THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM CLANCY, HOST (voice-over): This week on INSIDE AFRICA: taking children from the battlefront; how far have we come in the last year in the fight to stop the use of child soldiers? We're going to give you a progress report. Making their dreams a reality: We'll tell you about efforts to save a program that is helping to educate Africa's children. And:
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you're sailing down the coast of Africa from north to south, it's only here at the Cape of Good Hope that you actually see Africa comes to an end in the ocean.
CLANCY: We'll take you to one of the most popular tourist attractions on the continent.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CLANCY: Hello, I'm Jim Clancy and welcome to another edition of INSIDE AFRICA, our weekly look at news and life on the continent.
Well, it was just about a year ago that we featured a number of stories on child soldiers from Sudan to Sierra Leone and a new drive to get them out of military uniforms and back into school. A year later, we want to revisit the issue and see what progress has been made.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CLANCY (voice-over): In southern Sudan, more than 2500 child soldiers from the Sudan People's Liberation Army were handed over to UNICEF and airlifted out of the combat zone. The demobilization and airlift last February was only one of many such events in the last year, a small sign of progress.
JEAN-CLAUD LEGRAND, UNICEF SENIOR ADVISOR: Today, there is around 120,000 children, you know, today fighting. Meaning that hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of have been involved in fighting over the last 10 years.
CLANCY: Measured in just numbers, it would seem little progress has been made, but experts say numbers aren't the only measure.
RORY MUNGOVEN, ANTI-CHILD SOLDIER COALITION: Today, we can't avoid the images on our TV screens. We're surrounded by images from conflicts across the world, of children as young as 8 and 9 on checkpoints, carrying rifles that are bigger than themselves, often fighting in the frontline of conflict. As that has happened, more governments and armed groups have come to realize that there's a cost to this, a cost to them politically, a cost to their communities long term.
CLANCY: In Sierra Leone, hundreds of children have been released by the Revolutionary United Front Rebel Group, children forced to fight and forced to commit atrocities. Hospitals in the country still hold the victims. Despite talk of bringing charges against some older child soldiers, the top U.N. official in Sierra Leone says it's being recognized they, too, are victims.
OLUYEMI ADENJI, SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL: These children, most of them don't know what the war is all about. They don't know what a gun is until these things were thrust into their hands and they were trained. And in many cases, they were not only trained in the use of guns, they were also drugged to make sure that they become almost like robots, fire on the fire.
CLANCY: Many of these so-called soldiers have been robbed of their childhoods. Giving back what has been taken isn't easy, but the U.N. and non-governmental organizations say they are learning more about how to counsel child soldiers and give them new opportunities.
MUNGOVEN: They're not monsters. You know, these are normal kids. I've played checkers with war criminals. You know, I've played checkers with kids who have been responsible for incredible atrocities. At heart, they are children.
CLANCY: Much work remains to be done. The Democratic Republic of Congo recently signed the optional protocols that give children more rights and protection. But from the Congo to Sudan and Sierra Leone, the truth is that militia leaders who are returning children today are, in fact, done with the child soldiers. They've already served their purpose. Most agree that until and unless those who force children to take up arms and fight are brought before criminal courts, tried and punished, the problem isn't going away.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CLANCY: One of the people who has pushed the fight against child soldiers is Olarra Otunnu, the U.N. special representative on children and armed conflict. A year ago, he was just getting into his new job, visiting with young people in Sierra Leone. During this past week, he talked with INSIDE AFRICA once again and gave us a report on the progress that he's seeing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OLARRA OTUNNU, U.N. SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE: Well, I witnessed some real progress. One of them is the fact that the Security Council of the United Nations has now made this issue an important item on its agenda. And regional groups and national leaders have taken our business in a political matter. Secondly, we see that the issues now become part of peace processes all over the world in Colombia, in Sudan, in Sierra Leone, in Northern Ireland.
We're also beginning to see like in Sierra Leone a real effort to address the needs and the vulnerability of children, even when war has ended and to devote resources to them, make them a priority at the national and political level. And I also want to mention the fact that the optional protocol which forbids the recruitment of any person below the age of 18 and their use in war is part of the game that we have connected and made over this last two years. I very much hope that by September this year, there will be enough gratification of this instrument to make it an instrument which will have entered into force. And that the Congo has been the latest country to ratify this convention.
