By IPS Correspondents
KATHMANDU, Feb 23 1995 (IPS)

NEPAL’S COMMUNIST GOVERNMENT RODE TO POWER ON A POPULIST ANTI-INDIAN CAMPAIGN LAST OCTOBER. NOW FACE- TO-FACE WITH THE ‘REALPOLITIK’ OF INDIA’S OVERWHELMING DOMINANCE, IT IS FINDING IT HARD TO KEEP PROMISES.

THE NEPAL COMMUNIST PARTY UNITED MARXIST-LENINIST (UML) PLEDGED TO RENEGOTIATE A 1950 FRIENDSHIP TREATY WITH INDIA WHICH IT SAYS IS UNEQUAL. IT ALSO SAID IT WOULD SCRAP AN AGREEMENT WITH INDIA ON A DAM IN WESTERN NEPAL AND INTRODUCE WORK PERMITS FOR INDIANS IN THE COUNTRY.

NEPAL’S DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER, AND UML CHIEF, MADHAV KUMAR NEPAL VISITED NEW DELHI LAST MONTH TO SPEAK WITH INDIAN LEADERS ON THESE ISSUES. HE GOT A POLITE HEARING, BUT NO BREAKTHROUGHS.

MADHAV KUMAR NEPAL HAS HANDED THE BATON TO HIS BOSS, PRIME MINISTER AND VETERAN COMMUNIST MAN MOHAN ADHIKARY, WHO IS SCHEDULED TO VISIT INDIA NEXT MONTH. FOUR BILATERAL COMMITTEES OF OFFICIALS FROM THE TWO COUNTRIES ARE WORKING OUT DETAILS OF THE AGREEMENTS TO BE REACHED DURING THE VISIT.

LANDLOCKED NEPAL IS SANDWICHED BETWEEN INDIA AND CHINA. THE HIMALAYAN MOUNTAINS SEPARATE NEPAL FROM CHINA IN THE NORTH, BUT WITH INDIA, NEPAL HAS A 900 KM OPEN BORDER.

MIGRANT WORKERS CROSS THE FRONTIER FREELY IN BOTH DIRECTIONS, BUT NEPAL SAYS THE PRESENCE OF LARGE NUMBERS OF INDIANS IN NEPAL TAKES AWAY JOBS FROM NEPALIS AND HAS A MUCH GREATER IMPACT THAN NEPALIS HAVE ON INDIA.

THE 1950 INDO-NEPAL TREATY STIPULATES THAT THE TWO COUNTRIES WILL GIVE EACH OTHER’S CITIZENS “THE SAME PRIVILEGES IN THE MATTER OF RESIDENCE AND OWNERSHIP OF PROPERTY”.

NEPAL, WITH 20 MILLION PEOPLE, FEARS IT WILL BE SWAMPED BY INDIANS WHO NUMBER NEARLY 900 MILLION, IF THE TREATY IS NOT REVISED.

“CERTAIN PROVISIONS OF THE 1950 TREATY HAVE BECOME OBSOLETE. WE WOULD LIKE IT TO BE REVIEWED, UPDATED AND MADE RELEVANT TO EXISTING NEEDS,” SAYS MADHAV KUMAR NEPAL.

THE OTHER CLAUSE IN THE TREATY THAT NEPAL WANTS CHANGED IS THE REQUIREMENT TO INFORM AND CONSULT EACH OTHER IN THE EVENT OF “A THREAT TO THE SECURITY OF THE OTHER BY A FOREIGN AGGRESSOR”.

A LETTER EXCHANGED WITH THE TREATY ALSO STIPULATES THAT NEPAL WILL IMPORT ITS DEFENCE EQUIPMENT WITH THE “ASSISTANCE AND AGREEMENT” OF INDIA.

IN 1989, INDIA CLOSED ALL BORDER POINTS WITH NEPAL FOR [e

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By IPS Correspondents
BANGKOK, Feb 22 1995 (IPS)

Nanthawan Chutakasut, a 41-year-old nurse at a public health centre in Thailand, has seen too many patients suffer and die of AIDS, including babies born to HIV-infected mothers.

Her concern for victims of the deadly disease prompted her to volunteer for an anti-AIDS vaccine experiment, risking her health for a controversial programme that involves having a possibly dangerous synthetic protein injected into her bloodstream.

“The percentage of pregnant women with AIDS has increased from 0.7 percent to about three percent, which means there will be more babies born with the virus,” she says. “They are the main reason for my decision to become a volunteer.”

Nanthawan is just one of dozens of modern-day heroes in Thailand who have agreed to become human guinea pigs to help medical researchers find a vaccine against the dreaded AIDS virus that has infected an estimated 500,000 people in the country.

The volunteers include a school teacher, army soldiers, students and a shrimp farmer — united only by a sense of compassion which carries them beyond fear of even the deadliest disease known today.

No monetary rewards await them. The only fringe benefit for the volunteers is that if the vaccine proves successful, they will all receive a free dosage.

As a member of the medical profession who believes an AIDS vaccine is possible, Nanthawan has high hopes for this project.

But Thailand’s first anti-AIDS vaccine trial involving humans has been mired in controversy, with critics questioning its safety and ethical implications.

Jane Pollock, coordinator of EMPOWER, a non-government group promoting the rights of women sex workers, says the welfare of the volunteers in any kind of trial is of the utmost importance.

“It is necessary for the volunteers to understand the situation they are placed under. They should be fully informed and able to ask questions,” says Pollock.

The volunteers, however, are confident they will not be infected if they stick to the rules. Throughout the trial, they must not visit prostitutes, use drugs or engage in other risky activities.

Acharn Chalao Misdey, a 33-year-old school teacher, says they were informed about the U.S. volunteers who had contracted AIDS, before they got their first inoculation last June.

“I understood that the American volunteers had contracted the disease not from the vaccine but through their own risky behaviour. So I was not at all afraid,” says Chalao.

The vaccine, a synthetic protein resembling the outermost coat of the AIDS virus, is produced by the U.S. manufacturer United Biochemical Inc (UBI), under the name UBI-HIV-1.

This week, 30 other volunteers — all recovering intravenous drug users — received the first dose of a genetically-engineered vaccine known as GP-120 which is being tested by the Ministry of Public Health and scientists from Mahidol University.

Critics say such tests on humans expose volunteers to potentially fatal risks. Social scientist Acharn Aphichat Chamrasrathirong fears they may get infected with HIV from the inoculations. The Thai Red Cross Society’s lack of an AIDS laboratory raised further doubts about the project.

But Dr Praphan Bhanupark, head of the trial programme for the UBI-HIV-1 vaccine, shrugs off such concerns.

“The volunteers, even those receiving the placebo, benefit from the experiment. It is not unethical at all. But this does depend on the trustworthiness of the scientists,” says Praphan.

He adds: “The basic principle behind any sort of experimental vaccine testing done in Thailand must be the development of the quality of the country’s scientists. Thai people as a whole should benefit from the testing.”

Praphan also denies allegations that all blood samples would be sent directly to the vaccine’s U.S. manufacturer without being analysed in Thailand.

“I would never consider doing that,” he says. “It would be a disgrace to the country. We need to develop our research abilities. Thai people cannot be caught, tied up and boxed so easily. I would not let that happen.”

Critics of the vaccine tests also say the experiments will benefit the West more than developing countries.

More than 80 percent of HIV carriers are infected with Type E of the AIDS virus. But clinical trials are geared towards finding a vaccine against virus Type B which is more common in the United States and Europe, Dr Natth Bhamarapravati of Mahidol University told a world AIDS meeting in Japan last year.

Third World experts are also worried that developing countries taking part in efforts to find a defence against AIDS will have difficulty obtaining the vaccine for their people.

They say the World Health Organisation must implement guidelines stating clearly that participating countries must be allowed to pay lower rates for the vaccine when one is developed.

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By IPS Correspondents
GAZA CITY, Feb 22 1995 (IPS)

Palestinian businessman Said el-Mishal made millions of dollars in Qatar in petrochemicals, fertilizers and steel. Six months ago, he moved to Gaza to put his business head to work building the economy of the impoverished Gaza Strip.

He formed a holding company called Gaza Development Group with several deep-pocketed Palestinians with plans to build a clothing factory, a cement factory, and an ambitious medium and low-income housing project in the fledgling Palestinian state.

In an area with few natural resources, little empty land, and a devastated infrastructure, el-Mishal said he chose industries that capitalise on what Gaza does have — labour: cheap and abundant.

Today he is not so sure his business ideas make sound investment sense and his pessimism mirrors a growing discontentment among Palestinians in the face of deleterious economic conditions.

Since el-Mishal arrived in Gaza, the tiny strip has been “closed” a total of 52 days by Israel in response to suicide attacks by militant Palestinians inside the Jewish state.

Palestinians view the closures as collective punishment because none of the thousands of Gazans who travel daily to jobs inside Israel are allowed to cross the border. They say the move is made with a “let them suffer” attitude that punishes an entire nation for the acts of a few.

Israel says closures are necessary for security purposes because thousands of workers crossing the border daily increases the chances that a suicide bomber will sneak through. The result is a loss to the Gaza economy estimated at at least 700,000 dollars a day.

But more importantly, for investors like el-Mishal, Israel’s grip on the key that locks and unlocks the doors of Gaza means that the business environment is unstable. Complete closure affects more than just workers. It means that supplies cannot be imported to Gaza and finished products cannot be exported.

