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Photo: Charles Akena/IRIN

Boniface Okot (right), a Ugandan student, at the Kampala stopover of the Trans-African Caravan of Hope

KAMPALA, 2 December 2011 (IRIN) – Brandishing a plea for developed countries to make good their promises to reduce carbon emissions, 300 farmers, youths and activists took the scenic route to the COP17 conference in Durban, travelling more than 7,000km from Burundi in 17 days, through 10 eastern and southern African countries, aboard a convoy of buses draped in various national flags.

The aim of the Trans-African Caravan of Hope, organized by the Pan African Climate Change Justice Alliance, was to gather information about and raise awareness of the impact of climate change on those least responsible for causing it.

Signatures were gathered en route for a petition, the African People’s Protocol, which urges developed nations to abide by their Kyoto treaty commitments to reduce emissions and finance adaptation programmes.

IRIN spoke to some of those travelling with the convoy:

Emile Hakizimana 25, Burundian student and blogger: “Look, people in Africa are bound to face hunger because food production is going down as a result of floods and drought.

“We require sound pro-people governance that will put to use outcomes of the COP 17 [Conference of the Parties] meeting to improve lives of the rural communities facing the effects of climate change.”

Boniface Okot, 25, Ugandan student: “Food production will remain unpredictable if the weather continues to be unpredictable. The only way out is to find an agreeable means by which we can preserve the environment for the future.

“We require more knowledge and technology transfers that will help the developing economies have sufficient food and at the same time develop.”

Chandia Benadette Kodili, 25, Ugandan blogger with ActionAid International: “This [journey] gave me a great opportunity to experience the climate situation in other countries and how that affects the food security of people and eventually their lives.

“I have come to appreciate Uganda as the pearl of Africa because most of the countries we went through are so dry and hot; I wonder how people struggle to live in these places with devastating effects of climate change.

“I come from Moyo District, which has been affected greatly by floods displacing people, leading to diseases and food shortages… In the countries I have passed through… I have seen massive effects.

“I live in the city and depend on these small-scale women farmers struggling to produce food for their survival and at the same time feeding people in the city yet their crop yields are falling due to bad weather.

Photo: Charles Akena/IRIN

Collins Odhiambo from Kenya was among the activists on the Trans-African Caravan of Hope

“I hope there will be a [positive] outcome from Durban, that is why I spent over 17 days on the road to South Africa. I could have flown in but I chose the long and harder way so that I could share in solidarity with the many women farmers in other countries and how they are coping with these changes in the climate.

“Developed nations have to do something; we are already seeing Canada pulling out of the Kyoto Protocol, and the US, one of the biggest polluters, is not even part of this agreement. I ride in hope that they will get to their senses because right now they are politicking.”

Collins Odhiambo 24, Kenyan resident of Nairobi’s Kibera slum:“The caravan was a tough journey that required commitment; it provided me with the opportunity to meet and talk to people, some of them from communities affected by the drought crisis in eastern and southern Africa.

“Hearing their sad tales of how climate change has shattered their lives was heart-breaking. One thing that came out clearly in all the countries we visited is that climate change is real and it is here with us. It is the reality of our lives and the sooner action is taken the better; otherwise, our survival is at stake.

“Looking at the attention and reception that the caravan was receiving in different countries it passed through, it was humbling to see people from all walks of life, senior government officials, women, youths, children and men, come out in large numbers to speak out in one voice: immediate action is needed to save the world.

“I don’t see any breakthrough in the COP 17 meeting in Durban. In fact I am beginning to lose faith in these meetings because they are a waste of time and resources.

“How many COPs do we need before we can agree?”

ca/am/mw source http://www.irinnews.org

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floods and drought, actionaid international, climate situation, southern african countries, and african climate.

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Photo: Natalie Bailey/IRIN

Head of the Lao Network of people living with HIV/AIDS, Kinoy Phongdeth

VIENTIANE,  - Kinoy Phongdeth, 34, was one of the first four people given antiretrovirals (ARVs) when the medication initially arrived in Laos in 2003. Now, there are 1,600 people on treatment and the number is expected to jump to 7,000 by 2015, according to the government.

Out of a total population of 6.3 million, the national prevalence of 0.2 percent among 15-49-year-olds puts the 8,500 reported HIV/AIDS cases in Laos nearly a decade behind that of its neighbours.