CLANCY: Some would argue, though, that until and unless people are actually prosecuted for using child soldiers, recruiting them, you're not going to see real progress. Yes, when the conflicts have ended, they'll hand the child soldiers back as perhaps the case is in Congo, as the case was in Sierra Leone. But it's really preventing, isn't it?
OTUNNU: Absolutely. And there are two ways by which we can do this. First, we must offer viable alternatives to young persons. There are young persons who are forced to become child soldiers, but there are also many, as I saw in the Congo, who will gravitate towards armed groups because of the generalized social economic collapse within their society when the school isn't working or the school has been destroyed.
So providing alternatives, especially in terms of schooling, rehabilitating school facilities for children and offering them education, that's preventive as well as rehabilitative measure. Secondly, we must set up a system of monitoring better what part is in conflict are doing to children.
CLANCY: One year ago, when last we talked, there was a lot of concern about how do you rehabilitate, how do you psychologically help these young people who have been forced in many cases to kill, to mutilate even other children in these kinds of conflicts? Has a lot been learned on that front?
OTUNNU: We're learning more and more, but we still have a good deal to learn. Certainly, we know that the sooner children are returned to the activities of children, to learning, to being in school, to playing games, to being within the community, being with their parents, the better. We also know that the children who have been gravely affected, they need psycho-social help.
And we don't have enough trained people in many of these places to do this. We need more people to attend to this. And we also know from experience like in Mozambique, that we must used traditional methods of healing as well, of psycho/social healing and revive these methods, as a way of responding to the enormous trauma that many children have gone through as a result of war. So we're making progress, but we've a lot more to learn in that regard.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CLANCY: Mr. Otunnu also expressed the hope that more countries are going to ratify the optional protocol against the use of children in combat. Now for more on this topic, go to our Web site on CNN.com/INSIDEAFRICA. You can take part in our quick vote and post your thoughts on our message boards. Then, why don't you join me for a live online chat session Wednesday, at 15:00 Greenwich Meantime. Just go to CNN.com/chat.
We're going to take a short break right here. There's much more to come on INSIDE AFRICA including the efforts to try to save a program that is helping to educate Africa's youth.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CLANCY: Let's take a look now at some of the other stories that are making news inside Africa.
And for that, let's turn to Tumi Makgabo -- Tumi.
TUMI MAKGABO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, Jim. A major archaeological discovery off the coast of Egypt tops our segment. Researchers have recovered a large, engraved stone monument and other valuable artifacts from an ancient Egyptian city that now lies beneath the Mediterranean Sea. Statues recovered include a giant image of a Pharaoh, a queen and a river god. They'll be examined at the Egyptian government antiquities laboratory before being sent on international tour.
Archaeologists continue to search the undersea area, hoping to uncover more mysteries from a once prosperous city that existed more than 300 years before Christ.
Zimbabwe's controversial war veterans leader, Chingavay Hunzby (ph) has been buried in the capital, Harare. President Robert Mugabe was among thousands of mourners who attended the funeral. He praised Hunzby for ensuring that the country embarks on what he calls "a fast track land and settlement program." The leaders of the political opposition in Zimbabwe condemn the government's efforts to bestow hero status on Hunzby, whom they blame for perpetrating murder, violence and torture against government critics.
In Algeria, police have again clashed with protesters, this time to break up a ban demonstration. It occurred in the capital Algiers, where thousands of Berbers gathered to protest the government's handling of recent riots. Dozens of people have been killed in a series of protests in the Berber-speaking region of Kabili over the past two months.
And that's a wrap of some of stories making news around Africa.
But let's also pause to note the legacy of a former top U.N. official, who put money from a peace prize to work helping refugees. Today, that fund could use some help, but its mission remains the same, give young people who have lost everything something that no one can ever take away from them, education.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MAKGABO: A history class at Misone (ph) secondary school in Western Ghana. Among the students, several refugees from Sierra Leone and Liberia who are part of a special education project.
ANDREW JOSEPH EHWI, TEACHER AND HOUSEMASTER: The greater is education. I feel that. If they're educated, then you are teaching them how to fish. If somebody is taught how to fish, and you learned it, it's better than giving a fish to somebody already.
MAKGABO: The project began in 1996 with funds donated by former United Nations high commissioner for refugees, Sadako Ogata (ph). The money made it possible for many young refugees in Ghana to go onto secondary school. The project currently sponsors 42 children in several schools throughout the country.