“I can do in Gaza what I did in Qatar,” said el-Mishal. “But not with the situation like it is. How can I do anything when I am not sure if I have a market each day, if I’m not in control of the destiny of my product?”

When no closure is in effect, Israel still controls a meticulous and tedious permit system that allows goods and people to enter and exit Gaza.

For a Palestinian to get from the West Bank to Gaza, he needs a permit to enter Israel and another permit to enter Gaza. His truck needs a separate permit. The result is uncertainty from one day to the next whether goods and people will make it through the door.

Gaza has no port or airport of its own. Goods are not allowed to pass between Gaza and the Sinai (they must be taken to an Israeli- Egyptian crossing point outside Gaza). Supplies cannot move between the West Bank and Gaza without a permit. And goods cannot be exported at one of Israel’s ports by a Palestinian — they must use an Israeli middleman.

In short, Gaza is a trapped economy and that reality is giving investors second thoughts about pouring money into the new Palestinian entity.

Economic statistics are staggeringly grim. Of a work force of 150,000, some 60,000 — 40 per cent — are unemployed when the Strip is closed. Gaza’s population sits at around 900,000 with about 60 per cent under the age of 16. Few women work. That means ten per cent of the population (90,000 workers) is charged with sustaining the entire economy.

The repeated closures come at a time when the Palestinian economy is desperately trying to get on its feet — and the nascent government is scrambling to keep support for the peace agreement with Israel high.

Gaza’s streets are still trash-strewn and in the winter months the unpaved roads turn to mud with a vague stench of sewage permeating the air. Graffiti mars the walls and much of the overcrowded housing, shantytowns, and refugee camps have “indoor outhouses” without plumbing, so there is no shortage of work to be done.

The problem is money. The Palestinian government has provided some jobs to ease unemployment — at present, about 1,000 people work in foreign-funded projects, said economist Emad Shaath, who works for the Palestinian Economic Committee for Development and Reconstruction (PECDAR).

But unless they are done en masse for a prolonged period of time, donor-funded works projects are unlikely to ease the unemployment problem. Palestinian engineer Nabil Al-Sharif who works for PECDAR said that every five million dollars used to fund a project will employ 1,300 people for three months.

In other words, to put all 60,000 unemployed Gazans to work, PECDAR would need around 230 million dollars every three months. So far, it has received 128 million dollars in “emergency” aid from the international community that is supposed to last three years.

“Even the Prophet cannot solve this problem,” said Al-Sharif, who said the Palestinians’ best short-term option is to export labour to other Arab countries, possibly setting up taxation agreements whereby a percentage of the worker’s taxes would be transferred to the Palestinian Authority.

But exporting labour is only a Band-Aid remedy and it doesn’t address the need to build up (and clean up) Gaza, while the actual solutions are a long way off.

Israel and the Palestinians are talking about establishing industrial zones along the Gaza border; also donor money is trickling in at a rate of about five million dollars for specific projects. The effects of these projects will take years to be felt in the streets.

“There is no way to reconcile these problems,” said Dr. Samir Hezboun, an economist with a Bethlehem-based economic policy think tank, called DATA. “The only way is to get Israel to open the border.”

Excerpt:

By IPS Correspondents
JHAPA, NEPAL, Feb 22 1995 (IPS)

THE TREES ARE SILHOUETTED IN SHADES OF GREYISH-YELLOW MIST AS THE SUN COMES UP AT THE EDGE OF THE JUNGLE.

THERE IS A SUDDEN SPLASH UPSTREAM. HOISTING THEIR SARIS UP TO THE KNEES, WOMEN ARE WADING SINGLE-FILE ACROSS THE STEAMING RIVULET CARRYING ROPES, AXES AND SICKLES BUNDLED ON THEIR HEADS.

THE SUN BURNS AWAY THE FOG. SOON, THE INTERIOR OF THE FOREST IS RESOUNDING WITH THE LOUD CRACK OF AXES HITTING TREE TRUNKS PUNCTUATED BY SHATTERING EXPLOSIONS AS BRANCHES COME CRASHING DOWN.

HERE AT THE FRINGES OF THE RAMDHUNI JUNGLES IN EASTERN NEPAL IS ONE OF THE MANY FRONTLINES IN THE PLANET-WIDE BATTLE FOR SURVIVAL BETWEEN HUMAN BEINGS AND NATURE.

THESE SAL AND TEAK FORESTS ONCE DRAPED THE ENTIRE HIMALAYAN FOOTHILLS OF NEPAL — THICK, IMPENETRABLE AND TEEMING WITH WILDLIFE.

ABOUT 40 PERCENT OF NEPAL IS STILL COVERED IN NATIVE FOREST, AND THERE ARE INDICATIONS MOUNTAIN WOODLANDS MAY ACTUALLY BE GROWING BACK AFTER CENTURIES OF DECLINE. BUT IT IS THE ONE MILLION HECTARES OF REMAINING HARDWOOD FORESTS IN NEPAL’S SOUTHERN PLAINS BORDERING INDIA THAT ARE NOW THREATENED.

POPULATION INCREASE AND MIGRATION OF HILL PEOPLE TO THE PLAINS ARE LAYING BARE AN ESTIMATED 85,000 HECTARES OF THE VALUABLE FORESTS ANNUALLY. THE SOUTHERN PLAINS OF NEPAL HAVE ONE OF THE MOST RAPID DEFORESTATION RATES IN ASIA.

“AS FUELWOOD BECOMES INCREASINGLY SCARCE, WOMEN AND CHILDREN WALK LONGER DISTANCES AND EXPEND EVEN MORE TIME COLLECTING FUELWOOD, AT THE EXPENSE OF PRODUCTIVE AGRICULTURAL ACTIVITIES,” SAYS THE U.N. FOOD AND AGRICULTURE (FAO) FORESTRY PLANTATION SPECIALIST, RAJ S GUJRAL.

THESE FORESTS HAVE ALSO BECOME THE SUBJECT OF AN INTENSE DEBATE BETWEEN COMMERCIAL FORESTERS AND COMMUNITY FORESTERS ABOUT THE BEST WAY TO ENSURE THEIR FUTURE PROTECTION.

ON ONE SIDE ARE LOCAL AND FOREIGN BUSINESS GROUPS SUPPORTED BY DONOR BANKS AND AID AGENCIES. THEY FEEL THE TEAK FORESTS, PROPERLY MANAGED, COULD TURN NEPAL’S ECONOMY AROUND AND BRING IN MORE THAN 200 MILLION DOLLARS A YEAR IN EXPORTS.

OPPOSING THEM ARE CONSERVATIONISTS AND FORESTRY EXPERTS WHO SAY MOST NEPALIS ARE SUBSISTENCE FARMERS, AND UNLESS THEIR IMMEDIATE NEEDS OF SURVIVAL ARE TAKEN CARE OF BY LETTING VILLAGERS THEMSELVES MANAGE FORESTS, THERE IS NO HOPE.

BACKING THE FIRST GROUP IS FINLAND’S AID AGENCY, FINNIDA, WHICH IS READY TO SIGN A CONTRACT WITH THE NEPAL GOVERNMENT FOR A PILOT FOREST MANAGEMENT SCHEME RUN BY THE FINNISH COMPANY, ENSO FOREST DEVELOPMENT AND ITS NEPALI PARTNER, PADAMSHREE.

A FINNIDA STUDY SAYS THE LACK OF PRACTICAL MANAGEMENT OF GOVERNMENT-OWNED FORESTS IN NEPAL IS THE REASON FOR THE UNDER- UTILISATION OF THE HARDWOOD FORESTS AND THEIR DEPLETION.

PROJECT OFFICIALS SAY HARVESTING TEAK AND SAL LOGS WHICH WOULD OTHERWISE JUST ROT IN THE FOREST, SELECTED LOGGING INSIDE FORESTS AND SCIENTIFIC FORESTRY MANAGEMENT WOULD, IN THE LONG RUN, PRESERVE THE NATIVE JUNGLES.

THE PROJECT WAS ABOUT TO RECEIVE A GREEN LIGHT LAST YEAR, WHEN THERE WAS AN ABRUPT CHANGE OF GOVERNMENT IN KATHMANDU AFTER SNAP ELECTIONS. THE NEW COMMUNIST GOVERNMENT OF NEPAL SAYS IT IS STILL STUDYING THE FINNISH PROPOSAL.

EXPERTS LIKE EGBERT PELINCK, WHO HEADS THE KATHMANDU-BASED INTERNATIONAL CENTRE FOR INTEGRATED MOUNTAIN DEVELOPMENT (ICIMOD), SAY ANY STEPS TO CHANGE THE CURRENT FORESTRY MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES IN NEPAL SHOULD BE TAKEN CAREFULLY.

“IT SHOULD HAVE A STRONG EMPHASIS ON EQUITY. THE STATE AND THE PRIVATE SECTOR SHOULD SHARE THE BENEFITS WITH THE LOCAL COMMUNITY,” SAYS PELINCK, WHO IS FROM THE NETHERLANDS AND HAS WORKED AS A FORESTER IN NEPAL SINCE 1971.

OTHER NEPALI FORESTERS ARE LESS DIPLOMATIC. THEY HAVE MISGIVINGS ABOUT THE FINNISH PROJECT’S EMPHASIS ON THE PRIVATE SECTOR, AND DOUBT IT WILL EVER BENEFIT THE 85,000 VILLAGERS WHO LIVE AROUND THE PROJECT SITE.

