Hach Ahmed visited Africa Contact’s offices in Copenhagen on Monday [20. February] to discuss the increasingly desperate situation of the approximately 150.000 refugees, who have lived in isolated dessert camps in the Algerian dessert near Tindouf since they fled invading Moroccan troops in 1975, and the UN-led peace process that is meant to enable them to return to Western Sahara, but has been stalled by Morocco and its allies for over 20 years. He is also visiting Denmark and other Northern European countries to specifically ask their governments for humanitarian aid for the refugees.

“Denmark and other Northern European countries are not like those of Southern Europe, who have too many interests with Morocco,” Hach Ahmed says. “We are therefore asking for urgent humanitarian aid from Northern European governments, including the Danish government. I hope that Denmark, known for its cooperation is such matters, will fill the present void in the humanitarian aid for the camps. This is what we will be discussing with the chairman of the Danish Committee on Foreign Affairs, Per Stig Møller, and representatives of the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs tomorrow [21. February 2012].”

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has given basic assistance to the “most vulnerable” Saharawi refugees in the Tindouf refugee camps since 1986 after the Algerian government had supported the refugees for 11 years. According to the WFP, “opportunities for self-reliance in the harsh, isolated desert environment where the [Tindouf refugee] camps are located are extremely limited, forcing the refugees to rely on international assistance for their survival. Malnutrition rates remain high, with acute malnutrition at a critical level of 18.2 percent, chronic malnutrition at 31.4 percent and underweight at 31.6 percent.”

But even this inadequate level of aid is being cut back, according to Hach Ahmed. “The UNHCR and the EU, who are the main donors, have only promised half of the aid they normally give. The economic crisis, especially in Southern Europe, has a very bad influence on the social and aid programmes.”

The Saharawis are becoming impatient with the UN, he adds, and many are willing to break the ceasefire between Western Sahara’s liberation front, Polisario, and Morocco, which has been in place since 1991, and return to war.

“It is becoming increasingly difficult to control the reaction of the people. The UN peace process has continued for over 20 years without any progress. This is because of the influence of [permanent member of the UN Security Council] France in the UN. And accepting Morocco as a member of the UN Security Council, while they are colonising Western Sahara, also makes us doubt the fairness of the UN. Would the UN have accepted Syria or Iran as a member of the Security Council? This is a clear example of the hypocrisy of the UN, and such occurrences make is very difficult for us to convince our youth to continue to accept the UN peace process.”

And especially the Saharawi youth have taken an increasingly radical approach towards the Moroccan repression, as they have done in countries throughout North Africa and the Middle East, and time is therefore running out, says Hach Ahmed.

“Many youths, especially in the refugee camps, do not believe a peaceful process in the occupied territories will give results anymore. Before the [13th executive] congress [of the Polisario Front in December 2011], we even thought that a new leadership that would stop the peace process might be elected. But the activists from the [Moroccan] occupied territories [of Western Sahara] that participated in the congress, advised against electing those who advocated going back to war with Morocco, and thereby gave the Polisario the space to continue with the peace process, at least until the next congress.”

Western Sahara has been illegally occupied by Morocco since 1975, where Spain secretly relinquished Western Sahara to Morocco (and Mauritania who left in 1979) in exchange for mining and fishing concessions. Being an illegal occupying force, Morocco has no right to sell the natural resources of Western Sahara, as it presently does e.g. through the EU-Moroccan Fisheries Agreement, or to continue to violate the human rights of its citizens. Instead, as international law and over a hundred UN resolutions demand, Morocco must hold a referendum on the status of Western Sahara.
The USA and France, both permanent members of the UN Security Council, have been the biggest obstruction to this referendum within the UN system. Instead, both are pressing for Western Sahara to remain under Moroccan autonomy. France has had ties with Morocco since the sixteenth century, as well as being Morocco’s main trading partner. The USA had one of its closest allies in Morocco in the “fight against communism” and the “war on terror”. Morocco was the first country to recognise the independent United States, subsequently signing a treaty of friendship and commerce with the USA in 1777.
No state recognises Morocco’s claim to Western Sahara, which has also been rejected by the International Court of Justice. Over 80 countries recognise Western Sahara’s exile government, the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic, which is also a member of the African Union.

To this end, the recently formed SEJUN launched a new campaign, Eradicate Poverty and Hunger, last Saturday [February 11.] in Lavumisa. The campaign takes a rights-based approach to economic justice in emphasizing the right to adequate food in a country where two-thirds of the population survive on less than a dollar a day – many on food aid from the UN, the need for agrarian reform in a country where the absolute monarch in effect controls all land, and the necessity of empowering ordinary people in order to achieve the campaign goals.

