UN Radio

UN and Africa
Programme Number: 147
Week of: Sunday, 8th April, 2007
Recording Date: Thursday, 12th April, 2007
Topical Issue(s):
" As the UN commemorates the 13th anniversary of the Rwanda genocide, UN Secretary-Ban Ki-moon recalls that his visit to Rwanda last year to pay his respect to the victims and survivors of the slaughter has had a profound and a personal impact. He says two messages should be paramount: never forget and never stop to prevent genocide.

" In this second of a two part interview, Ambassador Dumisani Khumalo of South Africa, President of the Security Council in March explains why troubled Zimbabwe should not be on the Council's agenda. He also talks about some of the challenges that African members face in the Security Council.

" Grandparents and children in Africa are increasingly forced to take on the role of being heads of households as a result of conflicts and HIV/AIDS. And so, in recognition of this problem, preparations are now under way for the first-ever summit to deal with the issue.

RESENTER: This is United Nations Radio in New York.

PRESENTER:

Hello and welcome to UN and Africa. I'm Derrick Mbatha.

PRESENTER:

In today's programme, United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon says on the thirteenth anniversary of the Rwanda genocide, two messages should be paramount:
CLIP 1: BAN KI-MOON
"First, never forget. Second, never stop to prevent genocide."

PRESENTER:

You will hear more about the commemoration of the Rwanda genocide in a moment.
Also in this programme, as the political and humanitarian crisis continues in Zimbabwe, is it time now to bring the issue before the Security Council?
CLIP 2: DUMISANI KHUMALO

"No, no, because the issue of Zimbabwe does not belong in the Security Council."

PRESENTER:

Ambassador Dumisani Khumalo of South Africa. He will explain later why he thinks so.
And for our last segment, grandparents and young children are heading households in Africa as a result of AIDS.
So stay tuned to UN and Africa.
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The UN Commemorates 13th Anniversary of the Rwanda Genocide

PRESENTER:

This week marked one of the darkest days in the recent history of Africa, the Rwanda genocide. On Monday, the United Nations commemorated the mass murder of hundreds of thousands of Tutsis and moderate Hutus in Rwanda thirteen years ago. UN Radio's Diane Bailey reports.

NARRATOR:
When the marauding bands of machete wielding and gun totting mobs had completed their murderous rampage in Rwanda, over 800,000 people lay dead across the country. Extremist Hutus, acting as though they were driven by evil demons and hatred of unimaginable proportions, had embarked on an orgy of violence, hacking Tutsis and moderate Hutus to death. The political justification for the genocide was that Tutsis had dominated the majority Hutus. It was the shooting down of a plane carrying President Juvenal Habyarimana of Rwanda that ignited the mass violence. Imamculee Ilibagiza witnessed the slaughter first hand.
CUT 1: IMACULEE ILIBAGAZA
I saw them wearing banana leaves, they had horns they took from the goats, really like trying to look like the devil. I lost my mum. I lost my dad. I lost my two brothers, I lost my grandmother, my grandfather, my uncles, my aunts, cousins, that's almost ninety per cent of the whole family.

NARRATOR:

But Imaculee managed to escape death because her father had sent her to hide in the house of a Hutu friend. Her family members added to the number of the people who died in the slaughter. In his message to commemorate the Rwanda genocide, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon recalled that last year before becoming Secretary-General he visited Rwanda to pay his respects to victims and survivors of the genocide. The experience, he says, had a profound and personal impact on him which he carries with him every day he serves as the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
CUT 2: BAN KI-MOON
On this thirteen anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda, two messages should be paramount: First, never forget. Second, never stop working to prevent another genocide.

NARRATOR:
Ban Ki-moon said since those horrendous weeks thirteen years ago, the United Nations has learnt profound lessons. It has appointed a Special Adviser for the Prevention of Genocide and established an Advisory Committee on Genocide prevention, but it must do more. The Secretary-General also noted that Africa too, has taken action, including the historic Pact on Security, Stability and Development for the Great Lakes region. That treaty contains a protocol on prevention and punishment of genocide.
CUT 3: BAN KI-MOON
It is encouraging that the countries of the Great Lakes have come together to reflect on the terrible conflicts that have afflicted the region, and are striving to ensure that future generations can live together not only within their own countries, but also with their neighbours. I profoundly hope the pact will be ratified soon.

