and areas at high risk of conflict. The standards include comprehensive recommendations for users of tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold supply chains, but could be applied to other supply chains also.



“The OECD guidance is essentially a blueprint telling companies how to carry out supply chain due diligence. It already commands broad support from governments, companies and civil society organisations, and should form the basis of any EU regulation,” said Dunnebacke. “European consumers and investors have a right to know if their purchases are financing conflict and human rights abuses. The reality is that if the EU doesn’t make the OECD recommendations compulsory, many companies won’t do the checks, thereby undercutting those firms that do try to do the right thing.”



Certain European firms will be obliged to comply with the requirements of the Dodd Frank Act. An EU law on supply chain due diligence would level the playing field and ensure that all companies in Europe are meeting the same requirements. Moreover, it would guard against EU businesses finding themselves at a disadvantage in a global market in which buyers are increasingly demanding conflict free materials.



Zobel Behalal from CCFD said: “Today’s statement also makes an encouraging commitment to provide support to developing country partners’ efforts to strengthen natural resource governance. The Congolese government’s recent introduction of a directive making compliance with the OECD guidance mandatory in DRC is precisely the kind of initiative the EU should encourage.”



/Ends



Contact:



Annie Dunnebacke (Global Witness): +44 7912 517 127; adunnebacke@globalwitness.org

Sophia Pickles (Global Witness): +44 7730 529 766; spickles@globalwitness.org

Véronique de La Martinière (CCFD-Terre Solidaire): + 33 1 44 82 80 64; v.delamartiniere@ccfd.asso.fr


Note to editors:



To download the EU Trade and Development Communication, published on 27 January 2012, please see: http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/html/148992.htm.

It is an insult to the African Union and to every African that in 2012 a building as symbolic as the AU headquarters is designed, built and maintained by a foreign country - it does not matter which.

WHO: Organized by the African Union Commission (AUC). The Assembly meeting will be attended by Heads of States and Governments of the 54 African Union member states, or their designated representatives



WHY: The ordinary session of the Assembly of AU Heads of States and Government is a statutory meeting of the AU. It is a time for the African leadership to take decisions on African integration and development in order to achieve the vision of the AU i.e. a united, prosperous and peaceful continent

Ayoub mzee at the Africa union headquaters

OBJECTIVES: - The AU Heads of State and Government will discuss the theme of the summit i.e. “boosting intra African trade”. They will consider the recommendations of the Executive Council on the report of the Commission on the implementation of previous Decisions of the Executive Council and the Assembly; the report of the Peace and Security Council on its activities and the state of peace and security in Africa, including the activities of the Panel of the Wise; the report of Mr. Meles Zenawi, Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and Chairperson of NEPAD Heads of State and Government Orientation Committee (HSGOC); and his report on the 17th Conference of Parties of the UNFCCC (COP 17), that took place in Durban, South Africa, 28 November – 9 December 2011

The ghana Foreign Minister and the south Africa foreign mnister

The Presidents and heads of delegations will also exchange views on the report of Mr. Denis Sassou Nguesso, President of the Republic of Congo and Africa’s Coordinator on Africa’s preparations for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio +20) with respect to the Common Position and Strategies vis-à-vis the challenges posed by the global economy and the international governance of the environment. They will discuss the report of Mr. Ernest Bai Koroma, President of the Republic of Sierra Leone and Chairperson of the Committee of Ten on the UN Reforms and that of Mr. Paul Kagame, President of the Republic of Rwanda, on the 4th High Level Forum on Aid effectiveness held in Busan, South Korea, 29 November – 1st December 201.

Ayoub mzee with the daughter of kwame Nkurumah HON Samia Yaba Nkurumah MP (JOMORO CONSTITUENCY)
Other issues under consideration by the Heads of State are the progress report of the Commission on the implementation of Assembly Decisions on the Hissene Habre Case and the progress report of the Commission on the transformation of the African Union Commission into the African Union Authority among others.



OUTCOME: During the Summit, the Heads of States are expected to adopt the Decisions and Recommendations of the 20th Ordinary Session of the Executive Council as well as the Declarations of the Summit. They will also agree on the date and venue of the 19th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the Union.

Ayoub mzee with the foreign minister of Tanzania Foreign Minister Bernard Membe in addis Ababa ethiopia

Hon benard Membe speaking to teachers at the swahili school in addis ababa ethiopia

Teachers and students and the foreign minister in a group photo

The tanzania ambasador J Biswaro and the hon foreign minister

The Australia foreign minister with the Tanzania foreign minister during lunch

the swahili students in addis ababa

Hon B membe attends a swahili class

The foreign minister hon membe consulting with his permanent Representative at the Africa union ambassador J Biswaro

You are invited to attend:


General Meeting
Saturday, 04 February, 2012 from 2:30 PM - 5 :30 PM
ANC London Interim Branch General Meeting

Agenda for the meeting as adopted by the BEC:

•Opening and welcome
•Political input from the chairperson
•Branch status, report back on US and Ireland interim Branch.
•Task Committee report: Tour ANC History in London
•Task Committee report: Centernary Celebraion in UK.
•Task Committee report: ANC interim mini International Conference. (Led to the policy conference in June)
•General questions and discussion
•Meeting closure
RSVP: info@anclb.org.uk if you wold like more information concerning the BGM, you may contact Khaya Thwala (+44) 7974752355

Refreshment Available, this is an opportunity for you to have your SAY!

