NAIROBI, 20 April 2007 (IRIN) - NAIROBI, 20 April 2007 (IRIN) - CONTENTS:

UGANDA: Death penalty for HIV-positive child sex offenders UGANDA-SUDAN: Renewed truce raises optimism over future talks GLOBAL: "Sustainable Urbanisation" key to fighting urban poverty GLOBAL: Proper policies key to upgrading slums GLOBAL: Health, environment threatened by future urban growth EAST AFRICA: Lake Victoria region at risk of environmental degradation DRC: Arbitrary killings, rape part of ongoing abuses in the east

SEE ALSO:

UGANDA: Govt relocates 'beggar' pastoralists at: [http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=71702]

CAR: Leprosy still a challenge despite drop in cases at: [http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=71646]

UGANDA: Death penalty for HIV-positive child sex offenders

A new law passed by Uganda's parliament on Wednesday has stipulated that an HIV-positive person who willfully infects a minor through sexual intercourse will face the death penalty.

The proposed legislation seeks to amend the existing penal code, which has been criticised for being too lenient with HIV-positive people who rape children. Capital punishment has been the penalty for anyone found guilty of rape or defilement since 1996, but has never been implemented.

Some groups were, however, opposed to the new legislation. "We are of the view that the death penalty for defilers is unacceptable, and amounts to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment," said Livingstone Sewanyana, executive director of the Foundation for Human Rights Initiative (FHRI), a human rights advocacy group. [Full report at: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=71713]

UGANDA-SUDAN: Renewed truce raises optimism over future talks

The renewed truce between the Ugandan government and the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) has boosted hopes that upcoming talks between the two may finally end the conflict in northern Uganda, a senior official said.

At Saturday's meeting between a Ugandan government delegation and the LRA leaders in Ri-Kwangba on the Sudan-Democratic Republic of Congo border, the ceasefire – which expired in February - was renewed until the end of June.

The meeting was chaired by the United Nations Secretary-General's special envoy in the region, former Mozambican president, Joaquim Chissano. Both sides agreed that the talks will keep the southern Sudanese vice president, Riek Machar, as mediator. [Full report at: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=71624]

GLOBAL: "Sustainable Urbanisation" key to fighting urban poverty

The number of slum-dwellers worldwide is set to reach a new high in 2007, making alleviating poverty a global priority, the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Monday.

"Urban poverty should be unacceptable in the new urban era, and yet this is the year in which the number of slum dwellers worldwide is forecasted to reach one billion," Ban said in a statement read by the deputy executive director for UN-Habitat, Inga Klevby, during the opening of the 21st Session of the agency's Governing Council.

The meeting, under the theme: "Sustainable Urbanisation: Local Action for Urban Poverty Reduction", focuses on finance and planning, and runs until 20 April. "The urban poor are the most vulnerable to natural disasters, made more frequent by climate change patterns since they live in places prone to disasters," Ban said.

The executive director for UN-Habitat, Anna Tibaijuka added that many governments in developing countries are facing cash shortages and are unable to provide better housing, sanitation and health for low-income households. [Full report at: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=71634]

GLOBAL: Proper policies key to upgrading slums

The well-being of millions of the world's slum-dwellers can only be improved through policies that not only target upgrading, but also strengthen urban and national economies, the World Bank Institute (WBI) said.

"Proper measures, policies and regulations must be undertaken by local and national governments, international organisations and other stakeholders to improve the lives of slums-dwellers and stem their rapid spread," Barjor Mehta, WBI representative, said in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi.

Hundreds of millions of slum-dwellers are exposed to severe inadequacies and cannot access human requirements such as water, sanitation, shelter, health and education.

"Urban expansion poses great challenges, with developing countries set to triple their entire urban areas in 30 years, and their population expected to double if current policies remain unchanged," said Rafael Tuts, a representative from UN-Habitat. [Full report at: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=71685]

GLOBAL: Health, environment threatened by future urban growth

Half of the world's population will live in towns by 2008, marking the moment in history when humans became an urban species but posing a major threat to health and the environment, a research organisation warned on Tuesday.

"More than half of all people will live in urban areas, mostly in low-income urban settlements in developing countries - this unplanned and chaotic urbanisation is taking a huge toll on human health and the quality of the environment," said Zoe Chafe, Worldwatch International representative during the launch of its 2007 State of the World report in Nairobi, Kenya.

Titled, "Our Urban Future", the report looks at the ways urbanisation affects human life and the global environment. It was released during the on-going 21st Session of the Governing Council of UN-Habitat.

It noted that close to half of urban dwellers live in "slums" - areas where people cannot secure key necessities such as clean water, toilets or durable sanitation. Around 1.6 million people die in such areas each year due to lack of clean water and sanitation. [Full report at: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=71648]

EAST AFRICA: Lake Victoria region at risk of environmental degradation

The lives of 30 million people living and dependent on Lake Victoria are in danger as a result of uncontrolled municipal and industrial waste, urbanisation and slum overpopulation, a senior United Nations official said on Thursday.

"Lake Victoria is a fragile ecosystem and the international community must now come to its aid since urbanisation, pollution and overpopulation in towns surrounding it continue to degrade it, contributing to its slow death," said Anna Tibaijuka, the executive director of UN-Habitat.

Tibaijuka, speaking at the launch of phase three of the lake's City Development Strategies (CDS) in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, said the CDS aims to enable municipal authorities to address local environmental issues and urban poverty to achieve sustainable urbanisation by providing improved environmental planning and management policies.

The lake is the world's second largest fresh water body shared by Kenya (6 percent of the lake), Tanzania (49 percent) and Uganda (45 percent) and a third of the combined population of these countries dependent on it for fishing, agriculture and domestic use. [Full report at: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=71710]

DRC: Arbitrary killings, rape part of ongoing abuses in the east

Executions and rape of civilians have continued in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) according to a report published by the United Nations detailing human rights abuses during the month of March.

The report, released by the UN Mission in the DRC (MONUC) on Monday, claims the atrocities were committed by soldiers from the Forces armées de la république démocratique du Congo's (FARDC) recently mixed Bravo Brigade.

Numerous cases of alleged rape, human rights violations and looting are listed. The report also details cases of arrests, rape and killings by police. [Full report at: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=71700]

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