As reported by governments, Thailand’s HIV prevalence is at 1.3 percent, or more than half a million people living with HIV; Cambodia’sis estimated at 0.6 percent, translating to nearly 70,000 people living with HIV.

“The goal is to stay 10 years behind in the AIDS epidemic,” said Chansy Phimphachanh, director of the Centre for HIV/AIDS/STI (sexually transmitted infections) in the Ministry of Health.

According to the Laotian government’s National Strategic and Action Plan on HIV/AIDS/STI Control and Prevention for 2011 to 2015, overall HIV prevalence among sex workers is an estimated 0.43 percent; among their clients, mainly electricity workers, it is 0.8 percent.

Border breakdown

But as the socialist country increasingly opens its borders, health workers are bracing for a potential concentrated, “catastrophic” outbreak in a country where HIV prevention is not yet a priority.

“What was protecting the country is not there any more,” said Pascal Stenier, country coordinator for UNAIDS, referring to Laos’ previously closed borders and economy, which is now increasingly global and growing by about 8 percent annually, according to the World Bank.

Among men who have sex with men and sex workers in concentrated areas like Vientiane, the reported prevalence is above 5 percent. “The figures are small now, which is why it is worth investing in prevention. If we don’t, we will have an increase,” Stenier said.

The concern is an emerging epidemic among these at-risk populations.

Nationwide, there are at least 11,000 high-frequency sex workers, 50,000 men who have sex with men and 40,000 amphetamine-type stimulant users, including 1,600 injecting drug users, according to the government.

Hot spots are not only in the capital, Vientiane, but also in remote areas, such as across the border from Vietnam, with a reported 45 percent prevalence of HIV/AIDS among drug users. Reaching these populations is not only essential, but also expensive, said Stenier.

Programme financing 

But the global recession has left health workers wondering what will happen to the country’s US$43 million Global Fund HIV/AIDS grant, $24 million of which has been disbursed since 2003 to the government.

The HIV grant in Laos is up for review in June 2012, according to the Global Fund.

Because of donor cuts, the fund will finance only essential services for ongoing programmes that end before 2014, after which eligible countries can apply for continued support.

Other countries may have more bleak figures than Laos, but this is exactly why Laos should be a funding priority, said Katharine Bagshaw, an HIV officer with UNAIDS.

“This is an opportunity to prevent the same thing from happening in yet another country. We know what can happen,” she said.

Regardless of the relatively low prevalence, the impact is as real as any other sizeable epidemic, said Phongdeth.

Now the director of the Lao Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS, Phongdeth was part of what is referred to as the first wave of infections in Laos, resulting from migrant workers returning home.

He said he contracted the virus after working in a Bangkok nightclub for 10 years as a singer and sex worker.

“It is true that in Laos there are not so many people living with HIV and AIDS, but we are still people and we need help,” he said.

nb/pt/mw source http://www.irinnews.org

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Photo: Laudes Martial Mbon/IRIN

Seeking security: thousands of DRC residents are fleeing potential election conflict

BRAZZAVILLE,  - At least 3,500 people have arrived by boat in recent days in Congo’s capital, fearing violence in the run-up to the announcement, due before midnight on 6 December, of the outcome of the presidential election in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), according to an official.

Yves Ikiaye, a captain in Congo’s immigration service, said those crossing the Congo River, which separates Brazzaville from the DRC capital, Kinshasa, between 4 and 6 December included politicians and their families, diplomats and UN officials.

“We came here to escape war,” said Dorcas Mukaku, a schoolgirl, who arrived with her two younger sisters.

“The Lubas [one of DRC’s ethnic groups] said that if Etienne Tshisekedi was not elected they would set Kinshasa on fire and shed blood,” she told IRIN.

Others, “who support President Joseph Kabila [who is running for re-election], said it had to be him or no-one”, she said.

“I decided to leave my parents and studies behind to observe the situation from afar and save my life. I am too young and have nothing to do with what’s going on,” she said.

However, Congo’s Interior Minister, Raymond Mboulou, said: “We are not in a crisis situation,” adding that it was normal for people from Kinshasa to travel to Brazzaville.

Brazzaville’s chief of police, Général Benoît Moundélé-Ngollo, said a special camp would be set up if the numbers arriving increased significantly.

lmm/am/mw source.www.irinnews.org