NARRATOR:

The Secretary-General gave a signed copy of his message to Rwanda's Ambassador to the United Nations, Joseph Nsengimana, who thanked the Secretary-General.
CUT 4: JOSEPH NSENGIMANA
We wish to focus the attention of the international community, including the United Nations, to do important issues of preventing genocide globally and international assistance to the survivors of the genocide who continue to suffer from the effects of the crime perpetrated against them.

And looking back at what happened thirteen years ago, what does one of the survivors of this crime, Immacule Ilibagaza think about the failure of the members of the international community to prevent this crime?
CUT 5: IMACULEE ILIBAGIZA
I don't hold it against them, but late decisions can really cause big things. Start by our neighbours, from Burundi, from Uganda, maybe they should have tried to help us to stop it but they didn't do it. But what now? The consequences are going through all of us. We are one. We should help each other and work for the generation that is coming.

NARRATOR:

In his message to commemorate the 1994 Rwanda genocide, the UN Secretary-General said everyone has a role to play to prevent this crime against humanity: governments, the media, civil society organizations, religious groups and each and every individual. Reporting for UN and Africa, I am Diane Bailey.

STING UN AFRICA THEME MUSIC

South Africa Says Zimbabwe Should Not be on Security Council Agenda

The political crisis in Zimbabwe has prompted Southern African leaders to ask South African president Thabo Mbeki to mediate between the government of President Robert Mugabe and the opposition. Meanwhile, given the gravity of the situation in the country, questions have been raised about whether or not the issue should be taken up by the Security Council. So when I asked Ambassador Dumisani Khumalo of South Africa to share with me his experience as the president of the Council in March, I put the question to him: Should Zimbabwe be on the agenda of the Security Council?
KHUMALO: No, no because the issue of Zimbabwe does not belong in the Security Council. Zimbabwe is facing a very difficult political problem. The people of Zimbabwe have to decide politically what the future of their country is going to be, but don't bring it to the Security Council as if now Zimbabwe has invaded another country or Zimbabwe is bombing neighbours. There is also this naïve and mischievous way of saying oh you know but apartheid was brought to the Security Council; apartheid was a crime against humanity according to UN itself and the apartheid regime was killing people, all our friends in Botswana in Lesotho, in Zambia, in Zimbabwe, they were bombing everybody being a menace around the whole sub-region. That is why they were a matter of international peace and security. Here it's a very difficult political problem, it is a very sad political problem but the people of Zimbabwe will have to deal with that.

MBATHA: Yes, it would seem to me that the elected members of the Security Council don't have that much of influence in the Council. Correct me if I am wrong. Do African countries and other elected members have influence in the Security Council or merely follow the P5 decides?

KHUMALO: Well you know this year we really tried to stand up to the P5 and I think we succeeded in many things. And this year we have of course South Africa, Ghana and Congo and all three of us have been very vocal about things about things that don't belong there. We have been vocal about you know the P5 can't bring up the issue Zimbabwe when it suites them.

MBATHA: Does this tie in with the need to reform the Security Council, which includes the way the Security Council works?

KHUMALO: Yes. As long as Africa doesn't have a permanent member in the Security Council we will always become victimized by this very Security Council that claims it spends more time dealing with our issues. They only deal with our issues the way the permanents would want to deal with them. And you know so Africa should needs to get its acts together and decide on this issue of expansion because if the Security Council is not reformed and if Africa is not there our issues will never get the full addressing.

MBATHA: What is delaying this issue?

KHUMALO: Well what is delaying it because some countries are worrying about who is going to be there, and you know am I going be in, am I going to be out and you know that type of thing, which is irrelevant you know because it is about Africa. It doesn't matter which country is there as long as we have an African country that can represent our interest. That is really what we need as Africans.

MBATHA: And finally, at the end of your term as a member of the Security Council what is it that will make you, looking back, say that yes mission accomplished here?

