Malawi will contribute troops to the joint African Union-United Nations peacekeeping force in Darfur, a senior government minister said Friday.
Defense Minister Bob Khamisa told the Associated Press that the country has a battalion of 800 soldiers on standby for the mission.
The commitment by the impoverished southern African country follows a United Nations Security Council resolution on July 31 to approve a 26,000 joint peacekeeping operation in the troubled region. If the force is fully deployed it would be the world's largest peacekeeping operation.
Khamisa said Malawi's move was "one way of showing solidarity with the African Union and also solidarity with the suffering civilians in Darfur. Malawi believes in peace on the continent."
The force is expected to absorb and take over from a beleaguered 7,000-strong AU force — which includes Zambia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal and South Africa — currently in Darfur no later than Dec. 31. The U.N. said the force, called UNAMID, will have "a predominantly African character," as Sudan has demanded.
Senegal said Thursday it would triple the size of its current contingent to 1,600 as part of the new joint force. Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Nigeria, Egypt and Ethiopia also have pledged to contribute troops or add to current contingents for a joint force. Swaziland has said it was likely to.
More than 200,000 people have died in the nearly four years since ethnic African rebels in Darfur took up arms against the Arab-dominated central government, accusing it of discrimination. Khartoum is accused of retaliating by unleashing janjaweed militias, which are blamed for the worst atrocities against civilians in a conflict that has displaced more than 2.5 million people.
Friday, 10 August 2007
Malawi parliament expected to meet amid budget row
Malawi's parliament is expected to reconvene next week, its speaker said on Friday, but it is still not clear whether a damaging political stalemate over the budget can be broken.
The opposition coalition of the United Democratic Front (UDF) and the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) have refused to pass a $1.2 billion budget until a dispute over the poaching of its members by the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was resolved.
The row has limited the government to a skeleton budget, seen police raid the house of a judge after he ruled against the president in the dispute, and angered Malawians in need of essential services.
Parliament speaker Louis Chimango told Reuters that "everyone would like to discuss the budget" when parliament reconvenes on Monday and a decision would be taken late on Friday in a meeting of the assembly's business committee.
The budget debate, which should have been concluded by June 30, was indefinitely suspended last month, threatening to cut off essential services to Malawi's 12 million people.
One of the poorest nations in the world, Malawi in southern Africa relies on aid from industrialised nations and international agencies.
The UDF's leader in parliament, George Nga Ntafu, said the party has agreed to attend parliament when it meets on Monday but declined to comment further until the parliamentary committee sets the agenda.
The government leader in the house, Henry Chimunthu Banda, aappeared optimistic that the budget would be debated on Monday.
"We have agreed to meet but we are yet to chart the way forward on the budget. Everyone seems to be in agreement that the budget should be discussed next week," he said.
Donors have praised President Bingu wa Mutharika for improving the country's financial health and offered it billions in debt relief.
But the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Malawi has said political wrangling over the budget was hurting the poor, many of whom live on less than $1 a day.
The opposition coalition of the United Democratic Front (UDF) and the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) have refused to pass a $1.2 billion budget until a dispute over the poaching of its members by the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was resolved.
The row has limited the government to a skeleton budget, seen police raid the house of a judge after he ruled against the president in the dispute, and angered Malawians in need of essential services.
Parliament speaker Louis Chimango told Reuters that "everyone would like to discuss the budget" when parliament reconvenes on Monday and a decision would be taken late on Friday in a meeting of the assembly's business committee.
The budget debate, which should have been concluded by June 30, was indefinitely suspended last month, threatening to cut off essential services to Malawi's 12 million people.
One of the poorest nations in the world, Malawi in southern Africa relies on aid from industrialised nations and international agencies.
The UDF's leader in parliament, George Nga Ntafu, said the party has agreed to attend parliament when it meets on Monday but declined to comment further until the parliamentary committee sets the agenda.
The government leader in the house, Henry Chimunthu Banda, aappeared optimistic that the budget would be debated on Monday.
"We have agreed to meet but we are yet to chart the way forward on the budget. Everyone seems to be in agreement that the budget should be discussed next week," he said.
Donors have praised President Bingu wa Mutharika for improving the country's financial health and offered it billions in debt relief.
But the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Malawi has said political wrangling over the budget was hurting the poor, many of whom live on less than $1 a day.
