Ethno.Net Africa is a network of African social scientists interested in comparative research, monitoring and evaluation of ethnic conflicts and social change in Africa. Within the framework of UNESCO's MOST Programme, and in cooperation with the International Centre for Applied Social Science Research (ICASSRT) in Cameroon, the project aims at proposing appropriate solutions to policy-makers dealing with ethnic and minority problems. The main objective of the network is to contribute to a better understanding of ethnicity and ethnic conflicts in Africa by collecting, analysing and disseminating information in an effort to provide an early-warning system and prevent conflicts.

During the first year of the biennium, the project placed more emphasis on updating the Ethno-Net database on ethnic conflicts in Africa and on preparing several activities to be carried out in 2001. These activities include:

(i) the MOST debates on: (a) The Bamiléké question during the democratic opening in Cameroon, by Dieudonné Zognong; (b) Ethnicity and the State in Africa: the case of Cameroon, by Ibrahim Mouiche.

(ii) Presentation of MOST policy on preventing ethnic conflict and peace-building in Africa: lessons from the recent past, by Nantang Jua.

(iii) Conference on complex political emergencies in Africa, Douala, Cameroon, 14-16 May 2001.

(iv) In cooperation with LIMSI-CNRS, a project on a "System of monitoring through an electronic journal on ethnic conflict and social transformations in Africa".

(v) An independent website managed by the Cameroon secretariat. Information on the project is available on the website of the MOST Programme at: http://www.unesco.org/most/p95.htm.

The budget for the transverse activity "Anticipation and future-oriented studies" approved by the General Conference did not include decentralized funds in Africa. Although, strictly speaking, no activity was undertaken in Africa, the programme nevertheless assigned a very special place to Africa and to the participation of major African experts in its execution. By way of example, mention may be made of the following activities:

(i) a chapter of the UNESCO future-oriented report Monde nouveau (an Odile Jacob/UNESCO Publishing co-publication) is devoted to Africa. A Spanish version of the report has just been published (a UNESCO Publishing/Círculo de lectores/Galaxia Gutenberg co-publication). The English version (The World Ahead: Our Future in the Making) will be issued as a co-publication (Zed Books/UNESCO Publishing) in April-May 2001 following its distribution as a document to all of UNESCO's main partners in October-November 1999.

(ii) The collective work Keys to the 21st Century, a first anthology of the 21st Century Talks and 21st Century Dialogues published in May 2000, also contains a section on Africa produced with the participation of two African figures of great distinction, Ms Gertrude Mongella and General Amadou Toumani Touré.

(iii) The "2000" programme, a series of monthly broadcasts on major world problems produced by RFI in collaboration with UNESCO, was rounded off at the end of December 2000 with a programme on Africa and was widely broadcast throughout the continent.

(iv) Many Africans have already participated in the 21st Century Talks and 21st Century Dialogues, including Ms Gertrude Mongella, former Secretary-General of the Beijing Summit, Ms Ndioro Ndiaye, former Minister of Senegal, General Amadou Toumani, former President of Mali, Cheikh Modibo Diarra, UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador, and Mr Pierre Sané, Secretary General of Amnesty International, who has since been appointed UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Social and Human Sciences.

"Growing Up in Cities" Project

The MOST Growing Up in Cities project seeks to influence urban policy on children in camps with their families and also those living in underprivileged neighbourhoods. The project encourages participatory research and the development of policies that respond to the real conditions in which children are living and to the ideas and aspirations of young people. One of the most active sites of the project is Johannesburg, where it was put in place in three phases in 2000.

The first phase consisted of research with 15 African children (aged 10 to 14) in Canaansland, a squatter settlement of about 1000 residents living on 1.48 acres of land on the edge of downtown Johannesburg. This phase of the project was directed by Jill Swart Kruger, an anthropologist at the University of South Africa, and Peter Rich, an architect and lecturer at the University of Witwatersrand.

During the second phase, the "growing up in cities" process was replicated among Muslim children in the expanding housing complexes at Ferreirasdorp, a neighbourhood located just to the west of inner-city Johannesburg. Under the leadership of Afzal and Fatima Noor Mahomed, 25 children between the ages of 10 and 14 testified to how they used and evaluated their local environment. About a year after the research in Ferreirasdorp and 18 months after the research in Canaansland, an impact assessment at both project sites was carried out under the leadership of R. Dev Griesel, a psychologist at the University of Natal.

Because the fates of cities and rural economies are closely connected, a third phase of project work was carried out in Moutse, a rural village in the province of Mpumalanga. Whereas the "growing up in cities" methods in Canaansland and Ferreirasdorp began as a way to catalyse participatory community development for all ages, work in Moutse focused on organizing women, with the goal of integrating children into planning once participatory processes were under way.