The event was attended by an audience of around 400, as well as a range of organisations including the Coordinating Assembly of NGO’s, the Swaziland Ex-Miners Association, the Swaziland National Union of Students and the Foundation for Socio-Economic Justice, of which SEJUN is a campaign wing.

“The event was a success,” says Musa Andile Nsibande. “The messages were well received by the target audience and there is a good possibility that the campaign could achieve the changes envisaged.”

Several of the speakers at the campaign launch used the 2008 court victory of the Swaziland Ex-Miners Association against the Swazi government, for its failure to adhere to Swaziland’s constitution’s promise of universal free primary school education, as an example of the potential power of Swaziland’s poor. “The success of the ex-miners has invigorated the marginalized’s search for justice,” says Nsibande.

Read more:

Swaziland: uprising in the slip-stream of North Africa

Musa Ngubeni, a law graduate from the University of Swaziland and former student leader, was detained, allegedly tortured, and charged with being in possession of explosives together with student leader Maxwell Dlamini during the April 12 Swazi Uprising last year – one of the largest protests ever against Swaziland’s absolute monarchy crushed by police and security forces.

”He is grateful to all those supported them whilst inside prison and the pressure exerted from Europe for their release. He said that there is no doubt that had it been not because of the campaign internationally for their release such an amount [€5000 bail money] wouldn’t have been collected. Musa further requested the democracy loving people of the world to continue fund raising for the case as they are still left with the legal fees for the attorney, which they are to pay.”

Musa Ngubeni assured everyone following his and Maxwell Dlamini’s case that the allegations against them were false. They had never seen nor laid their hands on the blasting materials and detonators that the police claimed to have found in their possession, he insisted. “They saw it for the first time when the police showed it to them and it was never inside any of their belongings or bags,” says Dumezweni Dlamini.

After having been released after having spent nearly ten months in prison, Musa Ngubeni and Maxwell Dlamini now have to adhere to inflexible bail conditions. Amongst other things Musa has to report four times a week to the Mbabane Regional Police Station, which is a 200 km round trip, even though he could easily have reported at the nearest police station in stead, which is within walking distance of his home.

But young single mothers are even worse off than the average women in Swaziland. Teenage mothers account for over a third of all pregnancies in Swaziland, but they receive little or no help from the government, their families or communities. On the contrary, when they are found to be pregnant they are often expelled from school and ostracised and stigmatised by their neighbours, communities and families.

Swaziland Single Mothers’ Organisation (SWASMO), the only organisation to work specifically with young single mothers, was formed in 2009 in an attempt to help and mobilise young single mothers in Swaziland.

The initial idea was to form self-help to promote self-reliance, mutual support, mobilisation and education to try and improve the position and consciousness of single mothers. But mobilising the young single mothers and raising funds has proven harder than anticipated.

“Most young single mothers have a fatalistic view of themselves and society and do not believe that life can be any different or better than it is presently,” says SWASMO’s founder and project coordinator, Beatrice Bitchong. “And even amongst other women, there is resentment towards the young single mothers.”

As for fundraising, Maternity Worldwide, a Danish organisation that works with health care, financial security and protection for women and children in Africa, had contacted SWASMO in 2011 to discuss plans for supporting a self-help project financially.

“But after an appraisal in November 2011 that saw representatives of the Danish organization visit SWASMO in Swaziland, several gaps were identified,” says Beatrice Bitchong. “We need to be clear on the target group, as it was found that the existing self help groups are made in majority of elder women who still have a strong stigma against young women. And we need to establish a well-defined organizational structure.  Focusing on closing these gaps was found to be a prerequisite for effective self-help projects output by SWASMO.”

But Beatrice also has the solution to these challenges. “Having young single mothers as our main target group and working to establish a well defined organizational structure is what we will be focusing on in the future. I have surrounded myself with some committed young women and we are trying to build a structure that has a clear focus on young single mothers and transforming SWASMO into a membership organisation. We will be coming up with ideas for a strategic plan and project in the near future.”

As for funding, the organisation, that has until now mainly had to rely on money from its volunteer workers, is planning a few small fundraising events, ad is considering introducing membership fees.
But as Swaziland is a poor country where two thirds of the population survive on less than a dollar a day, and where the government has trouble even paying its civil servants, Beatrice Bitchong is aware that she must also look elsewhere for funding. “We are interested in other donors who can help us strengthen the organizational capacity of SWASMO and help Swaziland’s young single mothers. They need it more than most,” she says.