“THE BENEFITS ARE PURELY THEORaGS) DONOR-DRIVEN AND THE VILLAGERS ARE NOT GOING TO GET ANYTHING OUT OF IT,” SAYS ONE GOVERNMENT FOREST EXPERT HERE.

PROPONENTS OF COMMUNITY FORESTRY SAY NEPAL SHOULD BUILD ON ITS SUCCESS WITH COMMUNITY LEASE-HOLD FORESTS WHICH HAVE BROUGHT THE TREES BACK TO LARGE TRACTS OF THE HIMALAYAN FOOTHILLS IN THE PAST 20 YEARS.

WITH HELP FROM THE FAO, NEPAL BUILT ON A LANDMARK LEGISLATION IN 1978 THAT RESTORED COMMUNITY FORESTS TO VILLAGE COUNCILS TO OWN AND MANAGE.

TODAY COMMUNITY FORESTRY IS THE LARGEST COMPONENT OF NEPAL’S FORESTRY MASTER PLAN, WHICH IS EXPECTED TO HAND BACK ALL ACCESSIBLE FORESTS IN THE HILLS TO VILLAGERS.

“THERE IS NO REASON WHY THE SUCCESS OF COMMUNITY FORESTS IN THE HILLS CANNOT BE REPLICATED IN THE PLAINS,” SAYS ONE FAO FIELD OFFICER.

FAO EXPERTS DEVISED AN INTERNATIONAL STRATEGY TO HAND OVER CONTROL OF FORESTS TO LOCAL COMMUNITIES, AND PUT THE PLANS INTO PRACTICE IN NEPAL THROUGH A WORLD BANK-FUNDED COMMUNITY FORESTRY DEVELOPMENT PROJECT IN 1978.

ONE OF THE ARCHITECTS OF THE COMMUNITY FORESTRY PLAN WAS THE LATE Y.S. RAO, A REGIONAL EXPERT WITH FAO IN BANGKOK.

RAO USED TO SAY: “THE THREE QUESTIONS TO ASK ABOUT ANY FORESTRY PROJECT ARE: WHO DECIDES? WHO PARTICIPATES? WHO BENEFITS?

IF THE ANSWER TO ALL THREE QUESTIONS IS ‘THE PEOPLE’, THEN IT WILL SUCCEED.”

THERE IS NOT MUCH TIME LEFT FOR NEPAL’S FORESTS. AT THE PRESENT RATE OF DEVASTATION, MOST OF THE PLAINS FORESTS MAY BE GONE BY THE YEAR 2000 — AND WITH IT A UNIQUE ECO-SYSTEM AND THE LAST HOPE FOR SURVIVAL FOR MILLIONS OF SUBSISTENCE FARMERS.

PROPONENTS OF COMMERCIAL FORESTRY ARGUE THEY ARE NOT AGAINST COMMUNITY FORESTRY. THEY SAY BOTH STRATEGIES CAN GO HAND-IN-HAND TO SUIT LOCAL CONDITIONS.

THEIR CRITICS SAY NEPAL CANNOT AFFORD A MISTAKE.

Excerpt:

By IPS Correspondents
MANILA, Feb 22 1995 (IPS)

Norma Pereyras found herself up against a brick wall of animosity five years ago, when she tried to create projects for women members who made up two-thirds of her cooperative in the southern Philippines.

The chairman of the board that manages the Tagum Cooperative in Davao del Norte said he was unconvinced that women had the ability to lead.

“I still believe that men should be on the highest level of leadership,” Edgar Gante told Pereyras. “Women can be equal to men, but not better than them because they belong to the weaker and emotional sex.”

Gante’s remarks were typical reactions that Pereyras, with three other female officers of the cooperative, battled during a two-year struggle to introduce gender-friendly programmes and attitudes into what was then already a 23-year-old organisation.

To such remarks, Pereyras retorted: “Do you know that you are committing injustice to these women by not initiating projects that would benefit them? They are contributing much to the assets of the cooperative and what do we give back in return? Nothing.”

Like the Tagum cooperative, most Philippine co-ops have more women members. But leadership positions are held mostly by men.

A 1987 survey showed that women made up 55 percent of members of Philippine cooperatives, says Teresita de Leon, general manager of the National Confederation of Cooperatives (NATCCO). But only 10 percent sat in the board and only 10 to 15 percent were chosen as managers to run day-to-day affairs.

De Leon says the figures improved a bit in 1991, with women holding 17 to 20 percent of cooperatives’ board of directors. About 20 to 25 percent of co-op managers were also women.

This situation is prevalent even outside the Philippines. Indeed, male dominance of leadership posts holds true for co-ops in general especially those in the agriculture, fisheries and traditional sectors, says Akiko Yamauchi, New Delhi-based gender program advisor of the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA).

“We have to recognise that most people still think men are more suitable to be leaders,” she says. “In fact, women themselves think so.”

ICA, of which NATCCO is a member, has been batting for greater acceptance of women as co-op leaders around the world. In 1994, it helped organise a workshop on gender in cooperatives, and NATCCO representatives were among the eager delegates.

NATCCO began a ‘gender and development’ programme in 1987. A year later, the federation launched its ‘Enhancement of Women’s Involvement in Cooperatives’ (EWIC) in areas like Tagum.

But by no means did EWIC’s loans and training programmes to heighten gender awareness sail smoothly in many cooperatives, as it challenged not just traditional concepts held by Filipino males but the women’s own perceptions of their roles.

“We came up against a lot of cultural biases, ” De Leon recalls, adding that many believed men were more skilled in management that women. At times, women themselves thought their place was in the home. Others wanted to attend gender seminars or do more in co-ops, but could not leave the house for too long.

Husbands huffed that wives’ attendance of gender seminars took them away from the home or emboldened the women to challenge their spouses’ ideas. Comments De Leon: “We were saying that we are not able to tap the women’s potentials because of cultural upbringing.”

The Tagum Cooperative itself took until 1992 before it approved projects tailored especially for women.

The Tagum board, most of whose members were men, had told Pereyra to forget about adopting concepts she learned in EWIC seminars. Discussions on gender often became heated arguments. But tension eased after two male board members attended a gender sensitivity seminar and came back with changed perceptions.

Tagum launched a 1993-1996 ‘Women in Development’ (WID) programme, covering topics like home and time management, livelihood training for poultry, hog and goat raising and skills in bookkeeping, leadership, communication and entrepreneurship.

But the cooperative later repackaged terms and schemes to make them less exclusive to women, changing ‘Women in Development’ into ‘Gender and Development’ and adding a ‘family enrichment’ scheme to get men more involved in home issues.

Other co-ops adapted to special needs, like one in the central Philippines that put up a day care centre because women wanted to do more business, but worried about their children.

Still, NATCCO knew gender training seminars were costly and looked for ways to sustain the scheme on limited funds. It thus put out two brochures that trainers and co-ops can use on their own to see if policies are gender sensitive.

De Leon says one result is that while some co-ops used to bar women to take out loans without their husbands’ consent, they have now changed the rule to require ‘spousal consent’ because loans are supposed to be a decision reached between partners.

She also reports that the Philippines has turned out to be an outstanding performer in the gender awareness arena, due to people’s “relatively open” attitude despite initial discomfort.

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By IPS Correspondents
MOSCOW, Feb 21 1995 (IPS)

Russian organisations for the promotion of sports and looking after the interests of the disabled or Afghan war veterans, are among the country’s largest importers of vodka, cigarettes and cars, the ‘Izvestia’ newspaper revealed Tuesday.

Duty free concessions given to these organisations by the government for special purchases, have been abused to flood the market with cheap imported liquor and tobacco, avoiding taxes that run into millions of dollars.

In a banner headline splashed across its front page, ‘Izvestia’ enumerated: “1,374,172,715,572 roubles”, and clarified in a sub- head, “That’s the amount (roughly 350 million dollars) the state budget has not got due to exemptions only for sports organisations.”

An overwhelming 80 per cent of the 1.3 trillion roubles worth of exemption was for imported liquor.

According to the newspaper’s respected financial analyst Mikhail Berger who has written the report, the duty drawbacks have made a large dent in government revenues and affected sales of Russian liquor and cigarettes.

He cites figures given by Russian tax officials which show that vodka sales contribute barely two per cent of budget revenue while even at the height of the anti-alcohol campaign during the Perestroika years, this figure was around 10 per cent.

In 1993, Russian President Boris Yeltsin issued a decree which exempted all imported purchases made by sports organisations for professional training and promoting competitions from customs and import duties as well as a 23 per cent value added tax (VAT).

While several clauses in the decree — which was titled “On Protectionist Policy of the Russian Federation in the Sphere of Physical Culture and Sport” — laid down procedures for imports, the rules of the game were quickly amended and sports organisations emerged as front-runners in the liquor and cigarette import business, Berger said.

Within weeks of the exemption for sportsmen, another decree extended similar privileges to public associations of the disabled and Afghan war veterans.

As a result, kiosks in Moscow and other Russian cities began overflowing with imported brands of vodka, beer, liquors and cigarettes at prices which were in some cases half the prevailing rates in regular shops.

Hefty import duties and 23 per cent VAT can drive up the price of a bottle of regular scotch to 20 dollars and more in established outlets. Russia’s famous ‘Stolichnaya’ vodka is sold in half-litre bottles for upwards of six dollars.