EHWI: They should be helped, because one day, I know certainly that if there's peace in their countries, they will go back and in fact become very useful.
MAKGABO: About 50 other students have already graduated from the project and 20 percent of them have gone onto college or other professional schools, many of their career choices heavily influenced by the wars they were fortunate to escape.
SIA BORBO, STUDENT: I want to study very hard so that I come out with a very good result to help my brothers back home.
ROBERT CAREY, STUDENT: I want to be a human rights lawyer because looking at the war situation, how people have been deprived of their rights, by being a human rights lawyer, I think I can fight for all the people.
MAKGABO: But these children may be the last to benefit. The average cost per student is $845 U.S. dollars annually and the project is running out of money. The United Nations high commission for refugees has launched a campaign to save it.
FRIMPOMA VOWATAR, UNHCR EDUCATION COORDINATOR: It's true we have to give them the first and foremost is to give them shelter, food, and clothing. But then after that, without education, you are just empty.
MAKGABO: The U.N. estimates that only 1 in 20 refugee children attends secondary school. In Ghana, the education project is bridging the gap. And with many of these children looking forward to a brighter future, local U.N. officials are looking for a way to keep their dreams alive.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MAKGABO: The UNHCR says the project is expected to run out of money by September.
Jim, back to you.
CLANCY: Thanks, Tumi. Let's check the African business headlines now.
Zain Verjee joins us for that.
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Jim. If you want to do business in Africa, here's a tip. Look into opportunities in Equatorial Guinea. It's one of the world's fastest growing economies, expanding at a rate of 15 percent. That's according to some surveys. The U.S.-based Corporate Council on Africa says Equatorial Guinea has become one of the most popular places for private investors.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEPHEN HAYES, CORPORATE COUNCIL ON AFRICA: They are -- certainly what most people don't realize is now the third largest oil producer in Africa behind Nigeria and Angola. There is also a considerable opportunity and infrastructure, telecommunications. An American firm out of Minnesota is working on reviving the telecommunications system. The infrastructure is poor. It needs road systems. And even in Malibu, the capital, the best hotel's 28 rooms. So there's tremendous opportunity in hotel building, as because again, it's the fastest growing economy in the world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VERJEE: The Corporate Council on Africa has released an investment guide for Equatorial Guinea. Free drugs to AIDS patients in 50 of the world's poorest countries. Pharmaceutical company, Pfizer, says it'll expand free distribution of the drug Diflucan. The drug is used to treat illnesses that affect about 10 percent of AIDS patients.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. HENRY MCKINNEL, CEO, PFIZER: There will be no time or dollar limit set on this program. We are ready to begin expansion of Diflucan donations immediately and will work closely with the U.N. and the World Health Organization to launch the initiative as quickly as possible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VERJEE: Among African nations that will receive the free drug: Namibia, Malawi, Botswana and Lusutu (ph).
Uganda Airlines Corporation has flown into the sunset; the airline is being liquidated. Most of the airline's assets in Uganda have been surrendered and all staff members are out of a job. Some assets in Dubai, Nairobi, Bujumbula (ph) and Lusaka have yet to be handed over. The airline's flying roots now belong to the Ugandan government, which has the power to decide what to do with them.
Now let's check the markets.
I'm Zain Verjee and those are your Africa business headlines. Now let's get back to Jim.
CLANCY: All right, thanks for that, Zain. There's much more to come on INSIDE AFRICA. Just ahead, from the recycle bin to the runway, we're going to take you to a fashion show that was held to commemorate World Environment Day.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CLANCY: Well, there's our calendar. It was only a few days ago on the calendar that it was World Environment Day, observed every place, well, around the planet, but nowhere else like it was in Kenya.
And for details of just how that celebration went, here's Femi Oke -- Femi.
FEMI OKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thank you very much, Jim. Reduce, reuse, recycle -- they were just a few of the themes for World Environment Day. And some fashion designers in Nairobi put those ideas to work by putting rubbish on the runway.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OKE (voice-over): The perfect look for a news junkie, this skirt made from old newsprint was a favorite at Nairobi's plastic fantastic fashion show.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A most unusual wrap from banana fiber.
OKE: Plastic Fantastic features some of Kenya's top fashion models and some leading designers. And, as the name suggests, the clothes on the runway are made from recycled waste materials, especially plastic.
ANN REWA, DESIGNER: Parts of bags. You don't necessarily have to buy leather. It's long-lasting.