Malawi opposition ordered to end boycott
Malawi's Parliament reconvenes next week to debate and pass the impoverished African nation's already delayed budget after the Supreme Court ordered the opposition to end a boycott, an official said on Friday.
Parliament spokesperson Leonard Mengezi said that the speaker of the 193-member house, Louis Chimango, has "summoned all Cabinet ministers, deputies and MPs to reconvene on Monday afternoon in Parliament chambers".
He said the move followed an order by the Supreme Court on Thursday, which turned down an injunction sought by the opposition to stop the legislature from debating the budget.
"The business committee of Parliament will be meeting on Friday afternoon to set the agenda on whether to tackle the budget first," he said.
Malawi's opposition, which holds 105 of the Parliament's 193 seats, had earlier obtained a court injuction barring debate on the country's budget.
It was seeking to first pass legislation that would permit the speaker to expel any MPs who cross the floor to join the government -- a measure that, if implemented, could lead to the government of President Bingu wa Mutharika being toppled and early elections.
Parliament spokesperson Leonard Mengezi said that the speaker of the 193-member house, Louis Chimango, has "summoned all Cabinet ministers, deputies and MPs to reconvene on Monday afternoon in Parliament chambers".
He said the move followed an order by the Supreme Court on Thursday, which turned down an injunction sought by the opposition to stop the legislature from debating the budget.
"The business committee of Parliament will be meeting on Friday afternoon to set the agenda on whether to tackle the budget first," he said.
Malawi's opposition, which holds 105 of the Parliament's 193 seats, had earlier obtained a court injuction barring debate on the country's budget.
It was seeking to first pass legislation that would permit the speaker to expel any MPs who cross the floor to join the government -- a measure that, if implemented, could lead to the government of President Bingu wa Mutharika being toppled and early elections.
Lisa Cescon: View of Malawi that shows little respect
New Zealand economist Gareth Morgan's "Under the African Skies" tour - and his accompanying commentary - has been full of ill-informed and inaccurate observations, completely devoid of respect for the continent he is touring.
This week's victim was Malawi. Gareth Morgan is hugely privileged to be able to bike through Malawi, the "warm heart of Africa". Warm heart notwithstanding, it's important to put forward some facts about the country.
Malawi's income a person is US$170 ($221) per year (compared to $26,427 in New Zealand). Life expectancy is 40 (compared to New Zealand's 79) and HIV and Aids is annihilating and making orphans of an entire generation.
It's been interesting listening to Morgan's running commentary on Paul Holmes' NewstalkZB breakfast show, but unfortunately, on his BMW motorcycle, he uses his position of privilege to cast moral judgments on Africa's people, its cultures and the aid organisations working hard to make a real difference there.
After only a day or two in Malawi, Morgan painted a picture of a country with a handout mentality, where the declining birthrate as a result of HIV and Aids is "a bit of a blessing". He described it as a country where they have natural resources "coming out their ears" but appear to have organisational problems, and where aid agencies are "corrupting the values of the younger people".
I listened with something like appalling fascination to this uninformed commentary about a country that is working its way into a self-sufficient future. A fresh perspective came from one of my staff, Dr Jude McCann, just back from his first visit to Malawi.
"I saw entire villages and communities who aren't asking for handouts. They're not asking for money or pity. They're looking after themselves and are proud of what they are achieving," he said.
Dr McCann spent time in Chata, an area in which World Vision has been working for more than 12 years.
"This community, which has a population of about 37,000, is amazing and I challenge Mr Morgan to look a bit deeper at the countries he's driving through."
Malawi, a country with a population of about 13 million located in the southeast of the vast African continent, has enjoyed for many years stability and peace but has struggled with a dangerously high HIV infection rate of more than 14 per cent.
The impact on a country's workforce of such a high infection rate, and the thousands of deaths caused by Aids as a result, is devastating. For Morgan to put this country's development issues down to "organisational" is to underestimate and undervalue the true damage caused by HIV and Aids.
On this issue, perhaps more so than in any other part of the interview, Morgan exposed his lack of knowledge and empathy.
Quite ironically, in the same talk Morgan praised the lowering of the birthrate by HIV and Aids - which occurs because women are dying in their thousands, unable to give birth to children or to bring up those they already have.