Read more:

SWASMO: Helping Swaziland’s most vulnerable women to help themselves

SWASMO’s website

Men dette budskab er med til at bibeholde et ”dem og os” billede, der fremstiller os danskere og vesterlændinge som de gode, aktive givere, og ”afrikanerne” – som gentagende gange blev omtalt som én homogen gruppe under showet – som passive modtagere.

Fortællinger om stakkels børn, og den hjælp 150 kroner sendt til indsamlingen kunne gøre for dem, var der mange af. Men der blev ikke rigtigt stillet spørgsmålstegn ved, hvorfor så mange afrikanere må leve i fattigdom, mens vi i Danmark og Vesten lever i forholdsmæssig luksus, sammenhængen mellem de to økonomiske tilstande, eller hvordan vi er med til at opretholde denne ulighed. Eller hvordan prisen for vores fredelige samfund bliver betalt af konfliktramte afrikanske samfund, hvordan EU’s strenge grænsekontrol og Danmarks stramme udlændingepolitik er med til at sikre, at ca. 90% af verdens flygtninge lever nær det sted de er flygtet fra.

Udviklingsminister Christian Friis Bach så problemerne i et lidt større billede, da han i sidste måned i Politiken udtalte at han ønsker ”et skift fra at se udviklingsbistand som almisser og gaver til at tænke på det som rettighedsbaseret bistand”, eller i aftenens show bl.a. andet udtalte at ”nogle af disse mennesker kan man næsten ikke gøre nok for”. Dette er forhåbentlig en erkendelse af, at tv-shows, velgørenhed, og den tidligere regerings privatsektordrevne udviklingspolitik ikke er den endelige løsning på Afrikas problemer.

Fredagens show virkede i hvert fald ofte som både et slet skjult reklameshow for de virksomheder der donerede penge via lotterier og forskellige gimmicks, og en lidet tilsløret anbefaling af markedsøkonomi. ”Virksomhedsbidrag kan vi jo rigtigt godt li’”, som vært Søren Rasted formulerede det. ”Vi tror på, at gennem handel skaber man udvikling”, sagde en repræsentant for FDB.

Volkswagen, der udlovede flere biler i et lotteri for folk der ringede ind, fik eksempelvis positiv omtale af den nye model som de havde udlovet, og en medarbejder fra Volkswagen kunne forklare hvor fantastisk deres nye bil var. Alt i alt en sjælden god og positiv omtale af et kommercielt produkt på en statsejet, offentlig kanal som DR.

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Hvis vi gi’r en hånd til Afrika

Maxwell Dlamini was detained, allegedly tortured and forced to sign a confession, and charged of possession of explosives last April in connection with one of the largest protests against Swaziland’s absolute monarchy in many years, the so-called April 12 Uprising.

Two thirds of Swaziland’s population survive on less than a dollar a day and hundreds of thousands can only get by on food aid from the UN. Additionally, Swaziland cannot afford to pay its bills and the salaries of its civil servants due to widespread financial overspending and mismanagement by Swaziland’s absolute monarch, King Mswati III, and his government.

Swaziland’s democratic movement still urges potential donors to contribute to the bail of Maxwell Dlamini’s co-accused, Musa Ngubeni, as approximately 15,000 Rand (€1500) is needed to bail him out, as well as to reimburse Maxwell’s father.

“Half the battle has been won, its heart warming to get Maxwell out, now we
must work on Ngubeni and the others,” said Wandile Dludlu from the Swaziland United Democratic Front.

See how here
Read more here

Read More about Swaziland:

Swaziland: uprising in the slip-stream of North Africa

Especially young Saharawis (the indigenous population of Western Sahara) demand that the Western Saharan liberation front, Polisario, adopts a more confrontational line against Morocco. They also demand that young people should have more influence on Western Sahara’s exile government, that has operated from a refugee camp in the desert in neighboring Algeria for over 30 years. Some youths even talk about the possibility of a military solution to the conflict because they do not believe that the peaceful UN-mediated approach, that has been pursued since the 1991 ceasefire between Morocco and the Saharawis, has yielded any results.

The frustration of the young Saharawis is not just a problem for the stability of Western Sahara or Morocco, but for an entire region that lies just across the Mediterranean from Europe. So even though we Europeans don’t seem to bother about the illegal occupation or Morocco’s repeated human rights violations against the Saharawis, we should at least intervene in earnest to avoid a potential war that will destabilise the region and see scores of refugees land on our doorstep.