But from kiosks it is possible to buy one litre bottles of vodka with brand names like “white American eagle” or “terminator” for 12,000 roubles, less than three dollars. This however does not include the price that must be paid for drinking foul grain spirit diluted with water.

Berger estimated that on an average 1990 salary — roughly around 300 dollars — it was possible to buy 16 litres of vodka. By the end of last year, an average salary of around 80 dollars could bring in 44 litres of vodka.

Smokers too take advantage of knocked down prices, with the ubiquitous Malboro packet going for 3,000 roubles (70 cents). The cigarettes are stale and sometimes counterfeit but must provide smooth satisfaction in a society which craved Western smoke till only a few years ago.

Recalling the days when a bottle of “little water” went a long way in getting work done, Berger writes: “Vodka in Russia ceased to be a liquid currency long time back. Unlike before, now nobody will move a finger for a bottle because it costs about as much as a bottle of mineral water.”

“If previously alcoholics resorted to drinking methylated spirit or anything else that gave a kick because they could not get vodka, today vodka is used instead of special anti-freeze liquid by drivers to clean car windshields in winter,” he adds.

Berger’s report confirms grumbling by traders supplying kiosks who complain that the concessions to organisations with names like “committee for the blind” had virtually wiped them out.

One importer of beer from the United States recalls: “Last summer, two containers of beer lay in the customs warehouse in St. Petersburg for six weeks while hundreds of containers were moved through by these special organisations.

The trader’s cans reached the kiosks by autumn, late for the season and overpriced. His inventory has still not been cleared: “When I am invited out, I take along a carton of my beer with me as a present,” he says.

Berger points out that several of the organisations enjoying the privilege of duty free imports do contribute funds to maintaining the high level of Russian sport.

But he argues that the cost of such support may be too high since in all sports organisations have signed duty free contracts worth over five billion dollars, of which the exempted amount is almost negligible with real losses running into tens of trillions of roubles.

At the end of last year, a special decree extended the concessions but it now appears that the government is lobbying for a cut-off date of Mar. 1. “These days, a fierce struggle is going on over the extension of these privileges,” says Berger.

But hope dies last and a new organisation calling itself the “fund of victory’s 50th anniversary”, commemorating the golden jubilee this year of the Soviet triumph over nazi Germany, has put in its application for special status which is evidently being considered by the government.

Excerpt:

By IPS Correspondents
BEIJING, Feb 21 1995 (IPS)

To readers of the international press, the Chinese traveller is more often than not an illegal migrant who risked a perilous boat ride in search of a new life in distant shores.

But travel officials here say many footloose and newly-affluent Chinese are legitimate tourists who venture out of their borders legally either to seek business opportunities or just enjoy the sights in nearby nations.

According to the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA), 3.74 million Chinese travelled abroad in 1993 alone. About 2.27 million of this figure, or 62.8 percent of the total, were on business trips that were subsidised by companies. The rest were tourists who paid for their own expenses.

“The rapid economic expansion in China is tempting its entrepreneurs and business people to go abroad (to investigate) how their overseas counterparts run business and to explore new markets,” says Sun Luyi, outbound tours department manager of the China Travel Service (CTS), a leading travel agency.

But he points out that China’s huge population of 1.2 billion people offers vast potential for the outbound tourism industry. “A very small percentage will actually mean a significant number,” says Sun.

Indeed, many of the newly-rich are lining up for tours abroad. Most of the Chinese tourists come from the southern province of Guangdong, which is considered as the wealthiest in China.

Hong Kong and Macau are the most popular destinations of the Chinese tourists. According to CTS, about 90 percent of its outbound clients opt for the two nearby territories.

But South-east Asia is emerging as another favourite place to visit, since many of the countries are just next door to China and are relatively easier on the Chinese pocket.

Thailand has proved to be the “most promising destination” in South-east Asia, says Liu Wuxiong of the China International Travel Service (CITS), the country’s biggest travel agency. An eight-day trip to Thailand costs about 6,000 yuan (706 dollars) or lower, cheaper than a trip to any other nation in the region.

Still, Sun says Singapore has its own fans among the Chinese, who admire the city state’s cleanliness and orderliness, as well as the high-quality service provided by its tourist professionals.

But travel by Chinese citizens remain limited to destinations ‘recognised’ by the government such as Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines, although Beijing has said it will not restrict domestic tourists from going to Japan, Korea and Russia if these countries decide to accept Chinese travellers.

In November, China and South Korea signed an air pact that is generally thought to be an incentive to tourist exchanges between the two countries. The CITS also hopes to open travel routes to Japan this year.

“If the Japanese government agrees to grant tourist visas to Chinese travellers, the Chinese government may soon establish Japan as a destination,” says CITS president Liu Jiaxiang.

In the meantime, some northern European countries such as Sweden, Denmark, Iceland and Norway have shown interest in receiving Chinese tourists, says Liu.

Industry insiders though admit that outbound travel has been on a prolonged slump beginning mid-1993, when the central government began to tighten control on the economy and later staged an anti- corruption campaign.

Travel officials say both of these moves restricted overseas trips on public expense.

But they say business picked up a bit in 1994, with an average of 400 to 500 travellers a month. By the end of the third quarter, CITS posted sales of 14 million dollars.

“For us, the worst time was when we saw only 100 outbound travellers per month following June, 1993, compared with 1,000 to 2,000 people per month in the first half of that year,” says Liu.

Industry insiders insist outbound tours are lucrative despite such setbacks.

Although China’s tourism authorities allow only nine big travel agencies to run outbound tours and ban overseas services from soliciting customers in China, hundreds of both local and foreign travel firms have been lobbying to be allowed to set up business here.

But officials say many of these agencies are small-time operations that are out only to make money. They fear that allowing them in would only erode service quality and make monitoring of the industry more difficult.

Agrees Zhou: “The government should draw up and implement effective control measures to check the chaos in the outbound tours market and help establish a healthy and reliable business.”

Excerpt:

By IPS Correspondents
BRUSSELS, Feb 18 1995 (IPS)

European Union and Central American diplomats in Brussels are setting their sights on a “new lease of life” and a “qualitative leap” for cooperation between the EU and Central America.

The new mood is set to add impetus to talks taking place during their annual two-day ministerial meeting to be held in Panama City, starting this Thursday.

This now means there will be an upbeat feel to the meeting itself, remarked a French diplomat, as well as setting an agenda to review future cooperation, now a decade old.

Shorter opening speeches will replace lengthy monologues and the traditional copious final declaration will slimmed from 25 pages to 10 pages. It will also be injected with more “media punch”, said a French official prior to departing for the Panama meeting.

The European Union’s current French Presidency has set a streamlined three-point agenda. These are: sustainable development in Central America; regional integration in Central America and future relations between the two regions.

The ‘San Jose Dialogue’ which took off in 1985 groups on the Central American side Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama. Venezuela, Mexico and Colombia are observers.

Over the past 10 years, political dialogue has dominated talks in a region blighted by internal conflict.

But interest in the dialogue has waned as the ‘raison d’etre’ for starting San Jose — to counter the threat of Communism on the one hand and domination of the United States on the other — has diminished.

“Support for the peace process is not so strongly needed as in the past,” says Costa Rica’s Ambassador in Brussels, Patricio Leiva.

Next week’s meeting in Panama will agree on what Ambassador Leiva calls a ‘forum of reflection’ to be held in Costa Rica in April where intellectuals and diplomats from both regions will debate where to go from here.

European Union aid to the region has traditionally gone to rural development and Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) to help returnees who fled the conflict.

A project to set up a currency exchange system to propel regional integration has been shelved. Many NGOs and intellectuals want the Costa Rica get-together to be a launch pad for an innovative type of cooperation.

Academic Jose Antonio Sanahuja appealed for a fresh approach during a recent seminar held here on future relations between the two regions organised by the London-based Catholic Insititute for International Relations (CIIR).

He argued that it should take on board: Central America’s debt, aid linked to the scaling down of military spending to allow the peace dividend to take full effect; trade concessions linked to the situation of workers and aid targeted to small peasant product, one of the sectors most hit by the liberalisation of markets.

He added that the review should give civil society a voice in the dialogue: “The San Jose dialogue, as a dialogue of governments, suffers from the democratic deficits which still persist in Central America — especially the absence of social participation in the integration process.”

Sanahuja said at the Brussels’ seminar that the reinvention of the dialogue is an opportunity to give a content of democracy and equity to the new European Union foreign policy and international relations to the end of the Twentieth Century.

Immediate business at Panama City will be the extension for Central America of the EU’s Generalised System of Preferences (GSP), the scheme of tariff and quota preferences for developing countries. Central America nations are seeking a 10-year extension of preferences for farm exports beyond the recently approved one year extension.

GSP benefits, says Leiva, have helped boost exports of coffee, shrimps, flowers and houseplants to the European Union market

But a French official argued for just a four-year extension. He said that world trade liberalisation tended to render long-term preferences “obselete”.

Central America’s biggest exports to the European Union are bananas, coffee, boats and pineapples, houseplants and shell fish. Its main imports from the European Union are jewellry, tankers and perfumes.

Trade flows could be improved, feels Leiva, through a high- level forum to monitor European Union market access difficulties. But the European Union is not keen on the idea of setting up a new body and will propose that trade should be taken on board by a revived joint-committee, the existing body to review cooperation.

The ongoing squabbling over the EU’s tarff/quota restrictions for the region’s banana exports will not be part of the formal Panama City agenda, says Leiva. This is because Central America wants to avoid debating its internal divisions over European Union market access.