He also inadvertently highlighted one of the biggest and most worrying side-effects of HIV and Aids.
"You just see these 14, 15-year-old girls; they all seem to have babies on their backs."
According to Unicef, the number of Malawian children orphaned by Aids is more than half a million. World Vision knows from years of experience in Africa about the huge number of child-headed households. Children raising children because Aids has robbed them of their parents.
Morgan directed his most scathing comments for the aid agencies and non-governmental organisations working in Malawi - the number of them, the industry they've created, the work they're doing.
Malawians, he claims, say: "Oh, the way to make a quick buck at the moment is to get into a village and set up an orphanage."
Putting aside the reality that if there weren't so many orphans, "setting up an orphanage" wouldn't be an option, Morgan is criticising what he sees as he zooms past: "You get a crowd of people around the bikes and the young kids all the time just stick out their hand."
It's the aid agencies, he says, who are "defeating the value set of people".
With a literacy rate of 64 per cent, an infant mortality rate of 175 deaths per 1000 (New Zealand's is six per 1000) and nearly half the population living on less than US$1 per day, there's no denying Malawi is a country in need of assistance. It deserves the chance to provide for its children.
Development work must always keep long-term sustainability at the heart of what it does. It's the basis for World Vision's work, and we know it works.
We are thrilled when a community is ready, after 15-17 years of long-term development, to stand on its own feet.
"The people of the Chata community who I met last month are getting ready to kick us out," said Dr McCann. "After 12 years of working with them, they're just about ready to take on the continued development of their community without outside help.
"With the assistance of World Vision, the community itself is leading its development work. The people of the community have built wells and boreholes to reduce the chances of their children dying from preventable waterborne diseases.
"They have learned about basic health and sanitation and they have taught others about it, reducing the risk of malaria and diarrhoea-causing diseases. They have learned to harvest drought-resistant crops such as cassava and sorghum. They've learned about and put into practice animal husbandry techniques, and have been trained in agricultural practices that will provide food and income. They've sent their children to school. They've formed committees to offer support and care for the child-headed households in their community.
"They own their development, they are in control of their futures and they are proud Malawians. If Mr Morgan had visited Chata, he would not have seen one hand outstretched."
As for Morgan's claim about the abundance of natural resources, Dr McCann - who has a PhD in agricultural studies - says Malawi does indeed have water sources and good soil for the most part. But, he points out, had Morgan looked into Malawi's very recent history, he would have discovered that the country has spent the past three years dealing with, and recovering from, a devastating drought, resulting in crippling food shortages for many.
"It's easy to say one thing when you've seen and read very little of a country, but Mr Morgan should respect the people whose countries he is motoring through - and those listening to him here in New Zealand - and do his best to paint an accurate picture of the nations he is visiting," says Dr McCann.
Morgan said this week that many outsiders have a myopic - and often incorrect - view of Africa, but with only four of the continent's 53 countries behind him, he is already perpetuating incorrect and damaging stereotypes.
World Vision New Zealand, and the hundreds of Kiwis who sponsor Malawian children, know that the picture of Malawi - and Africa so far - painted by Mr Morgan is simply not accurate.
* Lisa Cescon is World Vision's New Zealand chief executive officer.
This week's victim was Malawi. Gareth Morgan is hugely privileged to be able to bike through Malawi, the "warm heart of Africa". Warm heart notwithstanding, it's important to put forward some facts about the country.
Malawi's income a person is US$170 ($221) per year (compared to $26,427 in New Zealand). Life expectancy is 40 (compared to New Zealand's 79) and HIV and Aids is annihilating and making orphans of an entire generation.
It's been interesting listening to Morgan's running commentary on Paul Holmes' NewstalkZB breakfast show, but unfortunately, on his BMW motorcycle, he uses his position of privilege to cast moral judgments on Africa's people, its cultures and the aid organisations working hard to make a real difference there.
After only a day or two in Malawi, Morgan painted a picture of a country with a handout mentality, where the declining birthrate as a result of HIV and Aids is "a bit of a blessing". He described it as a country where they have natural resources "coming out their ears" but appear to have organisational problems, and where aid agencies are "corrupting the values of the younger people".
I listened with something like appalling fascination to this uninformed commentary about a country that is working its way into a self-sufficient future. A fresh perspective came from one of my staff, Dr Jude McCann, just back from his first visit to Malawi.
