SOUTHERN AFRICA: IRIN-SA Weekly Round-up 310 for 25 November - 1 December 2006
01 Dec 2006 19:11:28 GMT Source: IRIN
JOHANNESBURG, 1 December (IRIN) - CONTENTSZAMBIA: More than 10 girls raped every week
ZIMBABWE: More than 60 activists held, 40 beaten, claims NGO
NAMIBIA:
Orphans bear the brunt of WFP cash shortfall
MADAGASCAR: The island goes to the polls on SundayZAMBIA: More than 10 girls raped every weekZambian nongovernmental organisation (NGO) revealed this
week that it records eight cases of rape of young girls every week at its centre in the capital, Lusaka.The statistics released by the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) recorded 10 cases of
rape of adult women every week. A joint report by the Victims Support Unit of the Lusaka Division of the Zambia Police Service, the YWCA, Women in Law in Southern Africa, a rights NGO, and the
government's Child Justice Forum released more shocking statistics: almost half of married women aged over 15 reported being battered or physically abused by their husbands, and 53 percent of women
overall experienced physical violence.See report: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56528ZIMBABWE: More than 60 activists held, 40 beaten, claims NGOMore than 60 protesting
Zimbabweans, some carrying babies, were arrested and at least another 40 were allegedly assaulted by the police in the country's second city, Bulawayo, on Wednesday.Activist organisation Women of
Zimbabwe Arise, which had organised a peaceful march to mark the launch of a 'People's Charter', a declaration on political and economic rights, and the '16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence',
an international campaign running until International Human Rights Day on 10 December, said demonstrators had congregated near the government offices in the city centre to read out the People's
Charter when about 30 riot police arrived and started arresting them.See report: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56566NAMIBIA: Orphans bear the brunt of WFP cash shortfallA funding
shortfall faced by the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) could force thousands of vulnerable Namibian children to go hungry in the coming weeks.Since reopening its Namibia office last year,
specifically to provide support to orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) in the north, where HIV/AIDS prevalence reaches 40 percent, the agency has not received a single donation towards its
operation. According to the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), around 120,000 Namibian children under the age of 17 have lost one or both parents, of which about 57,000 have been orphaned by HIV/AIDS.See
report: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56579MADAGASCAR: The island goes to the polls on SundayFour and a half years after being elected president of Madagascar, Marc Ravalomanana is
set to seek a second term in the election on Sunday. Although lauded for rehabilitating the infrastructure, opinion is divided over whether he has helped alleviate poverty.Voters are not expected to
come out in large numbers and, citing electoral process irregularities, some competing candidates are already questioning the possible outcome.See report:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56587See report:
See report: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56597