Guatemala, along with Honduras and Panama have not approved the deal done with Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Colombia and Venezuela in the eleventh hour of the Uruguay Round in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).

This increased the dollar region’s quota to an annual 2.2 million tonnes until the year 2002 and trimmed the tariff for the regions exports under the single market regime from 100 European Currency Units (124 dollars) per tonne to 75 Ecus (93 dollars).

The deal was done in exchange to countries agreeing not to pursue complaints in the GATT, now the World Trade Organisation (WTO) about trade discrimination since the European Union permits duty- free access for bananas from African and Caribbean countries who are party to the Lome IV Convention (1990-2000).

The European Commission has just proposed to up the dollar zone’s quota by 353,000 per year to satisfy demand the three EU newcomers — Sweden, Finland and Austria.

On the funding front, the Central American grouping wants to push in Panama for a extension of soft loans for the whole of Latin America from the Luxembourg-based European Investment bank (EIB).

The current three-year 750 million (930 million dollars) European Currency Units package for which shared with Asia runs out in February 1996.

Spain is expected to make a renewed EIB commitment an issue when it takes over the European Union’s rotating Presidency for six months on July 1, 1995.

Excerpt:

By IPS Correspondents
MOSCOW, Feb 17 1995 (IPS)

Russian experts on China are convinced there will be no political or economic upheavals in China in the post-Deng Xiaoping period and predict a smooth takeover of power by chairman Jiang Zemin.

Experts here contest forecasts of an imminent power struggle within the top leadership of the Chinese Communist Party, stressing that Deng’s course of economic liberalisation and one- party rule will be followed.

“When we ask our Chinese colleagues about likely developments after Deng, they always tell us: ‘We learnt our lessons from the Soviet collapse, you can be sure that will not happen to us’,” says Vladimir Portyakov, deputy director of the Institute of Far Eastern Studies.

Links between Russia and China have increased dramatically since the break-up of the Soviet Union. Moscow hopes that a smooth transition in Beijing will avert a detrimental rupture in relations between the two neighbours who have worked hard to bury decades of ideological and strategic animosity.

Russians feel at home with Jiang who spent several years in the 1950s in Moscow when he acquired a taste for Russian music and ballet which he renewed during his summit with president Boris Yeltsin last year.

Jiang’s hold on the government, party apparatus and the army was consolidated during the 14th Congress of the Chinese Communist Party in 1992.

Sinologists however note that this alone is not enough to guarantee his endurance while recalling that Chinese supremo Mao Zedong’s chosen successor Hua Guofen quickly lost his job.

Jackob Berger, a China specialist in a Moscow-based think-tank, says, “everyone remembers Hua’s dismissal very well and Jiang may have to think of relinquishing some of his posts to propitiate rivals in the politburo”.

But considering the massive economic changes which are sweeping through China, Berger expects the party leadership to close ranks and prevent any instability. “There is a common fear of destabilisation and this is most acute in the army which will refuse to take sides in a power struggle,” he says.

In fact, the Peoples’ Liberation Army (PLA) has become one of China’s strongest bulwarks of reform with an extensive array of enterprises and businesses run by generals.

Chinese army support would be crucial for Jiang but according to Berger that may already be in the bag, “the interests of the army leadership match those of reformist party leaders”.

In Moscow’s view, China faces three sets of problems which are so enormous that they will act as the best deterrent against bloodletting at the top.

According to Portyakov, China is going through troubles which are common to all transitional economies where privatisation, income differentiation and the breakdown of socialist welfare system are potent sources of political tension.

Specific chinese difficulties lie in the massive migration of peasants leaving the countryside and putting enormous strain on urban centres which are acting as magnets for families wanting to cash in on free market opportunities.

Regional disparities are also growing with the distant Chinese western provinces unable to take full advantage of the new economic climate as the maritime eastern regions have.

Portyakov recounts a Chinese joke about different ways of life in the country’s three chief centres of power: “Beijing is feudal, while Shanghai is socialist and Guandzhou capitalist.”

The biggest fear of the reformist Chinese leadership is that lopsided economic growth could be used by communist conservatives to call for a complete halt to the process. Jiang belongs to Shanghai and is not considered a Beijing insider, consequently he does not have close ties with senior party cadre leaders.

Measures have been taken since last year to cool down the overheated Chinese economy and Russian sinologists anticipate Jiang may favour a more gradual transition over the next few years in a move which would be guided largely by political considerations.

China’s Communist Party is still the country’s only legitimate political force which is unlikely to commit Soviet-style collective suicide.

The radical democratic opposition which had raised its voice in 1988-89 is believed here to have lost its influence under the impetus of economic reforms and are not rated as a factor which will have any bearing in the near future.

Portyakov says Russians visiting China are constantly asked to explain what they have gained by putting democrats in power.

Berger expects that Jiang will follow the example of the southeast Asian ‘tigers’ like South Korea and Taiwan which maintained tight political control alongside rapid economic development.

“I don’t think we should hold our breaths for a multi-party system and direct elections. They are not on the political agenda, even for the next 10-20 years,” the expert says.

Excerpt:

By IPS Correspondents
MANILA, Feb 17 1995 (IPS)

Mortal foes have become allies and ex- villains are making a comeback in the Philippine political arena as Filipinos prepare to mark the ninth year of the People Power revolt that was supposed to usher in a new political culture.

The bloodless uprising on Feb. 22-26, 1986 cut short strongman Ferdinand Marcos’ 20-year rule, drove him into exile and catapulted Corazon Aquino into the presidency.

For years after, Philippine politics was largely defined by whether politicians had been for or against the Marcoses. But that ‘green line’ in Philippine politics has since been breached, allowing unlikely allies to team up for the upcoming elections.

Elections will be held in May for 12 Senate seats, some 200 seats in the House of Representatives and thousands of other provincial and local posts.

Odd alliances have been formed and figures recently consigned to ignominy are on the campaign trail, pressing flesh and appearing on talk shows in what analysts say confirms nothing is impossible in the world of Philippine politics.

Ferdinand Marcos Jr is running for senator under the opposition Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC). His mother Imelda, out on bail after conviction on graft charges that could mean 24 years in prison, is eyeing a local post in her native Leyte province.

Juan Ponce Enrile, formerly a bitter critic of government, is seeking a second Senate term under a 12-man slate endorsed by his erstwhile political foe President Fidel Ramos. Enrile and Ramos broke from Marcos in the 1986 Revolution, but parted political ways soon after.

Arrested years ago on rebellion charges, Enrile has patched up differences with Ramos who was defence chief under Aquino.

Gregorio ‘Gringo’ Honasan, who in 1989 led a coup that led to the deaths of 113 persons but remains unpunished, is running for the Senate as an independent. He is being wooed as guest candidate of NPC, which would put him in the same slate as Marcos, whose father he helped oust in 1986.

“Gringo and I have the same aims. It’s just that in 1986 we were on opposite sides. Since then we have found ourselves on the same side (against government),” the 37-year-old Marcos said on a recent talk show.

Already Marcos, currently a congressman, finds himself on the defensive from critics who cite his late father’s dictatorial rule. Two groups, including one called ‘Anybody But Bongbong’, have been formed to campaign for his defeat.

Says Marcos: “What happened in the past is past and whatever I say won’t change it.”

Former press secretary Teodoro Benigno says the Marcoses to this day admit no guilt. “So where is reconciliation? This is unpardonable effrontery for it would wipe the slate clean. Then what was EDSA (the People Power revolution) for?”

Surveying the odd political pairings, Manila Archbishop Cardinal Jaime Sin mused: “We are too forgetful.”

Sin expressed fears that Imelda Marcos and her son could still have enough resources to win in this year’s polls and said there was something wrong with a system that allows persons to seek public office as long as they have not been convicted of a crime or whose conviction is under appeal.

“The Marcoses have much money, and they will use that. But let them run and let the people decide,” the cardinal said.

The glib Honasan says he “could go back to armed struggle” but joined the electoral fray because Filipinos have had enough of coups. But he justifies the past coups he led, saying they were the needed solutions at the time.

His group of military rebels, many of whom were recently awarded amnesty by the Ramos government, still has a cache of arms stolen from the government’s armoury in 1989.

Ramos’ anointed slate of 12 candidates under the Lakas-Laban coalition features other strange alliances. Francisco Tatad, who as Marcos’ information minister read the martial law decree on national TV in 1972, is seeking re-election to the Senate.

Senatorial candidate Rodolfo Biazon, a former military officer who put down several coup attempts, is running in the same team as Enrile who was fired as defence chief in 1986 for involvement in destabilisation attempts.

Ex-justice secretary Franklin Drilon, who filed rebellion charges against Enrile, is now running with him. Sergio Osmena III, grandson of a former president, was arrested on suspicion of plotting against Ferdinand Marcos when Enrile was defense chief in the 1970s.

Also in the race for the Senate are Ramon Mitra and Miriam Santiago, whom Ramos defeated in the 1992 presidential polls. Two other candidates, Aquilino Pimentel Jr and Marcelo Fernan, lost the vice presidency that year to former actor Joseph Estrada.

Other senatorial candidates include Rosemarie Arenas, a socialite reported to be Ramos’ past mistress, and former professional basketball player Ramon Fernandez.

