25 September 2008

Since the beginning of August African Monitor, working with Black Sash, CIVICUS, Hope Africa, South African Human Rights Commission, COSATU, Southern African Trust, South African Council of Churches, SANGOCO, Studies in Poverty and Inequality Institute and IDASA, has held Poverty Hearings across South Africa.  The exercise of going out to listen to the people’s voices has been concluded. Whilst the report on the poverty hearings is still being finalised, a few highlights of the findings reveal that; 

African Monitor is commissioning 4 independent studies to be undertaken in the following countries; Ghana, Zambia, Ethiopia and Uganda. Proposals are hereby invited from suitably qualified consultants/organizations to undertake a 3 month comprehensive research and fieldwork survey  on “Resource Tracking in the agriculture sector” in each of the above named countries.

Lessons for Aid Effectiveness from Poverty Hearings

Aid works when people talk and work together. On poverty there is no effective dialogue. Everyone is doing their own thing.
Poverty Hearings Commissioner, South Africa

 Opinion

August 2008

After the collapse of the World Trade Organization’s mini-Ministerial talks in Geneva recently many people are disappointed, with some suggesting ways to save the Doha negotiations or at least salvage some parts of it. I have been following the aftermaths of the failure of the talks with eagerness and I realize that many have expressed regret at the collapse, and rightly so.

 G8 Summit 2008: All talk, zero walk

By Archbishop Njongo Ndungane

The Group of Eight (G8) summit has come and like other previous summits gone. A lot of anticipation preceded this year’ summit against a backdrop of an escalation of the usual problems and new challenges bedeviling the world, particularly the African continent.