The Polisario Front held its 13th executive congress in December in the shadow of this threat, a congress that was attended by over 2000 delegates including 300 foreign ambassadors, politicians, NGOs, etc. from all over the world including Spain, the European Parliament, South America, South Africa and the African Union.

Amongst other things, the congress delegates sent a letter to Morocco asking its people to”reflect on the serious consequences of more than 36 years of occupation of Western Sahara.” The congress also declared that Western Saharas former colonial power, Spain, “is responsible for what happens in Western Sahara” in a letter to Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy.

The congress, that issues guidelines for the policy of the Polisario for the next four years and elects  a new Polisario leadership, thus demonstrated very clearly that it wants less talk and more action from the parties that have a stake in the conflict to ensure the UN-sanctioned referendum on whether to integrate with Morocco or to become an independent nation. A referendum that Morocco has intentionally delayed since 1992, and which will in all probability lead to Western Sahara’s independence.

“There were sometimes divergent views about some ideas and plans during the congress, which are normal in frank, free and democratic discussions,” says the Polisario’s representative in Denmark, Abba Malainin, who attended the congress, “but there was always consensus on the core issue, which is the right of the Saharawis to self-determination and independence.”

The congress responded to the calls of the Saharawi youth for a more confrontational line by strengthening their participation in policy making, by e.g. making the president of the Saharawi National Union of Students a member of the Polisario’s leadership. Moreover, the Polisario have seemingly decided to rely less on the hitherto fruitless UN-negotiations in the future.

“For the moment we will continue the UN negotiations process,” says Abba Malainin, “as well as reinforcing the peaceful Intifada in the occupied territories of Western Sahara. But at the same time we are also strengthening the capabilities of the Saharawi Army, although a military solution will always remain a last resort. The final communiqué of the congress, on other hand, confirmed that ‘the continuation of the Moroccan occupation contributes to the heightening tensions and is a threat to the peace, security and stability of the entire region.’”

If we Europeans want to avoid this “last resort” becoming a inevitability because the young Saharawis, like other young people in North Africa before them, come to believe that they have nothing left to lose, we should be much more responsive to their demands. One specific demand that the congress made, and that we are able to respond to without delay, was that companies that operate in the region ought to “respect international law and not be involved directly or indirectly in the looting and theft of wealth of the oppressed Saharawi people.”

Amongst other things, the EU could do so by making sure that the fisheries agreement with Morocco, that has for years allowed European fishermen to illegally fish of the coasts of Western Sahara, in not renewed.

Read more:

The case for Western Saharan independence

Alle over 35 husker Bob Geldoffs og det stjernespækkede Band Aids sang ”Do they know it’s Christmas” fra 1984, Michael Jacksons ”We are the world”, og den danske modstykke, Nannas ”Afrika” fra 1985. Alle sange var til støtte for de hungersramte i Etiopien.

Disse kampagners omtalemæssige og finansielle succes, gjorde at de skabte præcedens for de mange lignende velgørenhedskampagner der fulgte efter, der ofte trivialiserede de problemstillinger de hævdede at de søgte at løse.

Fælles for de tre sange var, at man som almindelig vesterlænding opfordredes til at hjælpe de stakkels hungersramte Etiopiere ved at købe sangen – en opfordring som millioner fulgte. ”Det bliver bedre dag for dag, hvis vi gi’r en hånd til Afrika”, som den danske sang forsikrede. ”We are the ones who make a brighter day so lets start giving”, som Jacksons sang insisterede.

Kampagnerne gav dog et overfladisk billede af fattigdom, der ikke stillede spørgsmålstegn ved, hvorfor så mange mennesker er fattige eller hvilken rolle vi i Danmark og Vesten spiller i denne sammenhæng. Det implicitte budskab var, at de stakkels passive Afrikanere er objekter, og ikke subjekter. At de kun kan klare sig ved hjælp af vores velgørenhed og hjælp – et budskab som desværre også mere eller mindre eksplicit fremsættes i lignende kampagner i dag.

Måske mener organisationerne bag disse kampagner, at man skaber den størst mulige indkomst her og nu ved til stadighed at vise billeder af mere eller mindre hjælpeløse, fattige Afrikanere. Og deri har de sandsynligvis ret på kort sigt.

Men i det lange løb er det lige så sandsynligt, at de mennesker som kampagnerne henvender sig til bliver mere og mere modvillige over for at støtte mennesker i Afrika, der ifølge det billede som de selv samme kampagner har været med til at male, ikke selv synes at gøre noget  for at komme ud af fattigdommen. Bistandsorganisationerne underminerer så at sige deres egen mulighed for at skabe en global bevidsthed og solidaritet med fattige Afrikanere hos deres målgrupper i Danmark og Vesten.