Excerpt:

By Kunda Dixit
KATHMANDU, Feb 17 1995 (IPS)

In an official visit to India this month, Nepal’s deputy prime minister who is also the general secretary of the Communist Party of Nepal United Marxist-Leninist (UML) went on a well-publicised pilgrimage to a famous Hindu shrine.

For his part, Nepal’s finance minister has emerged as a strong proponent of ‘Market Leninism’: going boldly where no party here — communist or otherwise — has gone before in encouraging a free market and foreign investments.

And the education minister known for his unwavering commitment to Marxism-Leninism was recently spotted performing a Hindu puja ceremony which was broadcast over Nepal Television.

When the communist alliance known as the UML came to power after elections in December, Nepal became one of the world’s first Marxist kingdoms. Many predicted that this unique experiment in cohabitation between constitutional monarchy and dictatorship of the proletariat would not last.

After all, where is a commoner communist who regards religion as the opium of the masses going to find place for a King worshipped by his devout Hindu subjects as the incarnation of Lord Vishnu?

There were fears Nepal’s Western donors would not tolerate the relapse of communism in the Himalayas, and the party itself would be torn asunder by the conflicting need to keep populist election promises and be pragmatic.

But after 100 days in office, the UML has shown considerable deftness in walking the political high-wire and has won grudging approval even from sceptics.

Deputy Prime Minister and party boss, Madhav Kumar Nepal, is arguably the most powerful man in Nepal today. His visit to the southern Indian Hindu temple at Tirupathi after meeting Indian leaders in New Delhi was more a diplomatic pilgrimage than a religious one.

The India visit was the first by a high-ranking Nepali official after the December polls. It signified that landlocked Nepal, surrounded on three sides by India and to the north by China, has come to recognise its overwhelming dependence on New Delhi.

And despite its anti-Indian campaign rhetoric, the UML showed it accepts this reality.

In the past, Nepal used to play India off against China for best leverage. Madhav Kumar Nepal’s main message to New Delhi was: ‘We may have said a few nasty things about you at election time, but we needed to say it to win. Now, let’s get down to business.’

Although he could not wrest major concessions from New Delhi on renegotiation of the Indo-Nepal Friendship Treaty or on work permits for Indians in Nepal, Kathmandu was looking ahead at future joint hydropower development, and better trade terms.

For this, the party employed the fraternal party ties it enjoys with Indian communists to press its case in New Delhi. Communists govern three states in India: Tripura, West Bengal and Kerala, and are emerging as a potent force at the national level.

Nepali communists seem to be picking up a tip or two from their Indian comrades, some of whom were elected in 1957.

The communist government in West Bengal recently made an about turn and hosted a capitalist extravaganza attended by the likes of the Singaporean premier, the British foreign secretary, the Iranian foreign minister and herds of Indian tycoons.

Madhav Kumar Nepal’s first foreign foray was also a rehearsal for his trip next month to Europe and the United States to assuage his country’s main aid-givers that communists are not such bad guys after all.

Western missions in Kathmandu seem to have got over their initial misgiving about the rebirth of Communism, and have stopped pressuring the UML to change its name and symbol. But there is a wait-and-see attitude.

“There is an impression that however pragmatic it may appear during discussions, the government is only giving lip service to privatisation and fiscal discipline,” says a donor official in Kathmandu, who echoes fears that UML will be under pressure to fulfil its campaign promises of jobs, cheap food and land reform.

Donors carry clout in Kathmandu. Nepal is one of the poorest countries in Asia and received about 400 million dollars worth of foreign aid in 1993, making up about three-quarters of its development spending.

Aid agencies have been scrutinising the UML budget passed last month and say it does not go far enough on privatisation and steps to fight fiscal deficit.

Donors are expected to give the UML another two months of a ‘honeymoon period’ before turning the screws. Foreign investors, who had started trickling into Nepal in the past three years, have been more cautious since December.

So far, the UML has ruled firmly and with discipline. They have tried to renegotiate expensive and controversial projects like the 850 million dollar World Bank-funded dam on the Arun River. There have been no major corruption scandals, and the alliance is intact.

Prime Minister Man Mohan Adhikary has said the government will not politicise the bureaucracy, but the party seems to buckling to pressure from rank and file for choice posts.

The UML came to power largely because of severe infighting within the Nepali Congress, and continued chaos in the centrist party has benefited the communists who are a minority government with only 88 of the seats in the 205 member house. The Congress won 83 seats and the rightwing National Democratic Party has 20.

With their strong grassroots network and young, idealistic cadres the communists hope to succeed where the Nepali Congress failed: by keeping party unity and aiming for a more decisive victory in the next election.

The UML tactic is not to expose itself on too many flanks. It has appeased the rightists and royalists, while carefully building up its mass support base.

Excerpt:

By IPS Correspondents
BETHLEHEM, Israeli-occupied West Bank, Feb 6 1995 (IPS)

The Mount David Children’s Hospital that took in hundreds of Palestinian children has been closed because of a dispute between the U.S. charity which ran the operation and Palestinian authorities.

The white sandstone modern hospital, built in 1980, was known for its excellent care in orthopaedic medicine. Children from all over the West Bank and Gaza were treated there at no cost to the families.

Now security guards from the newly-formed Palestinian government roam the premises with walkie-talkies and check the bags of visitors and employees. Since it was closed in January, the 150 children the hospital was serving have been moved to other medical facilities.

The charity, called Children’s International, but known locally as the Holy Land Christian Mission, was running the children’s hospital, an orphanage and school, and two financial aid programmes for poor families and widows at a hilltop compound in the Palestinian town of Bethlehem.

In December, the charity made known to the Palestinian government that it intended to close the hospital this coming May because of spiralling costs and a drop in donations.

The charity said it had been subsidising the three million dollar annual cost to run the hospital with funds from other programmes and could no longer afford to do so.

When the Palestinian public heard of the charity’s intentions, religious and political leaders called on the government to do something to keep the hospital running.

In an effort to mobilise people to action, spiritual leaders in the mosques made fiery speeches shouting: “Where is the Muslim community? Where is the Palestinian Authority?”

In response, the Palestinian government moved to seize the hospital. Based on a 1966 Jordanian law — still in effect because the West Bank has been occupied by the Israeli army since 1967 — the Palestinian Ministry of Social Affairs ordered the charity to cease administering the hospital and set up a government-appointed board of trustees to run the hospital instead.

“We are doing this according to (Jordanian) law,” said Deputy Minister of Social Affairs Dr. Thiab Ayyoush who is on the government-appointed board to run the hospital. “If any international charity wants to change its objectives or sell its property, it should have the approval of the government.”

Workers at the Mission said they were shocked to learn that the Palestinian Authority was taking the hospital by force and unhappy with the security guards who now man the grounds.

“We were very surprised,” said Bassem Zuaiter, administrator of the Mission. “We had heard rumours that they might do this, but we did not expect it to actually happen.”

Angry that some of its property was being seized, the president of the charity, Joseph Gripky, began placing advertisements in Arabic and English language newspapers in Jerusalem from his headquarters in Kansas City, Missouri, expressing his outrage over the seizure and washing his hands of financial responsibility for all charities in the compound.

The school, orphanage and financial aid programmes are still running, but the two sides are arguing over who is responsible for day-to-day upkeep, such as food for the orphanage and salaries for school teachers.

Opened in 1936 in a building that was once used as a women’s prison during the British Mandate period, the charity gives weekly stipends to 300 widows and 7,000 needy families and its orphanage and school serves 49 children, said Zuaiter, who has worked for the Mission for 22 years.

Ayyoush said the Palestinian government never had any intention of seizing the school and orphanage or interfering with the charity’s running of the financial assistance programme.

“We’re only talking about the hospital,” said Ayyoush. “We never had any ideas to run the orphanage and school. We think the Mission should do that. It is only the hospital we are concerned about and we’re only concerned about it because we want to make sure it continues to run.”

But the seizure of American-owned property has worried both the U.S. Consulate and other non-governmental organisations that run charities in the West Bank.

Rev. David Johnson, head of the Lutheran World Federation that runs the Augusta Victoria hospital in East Jerusalem, said he has been keeping an eye on developments between the ministry and the Christian Mission.

“It’s obviously a concern for any organisation that owns and manages institutions that are located here,” said Johnson. “It’s been a very, very messy situation and I think the incident, however it is resolved, is worrisome because of the messy way it reached a confrontation level so quickly.”

Ayyoush said the Palestinian government does not want to cause problems between it and the American government over the issue and that it seized the hospital with good intentions.

“We don’t feel we are in conflict with the American’s, but we are in conflict with those who would like to destroy one of the best institutions that serve the Palestinian people, which is the hospital,” said Ayyoush. “And we have excellent relations with other charities here.”

The dispute is in mediation with attorneys and U.S. Consulate representatives. Meanwhile, the reason for the confrontation — keeping the hospital open so that children can get care — has resulted in locked doors and 1,300 children on a waiting list with no where to go.

Palestinian public opinion is clearly on the side of their government. What may seem a minor problem in any other country is of major concern to the population here because Palestinians are sensitive to their need to work to build what they hope will be an independent state in the West Bank and Gaza.

Charities, institutions, and internationally funded projects are sorely needed, they say, to help the nascent Palestinian government get on its feet.

“If they had to close down, they should have waited until the Palestinian Authority could stand on its feet,” said Adnan Husseini, director of the Al-Waqf. Waqf is Muslim holy land on which mosques and charitable societies are built.