Please note: 04 March, 2012, Centernary Celebration Lecture, (1924-1927) (1937 -1940) Former President of the ANC Zaccheus Richad Mahaban Lecture by our comrade Former Chairmen of the ANC London Branch and Director of the Constitutional Litigation Unit of Legal Resourses Cetre, Tembeka Ngcukaitobi, more information coming soon.

10 March, 2012, "Tour ANC History in London" Bus start outside Royal Festival Hall, £5 ONLY, more information coming soon.
Covent Garden Dragon Hall Trust
17 Stukeley Street
Newton Street Room
London, London WC2B

Ayoub mzee with the MOST powerful woman at the AU - the communications Director Habiba Mejri-cheikh

ELECTION OF MEMBERS OF THE COMMISSION ON THE AGENDA OF THE 18TH AU SUMMIT

Addis Ababa, 19 January 2012 – African Heads of State and Governments will as from 29-30 January 2012 meet within the framework of the 18th African Union Summit. This year, one of the most anticipated moments of the Conference is the election for a term of four years of members of the AU Commission, namely, the Chairperson, Deputy Chairperson and the eight Commissioners



Election of Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson

In July 2011, the Commission notified Member States on the vacancies of the above mentioned positions and the deadline for submissions for the candidacies was set for 15 September 2011. As of that date, the Commission received the following submissions; For the position of the Chairperson of the AUC, Dr. Jean Ping from Gabon who is vying for a second mandate and Ms. Nkosazana Clarice Dlamini-Zuma, Current Interior Minister of South Africa

With regard to the position of Deputy Chairperson, the Commission received the submission of Mr. Erastus J. O. Mwencha, from Kenya who is currently holding the post, as the only candidate for this position.

Worth noting that during the elections, the Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson must not derive from the same region.

The Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson are elected by secret ballot and a majority of two thirds of the members with the right to vote, that is, Members States that are not under sanction. According to the rules of the AU Assembly, the members must be "competent women and men, with proven experience in the field, leadership qualities and experience in the civil service, parliament, international organizations or any other relevant sectors of the society.” The election will take place in the afternoon on 29 January 2012, on the day of the official opening of the AU Summit. It will be preceded by the debate on the theme of the Summit: "Boosting Intra-African Trade." The election results will be announced the same day.
Election of the Eight Commissioners

According to the rules governing the elections of the eight Commissioners of the AU, the candidates are submitted by the regions.

As of the expiration of the deadline on 15 September 2011, submissions for twenty-five (25) candidates from the different regions were received for the following portfolios: Peace and Security, Political Affairs, Infrastructure and Energy, Social Affairs, Human Resources, Science and Technology, Trade and Industry, Rural Economy and Agriculture, and finally Economic Affairs. These candidates were selected following criteria such as work experience, education and age (35 years minimum).

Among the Commissioners who were elected in 2008, Ambassador Ramtane Lamamra is a candidate for a second term of office for the post of Commissioner for Peace and Security, Professor Jean-Pierre Ezin is a candidate for the position of Commissioner of Human Resources, Science and Technology, Dr. Elham Mahmoud Ibrahim is candidate for Commissioner of Infrastructure and Energy and Mrs Tumusiime Rhoda Peace candidate for the Commissioner of Rural Economy and Agriculture.

The statute of the Commission limits the mandate of the Commissioners to four years renewable once. Therefore, four of them will no longer run in these elections. They are Mrs. Julia Dolly Joiner, Commissioner for Political Affairs, Advocate Bience Gawanas, Commissioner for Social Affairs and Dr. Maxwell Mkwezalamba, Commissioner for Economic Affairs. The late Mrs. Elizabeth Tankeu, Commissioner for Trade and Industry, died in October 2011, while completing her second and final term.

Immediately after the election of the Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson of the Commission by the Assembly, the Executive Council retires to another room to elect the eight Commissioners of the AU. The results are announced at the end of the close session dedicated for the election during the Executive Council meeting.

The 18th AU Summit will be very interesting and eventful as it will also feature the election of ten members of the Peace and Security Council (PSC) of the AU for a term of two years. The AU PSC consists of 15 members, 5 for a term of three years (from Equatorial Guinea, Kenya, Libya, Zimbabwe and Nigeria) and 10 others for a period two years. This difference in the duration of terms ensures continuity in the work of the PSC. The candidates for the next election for a term of 2 years each are drawn from the following countries: (North) Egypt; (West), Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana and Guinea (East), Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Uganda; (Centre) Congo and Cameroon; (South) Angola and Lesotho.

Meanwhile, according to the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly, the Heads of State and Government at the sidelines of the January Summit elect one of their peers to assume the rotating Chairmanship of the Union. In 2012, the Responsibility of the Chairperson of the Union will go to West Africa in conformity with the principle of geographical rotation.