KHUMALO: Well I think one thing we have managed to show was that Africa can operate in this Council. We can operate just like they operate, we can run the work of the Security Council with integrity and you know so I think we have proven that we belong in that Council and now it is just for Africa's turn to decide, which country would take over from us and carry on the work. That is more important.

PRESENTER:

That was Ambassador Dumisani Khumalo of South Africa.

STING UN AFRICA THEME MUSIC
Roles of Grandparents and Grandchildren Are Changing in Africa

PRESENTER:

The roles of grandparents and grandchildren are changing in Africa as a result of conflicts and AIDS. Gone are the days when many grandparents could look forward to enjoying being care for by their children and having quality time with their grandchildren. And so, in recognition of this problem, preparations are now under way for the first-ever summit, entitled Grandparents Caring for Children: A Global Challenge. UN Radio's Ransford Cline-Thomas reports.
NARRATOR:
The summit, which will be held in Brooklyn, New York at the beginning of May this year, is based on the premise that every child has the right to a family. An ideal family as we know it will be made up of a mother, a father and children. Now, in extended families in Africa, children who have lost their biological parents would live with their aunts or uncles. With urbanization on the continent, young people have left rural areas to urban areas in search of work living their parents in the rural areas. During holidays these young urban dwellers and their children would visit their parents in the rural areas where their children get to spend quality time with their grandparents. However, all of that has changed, as we hear from Duncan Mahumuza of the Permanent Mission of Uganda to the United Nations.
CUT 1: DUNCAN MAHUMUZA
In Uganda, the phenomenon of grandparenting stems from our culture of extended families. Culturally, as was a regular part of growing up for children to visit and stay with their grandparents and indeed with close relatives, now they come to stay. They don't just come to pay visits.

NARRATOR:

Mr. Mahumuza says the number of grandparents who are taking care of their grandchildren has increased as a result of HIV and AIDS. Beth Finkel, Manager of State Programmes and Services, AARP, or what was formerly known as the American Association of Retired Persons in New York, cites shocking figures to illustrate the magnitude of the problem.
CUT 2 BETH FINKEL

Estimates show that in Sub-Saharan Africa alone, nearly 12 million children under the age of 17 have lost either one or both their parents to AIDS. So, grandparents who have lost their adult children to AIDS are now left to care for the children.

NARRATOR:

This situation is actually a reversal of roles where ageing parents who are supposed to be taken care of by both their children and grandchildren now have to take on the role of being parents themselves once again. Duncan Mahumuza tells this sad story of an occasion where grandparents lost their children in one village in Uganda and so the grandchildren came to the village to bury their parents. And this is what happened.
CUT 3: DUNCAN MAHUMUZA
They stayed there and all the stuff that they used to have in the town, like the fridges, the cookers and everything were brought. So, two, three days after, they couldn't find food and as children are known to do, they opened the fridge. Of course, there was no food. The grandmother tried to bring the traditional food that they eat in the village and the children could not cope with it. So, unfortunately, in this particular case, the grandmother committed suicide.

NARRATOR:

Well, that's just one example of the difficulties that grandparents have to face nowadays. But the death of young parents to AIDS is not only leaving the responsibility of taking care of children to grandparents. Children themselves have to shoulder this responsibility. And so, according to Brigitte Castellano, the Executive Director of the National Committee of Grandparents for Children's Rights, this is another issue the United Nations must address.
CUT 4: BRIGITTE CASTELLANO

In Africa, children are also the heads of households. In Rwanda, more than 227,000 children are raising other children, and up to now the United Nations General Assembly has not established guidelines or standards regarding children without parents.

And so, it is hoped that the international summit on grandparents raising grandchildren next month in New York will create the opportunity for a global dialogue and underline the urgency of finding solutions to this problem. Reporting for UN and Africa, I am Ransford Cline-Thomas.

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PRESENTER:
And that's all for this edition of UN and Africa. Our Production Assistant was Zenawit Melesse and our sound engineer was Rosie Starr. I am Derrick Mbatha saying bye bye.
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