OKE: Can you believe this elegant gown was once discarded as junk? The designers couldn't bear the thought.
EDITH GATHU: I was inspired by mainly a lot of waste. And there's nothing been done about it.
OKE: Getting a new set of wheel perhaps? Well old tire rubbers could make a new tube top. Used kitchen foil can be transformed into a shiny new dress with matching headwear. Despite all the lighthearted fun, this show has a serious message.
GATHU: If I did that, a few more people would wake up and think what to do with the waste or not to dump it.
OKE: From this skimpy plastic wrap number to this sophisticated bubble wrap two piece, everything is made from material that was once destined to be thrown away.
REWA: We have to get more creative and take it a step further to -- instead of being fun and creative, to actual use.
OKE: The message? Recycling is environmentally sound, economically smart and tres chic.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
OKE: I can safely say on this one occasion, that report was a load of old rubbish. Now it's all very well saying, "Recycle rubbish and turn it into fashion," but is it really possible? I had a go earlier on today, and I think you'll agree that I've made a lovely shi-shi number for Jim to wear at the weekends. So go ahead and turn your rubbish into fashion.
Jim, we look forward to seeing in this a little bit later.
CLANCY: Yeah, OK, well you know, it'll go well with the shower curtain that I'm going to take down later this week. All right, Femi, thanks for that.
You know, it only seems fitting. We're close to the end of the show. Why don't we take you to, well, the end of the African continent.
Paul Tilsley is our tour guide as we see what makes South Africa's Cape Point so special.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAUL TILSLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's one of the most southerly habitable places in the world, the end of the Cape Peninsula. This national park, mostly covered with rocks and small plants, is not as bleak as it looks.
JIM HALLINAN, CAPE PENINSULA NATIONAL PARK: Arguably, one of the best-kept secrets on the Cape Peninsula is that here, you find more species of plants acre for acre than probably any other area on the planet, surpassing even tropic rainforests in diversity.
TILSLEY: Two thousand, two hundred and eighty-five species of plants, to be precise, packed into just 291 square kilometers.
But tour guides like Turkey's Selim Yalcin bring their charges here for another reason.
SELIM YALCIN, TOUR GUIDE: We read our geography when we're in junior high school about the Cape Point, it's almost the -- and south of the world, where the two oceans meet. So people are always eager to come and see this point.
TILSLEY: Legend and geographical logic has it that the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet at Cape Point. Oceanographers have established the seas actual mingle nearly 300 kilometers to the east. But shh, no one's told the tourists.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cape Point is the most historic area, which is the end of Far East and Western people. The navigator is passed through here. That's why a very historic area.
TILSLEY: This Korean gentleman is correct that the point is historic. It houses the Cape of Good Hope, a rock immortalized by explorer Barthomelew Diaz when he discovered Africa's coastline does end on June the 6th, 1488.
HALLINAN: If you were sailing down the coast of Africa from north to south, it is only here at the Cape of Good Hope that you actually see Africa comes to an end in this ocean. This gave Diaz the good hope, the good hope that in time they would be develop a maritime route between Europe and the great trading centers of India and the Orient. And hence the reason that Bartholemew Diaz gave this point of land the name.
TILSLEY: And the cape point could be known as the Cape of Good Ghosts. According to the lighthouse keeper, a certain flying Dutchman may have been haunting the point for 300 years.
BENITO DREYER, LIGHTHOUSE KEEPER: Everybody knows that the find has been never past a point . And that he's still trying, up to this age, still trying to pass the Cape Point, especially where you -- people say that in the fog time, they have noticed this type of ghost ship carrying passengers inside. But who knows?
TILSLEY: To some, it certainly feels like the end of the world.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are coming from Turkey, so we are feeling really far -- enough far from our country and it's nice to be here.
TILSLEY: Some just come to stare out to sea. The next land is the Antarctic. For many like these German motorcyclists, this is a climax of a visit to Africa, literally the end of the road.
Paul Tilsley for CNN, Cape Point.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CLANCY: Well, the INSIDE AFRICA team would like to hear from you. Why don't you send us an e-mail at INSIDEAFRICA@CNN.com. You could include a suggestion for Femi and a good way to learn about fashion. Send that along to INSIDEAFRICA@CNN.com.
That is all for this week's program. I'm Jim Clancy; for me and the entire team, thanks for being with us.
END
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