Project on Cities: Management of social transformations and the environment

Project on Cities: Management of social transformations and the environment is a research-action project associating the MOST, MAB and CSI programmes in an intersectoral approach between the Social and Human Sciences and Natural Sciences Sectors. It forms part of the follow-up to the HABITAT II Conference.

The project in Senegal, at the pilot sites of Yeumbeul and Malika, seels to bring about tangible improvements in inhabitants' living conditions and training capacities, helping them in their struggle against poverty by drawing on their own initiatives, especially those of women and young people, and encouraging active involvement on the part of NGOs and grassroots organizations. Among the results during the 1998-1999 biennium were:

(i) extension of the drinking-water-supply system;

(ii) installation of 10 standpipes;

(iii) construction of 256 cesspits;

(iv) -provision of 10 horse-drawn carts for the preliminary handling of household waste for the 100,000 inhabitants of Yeumbeul and Malika;

(v) the establishment of 20 microfirms by women, especially for the processing of agricultural produce;

(vi) the training of 20,000 women in environmental and health education, particularly in relation to water and waste management;

(vii) training-apprenticeships for 1,000 young people in the production and maintenance of sanitary facilities and public areas.

The subregional workshop "Local Rule and Participative Urban Management in West Africa", held in Dakar, Senegal, on 10 and 11 May 2001, was attended by some 30 participants, particularly representatives of ministries responsible for decentralization, mayors and local elected officials in West Africa, local development experts, representatives of civil society, researchers and academics, and representatives of international aid agencies.

The workshop had the following goals:

(i) identification and analysis of innovative experiments in local participative management in West Africa;

(ii) analysis of the opportunities for effective implementation of practices of good governance and participative management of municipal institutions and also the associated constraints and obstacles;

(iii) identification of the needs of elected officials and actors in civil society with a view to strengthening capacities for improving and developing consensual and participative urban management; and

(iv) preparation of a practical report based on the results of the workshop, to be distributed widely to actors and partners of local development in West Africa for the purpose of promoting the principles of good governance, citizen participation and partnerships for action.

In connection with the sharing of knowledge in the field of the social and human sciences, the UNESCO Windhoek Office, in collaboration with the Human Rights and Documentation Centre of the University of Namibia, is establishing a website on "Research and Teaching of Human Rights, Gender Issues and Democracy in Southern Africa". It is hoped that this site will become an important channel for the exchange of information and the preparation of joint projects, whether in the form of an electronic bulletin, a shared teaching tool or a research project. A number of universities, research institutes and NGOs in the 14 countries of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) are contributing to the site. To date, the studies of country profiles and information on research and curricula of universities, research institutions and NGOs have been put in place in Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Mauritius, Tanzania, Swaziland, South Africa and Zambia. While the studies on Namibia, Lesotho, the Seychelles and Zimbabwe are under preparation, the focal points that will work on the national contributions in Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo have still to be identified.

Pilot Poverty Reduction Programme in Namibia

UNESCO Windhoek is participating actively in the United Nations theme group on poverty in Namibia and is providing sustained support to the Ohangwena Pilot Poverty Reduction Programme, a joint action with the agencies of the United Nations system and the Ohangwena Regional Council.

The aim of UNESCO's general contribution to the Ohangwena Pilot Poverty Reduction Programme is to promote participative development, the mobilization and integration of marginalized groups and an improvement in the quality of education and cultural life in the Ohangwena region. In that connection, a community organizer has been involved in all the activities in the region and has been supported by the Communication and Information service and the Social and Human Sciences Programme of the UNESCO Windhoek Office. He has regularly visited the pilot communities and helped to define and execute the self-help initiatives.

In connection with the extrabudgetary project "Strategy for Community Mobilization and Empowerment for Poverty Reduction", UNESCO is the United Nations agency responsible for technical implementation. The project seeks to prepare regional development plans for the regions of Erongo and Ohangwena in Namibia. It is part of the contribution to the national and regional planning process and its consolidation. It is also part of the technical assistance provided by UNDP and UNESCO to the Ministry of Local Government and Town Planning and to the National Planning Commission.

In this context, a study has been carried out, including a situation report and a development framework. The report on the current situation covers the physical and demographic features of the region, its infrastructure, social services, social security, housing development services and urban services, a sectoral analysis of the economic structure, the environmental profile and the aspirations of the community. The development framework focuses on development strategies, regional programmes, the sectoral profile of projects and institutional aspects.

A series of strategic planning workshops has been held, involving all the stakeholders. The aim of the first workshops was to review the lists proposed by the development committees in Ohangwena and Erongo with a view to defining their priorities. At those workshops, a development project for the region was prepared. The purpose of the second series of workshops was to inform participants about the draft regional plan, thus providing an opportunity for the inclusion of other proposals.

The final regional development plans approved by the regional councils were thus submitted to the National Planning Commission and the Ministry of Local Government and Town Planning. The UNESCO Windhoek Office is preparing the two regional development plans for publication.