MALAWIAN activist Mavuto Bamusi will this week call on the Scottish Government to strengthen its role in helping Malawi.
Mr Bamusi, touring Scotland with support from the World Development Movement, argues that the government can do more to help if it focuses less on adding to the pool of aid and begins to take a stand in political matters.
Mr Bamusi said: "Malawi's cry is not for more help, but for more justice.
"There are critical ways that the Scottish Government can do this. John Swinney must not shirk from the SNP's manifesto."
Tuesday, 6 November 2007
Malawi firefighters to visit St. Albans
The St. Albans Fire Department will host two firefighters from an African nation later this month to help teach them modern emergency-response techniques.
Fire Chief Steve Parsons told the City Council Monday night he met the two individuals — Prescort Sailasi and Nitron Rajabn — while he was in Malawi conducting missionary work. Although he extended invitations for them to visit St. Albans, he was surprised when they were able to accept his offer by arranging a grant from an African cell phone company.
Parsons said that although their department has only six firefighters, it covers a territory roughly the size of Charleston and South Charleston combined with a population of 1.2 million people.
All of that is done with only one fire truck with an eight-section hose and a single nozzle.
Despite the lack of equipment, Parsons helped the fire department battle a chemical plant blaze he described as comparable in size to the Nitro tire fire several years ago.
He expects a great deal of culture shock when his guests arrive.
“It will literally be like a Martian coming to visit,” he said. “They’ve never been out of their state, much less their country.”
Parsons said Sailasi and Rajabn are from the township of Blantyre, which is in southern African nation of Malawi.
Besides instruction, Parsons said he hopes to be able to arrange equipment donations for the men’s department.
He said he can easily find material to be donated, but is having difficulty arranging funding for transporting it to Africa.
Fire Chief Steve Parsons told the City Council Monday night he met the two individuals — Prescort Sailasi and Nitron Rajabn — while he was in Malawi conducting missionary work. Although he extended invitations for them to visit St. Albans, he was surprised when they were able to accept his offer by arranging a grant from an African cell phone company.
Parsons said that although their department has only six firefighters, it covers a territory roughly the size of Charleston and South Charleston combined with a population of 1.2 million people.
All of that is done with only one fire truck with an eight-section hose and a single nozzle.
Despite the lack of equipment, Parsons helped the fire department battle a chemical plant blaze he described as comparable in size to the Nitro tire fire several years ago.
He expects a great deal of culture shock when his guests arrive.
“It will literally be like a Martian coming to visit,” he said. “They’ve never been out of their state, much less their country.”
Parsons said Sailasi and Rajabn are from the township of Blantyre, which is in southern African nation of Malawi.
Besides instruction, Parsons said he hopes to be able to arrange equipment donations for the men’s department.
He said he can easily find material to be donated, but is having difficulty arranging funding for transporting it to Africa.
Cruel prison conditions damage Malawi human rights record
Malawi’s human rights is being dented with growing reports of poor prison conditions in the country, recent survey of the facilities by Africa Press Agency (APA) reveals that the situation is bad.
According to APA, congestion, inadequate diet, shortage of clothing and blankets, overstaying, substandard sanitation, lack of proper health care services and physical assault by their guards are some of the major problems that Malawi’s prisoners face in the country.
In its report, APA said the survey found that conditions in Malawi prisons are “pathetic” compared to other sub-Saharan African countries.
APA reported that a grouping of Malawi lawyers who offer free services to the vulnerable groups such prisoners, Centre for Legal Assistance (CELA)’s Executive Director Charles Kasambara agreed that the conditions in the Malawi Prisons are “extremely bad, needing government’s intervention.”
"We are urging government to immediately come up with remedial measures so that the country’s prisons become better places for reformatory," Kasambara told APA.
He said there was overpopulation in the jails, which were designed to take up to 700 inmates in one facility but accommodate over 2,000 prisoners in each of the 24 facilities.
Prisons are also said to have no toilets thereby spreading of airborne diseases. Kasambara said inmates found with infectious diseases, are not quarantined which makes the diseases to spread further.
The problem of inadequate nutrition, he said, has resulted in the inmates receiving only one meal a day, a meal that is not well balanced. This consists of only beans and a stiff porridge made from maize flour.
Most inmates were reported to have overstayed on remand, others up to more than five years without being committed to courts, mostly in homicide cases.
APA survey also revealed that there more deaths in Malawi prisons with HIV/aids patients being highly vulnerable due to lack of special diet for prisoners who are HIV-positive and on anti-retroviral therapy.
According to APA, CELA and the Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC) as friends of the court have challenged the government through the court to consider having a well balanced diet for the prisoners who are HIV positive.
The report also noted that prisoners are physically assaulted, intimidated and forced to make false confessions by the security personnel.
Assistant Commissioner for Prisons, Robert Sambakunsi said the overcrowding in jails would be abated by construction on new prisons citing the new “state-of-the art” Mzimba prison as an example.
The Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC) has written to the African Commission for Human and Peoples' Rights to request a visit to Malawi prisons by the Special Rapporteur for Prisons and Conditions of Detention in Africa following several reports on appalling prison conditions.
Nicole Fritz, SALC Executive Director also noted overcrowding as “most terrible” problem in Malawian prisons.
According to APA, congestion, inadequate diet, shortage of clothing and blankets, overstaying, substandard sanitation, lack of proper health care services and physical assault by their guards are some of the major problems that Malawi’s prisoners face in the country.
In its report, APA said the survey found that conditions in Malawi prisons are “pathetic” compared to other sub-Saharan African countries.
APA reported that a grouping of Malawi lawyers who offer free services to the vulnerable groups such prisoners, Centre for Legal Assistance (CELA)’s Executive Director Charles Kasambara agreed that the conditions in the Malawi Prisons are “extremely bad, needing government’s intervention.”
"We are urging government to immediately come up with remedial measures so that the country’s prisons become better places for reformatory," Kasambara told APA.
He said there was overpopulation in the jails, which were designed to take up to 700 inmates in one facility but accommodate over 2,000 prisoners in each of the 24 facilities.
Prisons are also said to have no toilets thereby spreading of airborne diseases. Kasambara said inmates found with infectious diseases, are not quarantined which makes the diseases to spread further.
The problem of inadequate nutrition, he said, has resulted in the inmates receiving only one meal a day, a meal that is not well balanced. This consists of only beans and a stiff porridge made from maize flour.
Most inmates were reported to have overstayed on remand, others up to more than five years without being committed to courts, mostly in homicide cases.
APA survey also revealed that there more deaths in Malawi prisons with HIV/aids patients being highly vulnerable due to lack of special diet for prisoners who are HIV-positive and on anti-retroviral therapy.
According to APA, CELA and the Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC) as friends of the court have challenged the government through the court to consider having a well balanced diet for the prisoners who are HIV positive.
The report also noted that prisoners are physically assaulted, intimidated and forced to make false confessions by the security personnel.
Assistant Commissioner for Prisons, Robert Sambakunsi said the overcrowding in jails would be abated by construction on new prisons citing the new “state-of-the art” Mzimba prison as an example.
The Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC) has written to the African Commission for Human and Peoples' Rights to request a visit to Malawi prisons by the Special Rapporteur for Prisons and Conditions of Detention in Africa following several reports on appalling prison conditions.
Nicole Fritz, SALC Executive Director also noted overcrowding as “most terrible” problem in Malawian prisons.
Global Fund, World Bank provide Malawi with $48.5 million to expand HIV/AIDS services, commission says
Malawi's National AIDS Commission in a statement issued Thursday announced that it has received $48.5 million from the Global Fund To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and the World Bank to expand HIV/AIDS services in the country up to December, Xinhua News Agency reports.
According to NAC, the Global Fund allocated $44.3 million, while the World Bank provided the remaining $4.2 million.
NAC said that $12.5 million has been transferred to UNICEF for the procurement of health products, including antiretroviral drugs and that $31.8 million will be used to strengthen health systems.
According to Xinhua News Agency, the country, with support from the Global Fund, has provided no-cost antiretrovirals to more than 100,000 HIV-positive people since 2005 (Xinhua News Agency, 11/1).
Biziwick Mwale, chief of NAC, in July said the country aims to expand the number of people with no-cost drug access to 150,000 by the end of December.
He added that the biggest challenge to increasing access to antiretrovirals is the shortage of health care workers in the country.
A recent survey by the Ministry of Health indicates that the country, which has a population of 12 million, employs 150 doctors.
According to UNAIDS estimates, there are about 930,000 people living with HIV/AIDS in Malawi, and approximately 78,000 AIDS-related deaths occur each year.
The country's HIV prevalence is about 14% (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 7/10).
According to NAC, the Global Fund allocated $44.3 million, while the World Bank provided the remaining $4.2 million.
NAC said that $12.5 million has been transferred to UNICEF for the procurement of health products, including antiretroviral drugs and that $31.8 million will be used to strengthen health systems.
According to Xinhua News Agency, the country, with support from the Global Fund, has provided no-cost antiretrovirals to more than 100,000 HIV-positive people since 2005 (Xinhua News Agency, 11/1).
Biziwick Mwale, chief of NAC, in July said the country aims to expand the number of people with no-cost drug access to 150,000 by the end of December.
He added that the biggest challenge to increasing access to antiretrovirals is the shortage of health care workers in the country.
A recent survey by the Ministry of Health indicates that the country, which has a population of 12 million, employs 150 doctors.
According to UNAIDS estimates, there are about 930,000 people living with HIV/AIDS in Malawi, and approximately 78,000 AIDS-related deaths occur each year.
The country's HIV prevalence is about 14% (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 7/10).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