"I saw entire villages and communities who aren't asking for handouts. They're not asking for money or pity. They're looking after themselves and are proud of what they are achieving," he said.
Dr McCann spent time in Chata, an area in which World Vision has been working for more than 12 years.
"This community, which has a population of about 37,000, is amazing and I challenge Mr Morgan to look a bit deeper at the countries he's driving through."
Malawi, a country with a population of about 13 million located in the southeast of the vast African continent, has enjoyed for many years stability and peace but has struggled with a dangerously high HIV infection rate of more than 14 per cent.
The impact on a country's workforce of such a high infection rate, and the thousands of deaths caused by Aids as a result, is devastating. For Morgan to put this country's development issues down to "organisational" is to underestimate and undervalue the true damage caused by HIV and Aids.
On this issue, perhaps more so than in any other part of the interview, Morgan exposed his lack of knowledge and empathy.
Quite ironically, in the same talk Morgan praised the lowering of the birthrate by HIV and Aids - which occurs because women are dying in their thousands, unable to give birth to children or to bring up those they already have.
He also inadvertently highlighted one of the biggest and most worrying side-effects of HIV and Aids.
"You just see these 14, 15-year-old girls; they all seem to have babies on their backs."
According to Unicef, the number of Malawian children orphaned by Aids is more than half a million. World Vision knows from years of experience in Africa about the huge number of child-headed households. Children raising children because Aids has robbed them of their parents.
Morgan directed his most scathing comments for the aid agencies and non-governmental organisations working in Malawi - the number of them, the industry they've created, the work they're doing.
Malawians, he claims, say: "Oh, the way to make a quick buck at the moment is to get into a village and set up an orphanage."
Putting aside the reality that if there weren't so many orphans, "setting up an orphanage" wouldn't be an option, Morgan is criticising what he sees as he zooms past: "You get a crowd of people around the bikes and the young kids all the time just stick out their hand."
It's the aid agencies, he says, who are "defeating the value set of people".
With a literacy rate of 64 per cent, an infant mortality rate of 175 deaths per 1000 (New Zealand's is six per 1000) and nearly half the population living on less than US$1 per day, there's no denying Malawi is a country in need of assistance. It deserves the chance to provide for its children.
Development work must always keep long-term sustainability at the heart of what it does. It's the basis for World Vision's work, and we know it works.
We are thrilled when a community is ready, after 15-17 years of long-term development, to stand on its own feet.
"The people of the Chata community who I met last month are getting ready to kick us out," said Dr McCann. "After 12 years of working with them, they're just about ready to take on the continued development of their community without outside help.
"With the assistance of World Vision, the community itself is leading its development work. The people of the community have built wells and boreholes to reduce the chances of their children dying from preventable waterborne diseases.
"They have learned about basic health and sanitation and they have taught others about it, reducing the risk of malaria and diarrhoea-causing diseases. They have learned to harvest drought-resistant crops such as cassava and sorghum. They've learned about and put into practice animal husbandry techniques, and have been trained in agricultural practices that will provide food and income. They've sent their children to school. They've formed committees to offer support and care for the child-headed households in their community.
"They own their development, they are in control of their futures and they are proud Malawians. If Mr Morgan had visited Chata, he would not have seen one hand outstretched."
As for Morgan's claim about the abundance of natural resources, Dr McCann - who has a PhD in agricultural studies - says Malawi does indeed have water sources and good soil for the most part. But, he points out, had Morgan looked into Malawi's very recent history, he would have discovered that the country has spent the past three years dealing with, and recovering from, a devastating drought, resulting in crippling food shortages for many.
"It's easy to say one thing when you've seen and read very little of a country, but Mr Morgan should respect the people whose countries he is motoring through - and those listening to him here in New Zealand - and do his best to paint an accurate picture of the nations he is visiting," says Dr McCann.
Morgan said this week that many outsiders have a myopic - and often incorrect - view of Africa, but with only four of the continent's 53 countries behind him, he is already perpetuating incorrect and damaging stereotypes.
World Vision New Zealand, and the hundreds of Kiwis who sponsor Malawian children, know that the picture of Malawi - and Africa so far - painted by Mr Morgan is simply not accurate.
* Lisa Cescon is World Vision's New Zealand chief executive officer.
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