Hvad vi i stedet burde vise i langt højere grad i fjernsynet og på plakater på gader og stræder, er et positivt billede af Afrikanere de handler for at arbejde sig ud af fattigdom. Billeder af de rigtigt mange fattige mennesker der organiserer sig for at få indflydelse, af fattige mennesker der aktivt forsøger at forbedre deres og andre fattiges situation.
Hvis vi mener det alvorligt, når vi taler om partnerskab, fattigdomsbekæmpelse, og demokrati, burde vi samtidigt med at vi søger at løse akutte nødsituationer, være med til at styrke mobiliseringen og selvorganiseringen af medlemsbaserede organisationer i partnerlandene i Afrika, agere som talerør for disse i Nord, samt presse på for konkrete ændringer af et internationale system, der ellers vil bevare den enorme ulighed i verden. Ellers er der bare tale om at vi yder symptombehandling.
Men måske er den mest ærlige og sigende linie i “Do they know it’s Christmas”, i virkeligheden når Bono synger, ”well tonight thank God it’s them instead of you”. Et nok utilsigtet erkendelse af at mange vesterlændinge blot betaler sig fra deres dårlige samvittighed ved at støtte velgørenhedskampagner med småpenge, og at de ellers er fint tilfredse med, at den nuværende verdensorden bevares.

Maxwell Dlamini was detained, tortured and forced to sign a confession by members of Swaziland’s police and security forces during the so-called April 12 Swazi Uprising, a peaceful protest inspired by the Arab Spring that was brutally clamped down upon by Swazi police and security forces. He is currently on trial for allegedly having been in possession of explosives and remanded and the infamous Manzini Remand Centre. Several representatives of Swaziland’s democratic movement have called the allegations against Maxwell Dlamini absurd, and an international campaign has demanded his unconditional release.

Maxwell is a threat to the undemocratic Swazi regime precisely because “he is a strong and a brave young leader who stands up and defends human rights,” says Dumezweni Dlamini from the Foundation for Socio-Economic Justice, a partner organisation of Maxwell’s SNUS. “This is why he has been put behind bars.”

“But there cannot be a better recipient [of the award] than this rare gem of a new generation of activists for the liberation of Swaziland,” says Wandile Dludlu from the Swaziland United Democratic Front. “Maxwell has been at the service of the youth in an oppressive dangerous political environment and has led the students in several campaigns of peaceful protests against unjust government policy. We are proud to be associated with SNUS, who has been producing leaders of a special pedigree like Maxwell. They have made an indelible mark in the history of our struggle for democracy, human rights and good governance.”

The Front Line Defenders Award is presented annually. The winner and his or her organisation is awarded with a cash prize of €15,000. Last years award, presented by former Irish Prime Minister Mary Robinson, was given to the Joint Mobile Group of the Russian Federation “for their outstanding work investigating torture, killings and disappearances in Chechnya.”

Read More:

Swaziland: uprising in the slip-stream of North Africa

At the trial, Maxwell Dlamini and his co-accused, Musa Ngubeni, pleaded not guilty to the charges of contravening Swaziland’s Explosives Act 4 of 1961. Several representatives of Swaziland’s democratic movement have referred to the charges as ludicrous and the long delay of the trial as a deliberate act by Swaziland’s absolute monarchy to discourage any opposition to its undemocratic and brutal rule.

According to Wandile Dludlu of the Swaziland United Democratic Front, an umbrella movement of democratic forces in Swaziland, over 60 activists attended the court session in a show of support for Maxwell Dlamini and Musa Ngubeni.

“But the state is playing dirty delaying tactics because they don’t have credible witnesses,” said Dludlu, “The only state witness, superintendent Clement Sihlongonyane [who arrested Maxwell and Musa in April 2011], has already told blatant lies during a gruelling cross examination on the first day.”

According to the Times of Swaziland, Sihlongyane had claimed that Dlamini and Ngubeni led them to the explosives hidden in a forest voluntarily and that “bomb experts confirmed that the red, black and grey cables which were hidden in a white shoe box were indeed explosives.”

“Sihlongyane later complained to court of not being well,” Wandile Dludlu said. “But on the second day of the trial, after the magistrate granted him relief to go to hospital, he came outside court to joke with his colleagues when Maxwell’s mother confronted him about the morality of his behaviour. He ran amok with all sorts of insults right in front of everybody.”

The case is set to continue on the15th and 16th of February, the further delay being due to the alleged illness of superintendent Sihlongonyane.

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Swaziland: uprising in the slip-stream of North Africa