Palestinian Mufti Ekrima Sa’id Sabri, the high mufti — or spiritual leader — of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem, said Palestinians simply want the dispute resolved and the hospital opened up again.

“The Palestinian national authority should put its hand on the place,” said Sabri. “If the charity won’t run it anymore, the Palestinian Authority should be involved because it is very important to the Palestinian people.”

Excerpt:

By IPS Correspondents
GOA, INDIA, Feb 6 1995 (IPS)

TEN YEARS AFTER THE WORLD’S WORST INDUSTRIAL DISASTER AT A UNION CARBIDE PESTICIDE PLANT IN BHOPAL, ANOTHER U.S.-BASED TRANSNATIONAL COMPANY IS POISED TO SET UP A NYLON FACTORY HERE WITH A CONTRACT THAT WILL ABSOLVE THE FIRM FROM RESPONSIBILITY FOR SIMILAR MISHAPS.

AN ESTIMATED 4,000 PEOPLE HAVE DIED SINCE LETHAL METHYL ISO- CYANATE LEAKED OUT OF THE BHOPAL PLANT ON DEC. 3, 1984. THE INDIAN GOVERNMENT SUED UNION CARBIDE, AND GOT A 470 MILLION DOLLAR COMPENSATION PACKAGE WHICH MANY OF THE VICTIMS HAVE NOT YET SEEN.

THE MESSY LEGAL FALLOUT OF BHOPAL SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN AT THE BACK OF THE MIND OF OFFICIALS OF THE U.S. CHEMICAL GIANT DUPONT. IT IS SETTING UP ASIA’S LARGEST NYLON FACTORY NEAR THIS FORMER PORTUGUESE ENCLAVE ON INDIA’S WEST COAST KNOWN FOR ITS RESORTS.

DUPONT HAS AGREED WITH THE THAPARS GROUP OF INDIA THAT THEIR JOINT VENTURE COMPANY CALLED THAPAR-DUPONT LIMITED (TDL) WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DEATHS OR INJURIES CAUSED BY ACCIDENTS AT THE PROPOSED PLANT.

GREEN ACTIVISTS SAY THIS IS TO CLEAR THE U.S.-BASED PARTNER TRANSNATIONAL OF ANY LIABILITY IN CASE OF A BHOPAL-TYPE DISASTER. THE CONTRACT ALLOWS DUPONT TO DUMP ALL ITS SHARES ON TDL WITHIN 30 DAYS IF DUPONT CONCLUDES THAT “INDIAN LEGISLATIVE OR JUDICIAL DEVELOPMENTS DO NOT JUSTIFY ITS CONTINUED PARTICIPATION”.

“THESE KIND OF CLAUSES SHOULD BE MADE KNOWN WHEN A CHEMICAL PLANT OF THIS TYPE IS SOUGHT TO BE SET UP ANYWHERE IN THE THIRD WORLD, NOT JUST IN THE KERI VILLAGE OF GOA,” SAYS NORMA ALVARES, AN ENVIRONMENTAL LAWYER IN GOA.

THE CLAUSE BRINGS BACK MEMORIES OF THE BHOPAL GAS DISASTER AFTER WHICH THE THE U.S.-BASED UNION CARBIDE CORPORATION SPEEDILY SOUGHT TO DENY RESPONSIBILITY AND MAKE THE INDIAN SUBSIDIARY, UNION CARBIDE INDIA LIMITED, LIABLE.

“ITS LIKE GOING IN FOR A MARRIAGE AND STIPULATING IN A CONTRACT BEFOREHAND THAT YOU WILL HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THE KIDS WHO COME ALONG AS A RESULT,” SAYS ALVARES.

ACTIVISTS WHO ARE STILL LOBBYING FOR FAIR COMPENSATION FOR BHOPAL VICTIMS SAY TRANSNATIONALS LIKE UNION CARBIDE AND DUPONT ARE TRYING TO PREVENT THE PARENT COMPANY FROM BEING SUED IN THE UNITED STATES AND MAKING THEM LIABLE FOR HIGHER COMPENSATION.

TDL MANAGING DIRECTOR V. SAM SINGH SAYS MISGIVINGS ABOUT THE CLAUSES ARE BASED ON “VERY OLD INFORMATION”. BUT HE DOES NOT DENY THEIR EXISTENCE.

THIS IS THE FIRST TIME THAT SUCH CLAUSES HAVE COME TO LIGHT AFTER THE BHOPAL DISASTER AND SHOW THAT LIFE IN THE THIRD WORLD IS CHEAPER, ACTIVISTS SAY.

“IT IS THE INTENT OF THE PARTNERS — THAPAR AND DUPONT — THAT TDL WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ITS PERFORMANCE,” SINGH TOLD IPS. TOP THAPAR AND DUPONT OFFICIALS HAVE FLED GOA AFTER SIX- YEAR-OLD PROTESTS TOOK A VIOLENT TURN TWO WEEKS AGO.

POLICE FIRED ON A CROWD BARRICADING A ROAD TO THE PLANT SITE, KILLING A 25-YEAR-OLD MAN WHOM ACTIVISTS ARE CALLING THE REGION’S ‘FIRST ENVIRONMENTALIST-MARTYR’.

GREENS SAY THAT THE 200 MILLION DOLLAR JOINT VENTURE WILL DEPLETE DRINKING WATER AND DAMAGE THE ENVIRONMENT WITH TOXIC EFFLUENTS. THEY ALSO ALLEGE THAT THE LAND ON WHICH THE PLANT WILL BE SET UP WAS FORCIBLY TAKEN FROM VILLAGERS BY THE GOVERNMENT AFTER DUPONT SOUGHT PERMISSION TO SET UP THE FACTORY IN 1986.

TDL SAYS THE FACTORY WILL BE THE SAFEST AND CLEANEST NYLON PLANT ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD.

BUT A TEAM OF GOA LEGISLATORS THAT STUDIED ALL ASPECTS OF THE PLANT RECENTLY IS WORRIED THAT DUPONT MAY TRY TO ESCAPE LIABILITIES IN THE EVENT OF AN ACCIDENT AT THE PLANT.

“DUPONT HAS BEEN CLEVERLY INDEMNIFIED AND WILL NOT BE JUDGED ACCORDING TO THE LAWS OF OUR LAND,” THE TEAM SAID.

IT ALSO QUOTED A STUDY TO WARN: “WE MUST NOT FORGET CORPORATE ABILITY TO EVADE RESPONSIBILITY FOR HARMS INFLICTED AS WELL AS TO DEFRAUD VICTIMS OF CORPORATE MISCONDUCT, VIA TACTICS LIKE REDUCING ASSETS (AND IN SOME CASES EVEN FILING FOR BANKRUPTCY) AND SUBSTANTIALLY DIMINISHING THE ABILITY OF CORPORATIONS TO MEET A JUST AND ADEQUATE SETTLEMENT OR AN AWARD OF DAMAGES ACCORDED BY THE COURTS IN ENSUING LITIGATION.”

PROPONENTS OF THE DUPONT PLANT SAY RIVAL NYLON MANUFACTURERS ARE BEHIND THE PROTESTS. THE GOA PLANT WILL MAKE NYLON 6.6 FOR THE FIRST TIME IN INDIA. THE FIBRES ARE USED IN HEAVY-DUTY VEHICLE AND AIRCRAFT TYRES.

THE INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTALIST GROUP GREENPEACE HAS SUPPORTED THE PROTESTING ENVIRONMENTALISTS WHO SAY THE INTERNATIONAL BODY WILL SOON BE MORE CLOSELY LINKED WITH THE ANTI-DUPONT CAMPAIGN.

ACTIVISTS SAY THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST DUPONT IS IMPORTANT TO ENSURE THAT THE TRANSNATIONALS SWARMING TO INDIA AFTER THE GOVERNMENT INITIATED FREE-MARKET REFORMS THREE YEARS AGO, ARE CAREFUL NOT TO REPEAT A BHOPAL-TYPE DISASTER IN THE COUNTRY.

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By IPS Correspondents
MAE TOU LA REFUGEE CAMP, Thailand, Feb 6 1995 (IPS)

Sheltered only by plastic covers and blankets, a sense of loss and fear hang over the thousands of Burmese who fled mortar attacks by Rangoon troops, and are now seeking refuge in Thailand.

Here at Mae Tou La, 600 km from Bangkok, some 3,000 Karen huddle together, part of the 10,000 new refugees who have fled into Thailand following the fall of Manerplaw a week ago.

Manerplaw had been the stronghold of the ethnic Karen for more than four decades, and had also been the jungle headquarters of All Burma Students Democratic Front (ABSDF) and the National League for Democracy (NLD), which won the Burmese elections in 1990.

For the Karen, which has been fighting for autonomy since the late 1940s, the loss of Manerplaw has been particularly devastating. Indeed, the ethnic group that is one of Burma’s biggest and strongest had seen the site as a symbol of its defiant four-decade struggle and its call for national identity.

Dr Saw Po Thew De of the Karen National Union (KNU) Health and Welfare Department seeks to hold his emotions while trying to listen to the tales of Karen mothers cradling their sick children.

“We are fighting a losing battle and for this, the people have had to suffer,” the doctor tells visitors as tears threaten to fall on his cheeks.

Aid agencies estimate that some 100,000 Karen and other Burmese may have been displace by the fighting, the majority fleeing deeper into Burma’s jungles.

There are already 77,000 Burmese in Thai refugee camps, including those who had escaped being made porters by the Rangoon troops or forced to work in road projects.

International relief agencies and the Thai government provide the food and medical care here at Mae Tou La, while water comes from nearby mountain streams.

But medical teams are already treating children from dysentery, fever, malaria and malnutrition after families were forced to travel for days through the jungle to escape the shelling of their homes by Rangoon soldiers.

“We were very scared, so we had to leave,” says hill farmer Sar Mu Htow, recounting how he and his fellow villagers reacted when the army shells began hitting their houses.

He says the men in his village remained briefly to gather some belongings while the women and children fled first. Four men were killed by mortar fire, says Sar Mu Htow, but their families made it to this camp safely.

The attack on Manerplaw by the troops of the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), as the Burmese junta calls itself, has been condemned by the international community.

By moving against the Karen, SLORC had broken its self-declared cease-fire against Burma’s armed ethnic groups, and signalled a break from its supposed policy of negotiating peacefully with the rebels.

SLORC signed a cease-fire with the Kachin of northern Burma last year. But it had mixed results with its efforts with other ethnic groups such as the Mon, Karenni and the Karen.

The Karen had at first even refused to talk formally with SLORC unless certain conditions were met, including the release of detained NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Last October though, the group had sought the intervention of international community after it became apparent that Rangoon had tired of waiting and was poised to launch a major armed offensive.

But it was not until December that SLORC unleashed its artillery on the Karen, taking advantage in a split within the KNU.

Buddhist Karen troops broke rank with the Christian-dominated KNU leadership to support Rangoon. The Buddhist Karen even guided the government soldiers through safe paths to the once secure Karen mountain stronghold.

The breakaway Democratic Kayin Buddhist Organisation (DKBO) hopes to replace the KNU as a political identity. The DKBO’s flag is now said to be flying directly beneath that of SLORC at Manerplaw.

But Dr Saw Po Thew De, after calling on his emotional reserves, says: “We lose the battle, but we will win the war. This we believe.”

To the south of Mae Tou La is the Huay Kalok Karen refugee camp, just eight km inside Thailand. The constant pounding by Rangoon artillery on the Karen positions can be distinctly heard there, and a refugee admits that morale at the camp is very low.

Worries are also rising that they will eventually be forced to return home after Thai officials said last week that the refugees will have to leave once the fighting across the border is over.

Camp director Mary On, however, remains stoic. Says the 61-year- old major: “God will be with us. Even without Kawmoora, without Manerplaw, we the Karen will always be fighting hard. How can we go back and be the SLORC’s slaves?”

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By IPS Correspondents
VIENNA, Feb 4 1995 (IPS)

Increased contact between South American and eastern European drug groups is resulting in an increased supply of cocaine both in the western and the eastern parts of Europe, according to drug enforcement officials in the region.

Although heroin is still the most abused drug, there are reports that cocaine smuggling has been rapidly increasing in Europe, according to sources participating at a meeting of the Heads of National Drug Law Enforcement Agencies (HONLEA) in Europe, held this week in Vienna.

According to the officials, investigations show various groups such as the Columbia ‘Cali Cartel’, Nigerian drug groups and those of the Eastern Europe and Middle East are working together in smuggling their material across continents.

The impact of increased cocaine and counter-measures was one of the priority themes discussed by the delegations from 37 countries in Eastern and West Europe and North America during the five-day meeting which ended Friday.

Because of their political and economic situation, the countries in Eastern Europe are being used by various drug groups not only as transit countries but also as final destinations, said Rainer Schmidt-Northen, a senior German police official.

A country report prepared by Russian officials, for instance, says there is an increase of cocaine smuggling from Colombia and the United States into Russia.

In 1992, say Russian officials, 4.6 kilos of cocaine was seized in the country — but the following year this amount increased to 1,000 kilos.

Cypriot officials say the increased links between South American and East European drug groups is demonstrated by the recent detention of a Russian woman on her way to Russia from Brazil with 2.4 kilos of cocaine.

Turkish officials report a number of citizens from various South American countries who have been detained for possession of cocaine.

According to conference sources, many country reports reiterated previous United Nations warnings that heroin smugglers are now using new routes that cut across the vast, but uncontrolled territories of Central Asian countries, to smuggle drugs into Eastern Europe and then to the West.

But Europe is not only a region falling prey to smuggled drugs, some countries are also producers of synthetic drugs.

Conference sources told IPS that many countries in the region had mentioned in their country reports that the Netherlands, and to some extent, Poland have become the main sources for stimulants like amphetamines.

East European countries are also having to put up with a growing number of drug addicts and drug related crimes. The Russian report estimates the number of drug addicts in the country at 1.5 million.

In Ukraine, another of the worst affected countries, officials estimate upto 400,000 people may be using drugs and they fear the figure would increase by five or six times by the end of the decade.

The Russian report says that even as the government intensified its efforts to curb drug smuggling resulting in the “stamping out” of more than 10,000 ‘criminal bands” — drug related crimes increased from 53,000 in 1993 to 74,000 last year.

One of the important recommendations that the delegations proposed is the problem is the shifting of the burden of proof principle.

At present in most countries the prosecution has to prove the guilt of a detained party, but the HONLEA delegates discussed reversing this principle to make the accused prove their innocence.

Bernard Frahi, head of the Europe and the Middle East section of the United Nations International Drugs Control Programme (UNDCP) said: “It is a controversial area and it was recognised as such by the delegates. It is upto individual countries to decide on that,” he said.

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By IPS Correspondents
MANILA, Feb 3 1995 (IPS)

The Philippine government has introduced new rules aimed at protecting millions of Filipino overseas workers from abuse, but entertainers seeking jobs in Japan are not cheering.

Some 700 male and female entertainers bound for Japan’s night spots and show stages marched through the streets of Manila waving clenched fists last week, protesting what they called ill- conceived requirements that would do little except delay their departure for better-paying jobs.

There are 380,000 Filipinos working in Japan, half of whom are undocumented, say local non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Some 97 percent of these are entertainers, the overwhelming majority of whom are women. Each year some 80,000 Filipinos enter Japan with entertainer visas.

The protest, held in the entertainment district of Mabini in downtown Manila, highlights the difficulties in government’s efforts to discourage Filipinos from working illegally abroad.

The new rules are part of the government’s efforts in recent months to tighten the process of overseas deployment to curb abuses against many of the 3.5 million Filipinos working abroad, especially those in the Middle East and Asia.

Among others, the government has imposed age requirements for domestic helpers and entertainers, compelled domestic helpers to undergo basic English training and increased monetary bonds that foreign employment agencies are required to put up.

In October 1994, the Philippines implemented rules requiring entertainers to pass a skills test for the performing arts and take ballet and jazz lessons under the government’s National Manpower and Youth Council.

Those who pass the tests are issued an ‘Artist’s Record Book’ that lists their skills, rights and contracts. Immigration officials at the airport began barring those leaving for Japan without the book, prompting last week’s protests by entertainers who said they already had contracts awaiting them.

The government hopes that limiting departures to real performers would reduce the number of illegal workers in Japan, estimated at up to half the legal performers who enter with six- month entertainer visas.

It also hopes to discourage Filipinos who leave as tourists to find work in Japan, because many end up being forced to work as strippers or prostitutes and the government cannot trace them because of their illegal status.

But the entertainers scoffed at the rules. “The real problem is that these new policies have nothing to do with workers’ protection,” they said in a statement.

“We all know what the real work in Japan is. The women don’t do ballet dancing there,” says BATIS Center for Women executive director Carmelita Nuqui. Rallying entertainers made fun of the ballet requirement, brandishing a placard that read: “Ballet no, cultural dance yes.”

“You can change their names and call them performing artists instead, but their work remains the same,” Nuqui added.

The labour department also set 23 as the minimum age for entertainers to work in Japan. But Nuqui described as ill- conceived the rule allowing entertainers to undergo training at 18 years of age but barring them from leaving until they are 23. “What are they supposed to do in between?” she asked.

New rules often breed new ways for corrupt officials to make money, whether by allowing applicants to overstate their age or to get certain documents, she added. Others suspect collusion with the promoters themselves.

Entertainers have also been required to take lessons on the language and culture of their host country, in a bid to make them less susceptible to abuses abroad. Boots Medina of Kanlungan, an NGO focusing on migrant issues, adds: “Just because you have a new ID doesn’t mean you won’t be abused.”

But government officials believe that if they cannot totally stop Filipinos from heading overseas for risky countries or professions, they can at least minimise the number of illegals who leave on tourist visas or check on Filipinos’ places of work.

Manila’s efforts to do this in Japan threatened to sour its ties with Tokyo, after Filipino officials revealed they had inspected 100 establishments and found common violations of job contracts and cases of women forced to act as hostesses, strippers, topless dancers or prostitutes.

The Philippines’ labour attache in Japan, Milagros Hernandez, said the embassy tried to get the entertainers, promoters and employers to settle differences. Failing that, erring promoters are put on a blacklist.

Japanese officials said the inspections may have violated the country’s sovereignty since they were conducted without the local police’s knowledge.

In Japan, part of the problem may be the entertainment industry’s belief that acts like dancing in the nude are not objectionable. One promoter said “topless dancing is part of ordinary shows” in Japan and is “not obscene”.

Medina says it remains very hard to stop the exodus of Filipinos seeking work abroad. More than 650,000 Filipinos leave the country legally each year. “They would rather take the risk of going abroad, as long as they think there is even just a little hope of doing better,” she said.

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