Your daily Selection of IRIN Africa PlusNews reports, 6/25/2004

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U N I T E D N A T I O N S

Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

Integrated Regional Information Network

[These reports do not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

CONTENT:

1 - MALAWI: Empowerment of girls key to tackling HIV

2 - SWAZILAND: Debate over male circumcision

1 - MALAWI: Empowerment of girls key to tackling HIV

BLANTYRE, 24 June (PLUSNEWS) - Last year 19-year-old Mercy Msiskashe was

forced to drop out of school because her family could not afford to pay

the fees.

" Some of my family members encouraged me to find a boyfriend and then get

married. They even went to my parents, telling them that the only thing

left for me was to look for a partner, " she told PlusNews.

But a meeting organised by Malawi's ministry of youth, sports and culture

encouraged her to seek alternative ways of continuing her education.

" I learnt a lot from that meeting. I made a decision that I should look

for a technical training course. Most of my friends rushed into

marriages - some have kids that they cannot support, while others, because

of the need to have money, died of AIDS, " she added.

Msiskashe is now one of six young women attending a year-long tailoring

course at Jenga Training Centre in the northern Rumphi district.

Improving the vocational skills of Malawi's youth has become a critical

defence in preventing the spread of HIV, particularly among young women.

Humanitarian agencies have attributed the rise in the infection rate of

young women to a lack of educational and vocational opportunities.

In an effort to raise HIV/AIDS awareness among them and improve their life

skills, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF)

and the authorities have teamed up to assist young people.

" The UN agencies are supporting two youth projects to encourage the

participation of girls in social activities through clubs. The projects

also empower young girls by providing vocational training where they learn

carpentry, tailoring and motor vehicle mechanics, " UNFPA programme

assistant Msonda explained.

The interagency effort, funded by the UN Foundation under the banner of

the Southern Africa Youth Initiative on AIDS (SAY), aims to ensure that

adolescent girls have the same rights and opportunities as boys. " Giving

them seed money or soft loans to start their own businesses is one way of

achieving the objectives of fighting AIDS among our girls, " Msonda told

PlusNews.

The money received from UNICEF could be issued as revolving loans, to

enable young women to start their own small-scale businesses such as fish

farming, chicken rearing or tailoring.

The projects also aim to raise HIV/AIDS awareness among girls, of which a

key component is training peer educators in local communities.

" After being trained, these peer educators go back to the communities and

tell the other youths where they could get information on HIV/AIDS and

sexually transmitted diseases. They also help in the distribution of

condoms, " Msonda said.

Wilfred Lichapa, who oversees the project in the department of youth, told

PlusNews: " We want more of these girls to do technical jobs. They should

also have access to sexual reproductive health and family planning

services. "

The projects have already elicited a positive response from the youth.

" We have achieved almost 75 percent of what we intended to do. There has

been a reduction in pregnancies and the HIV infection rate since the

projects started, " Lichepa said.

[ENDS]

2 - SWAZILAND: Debate over male circumcision

MBABANE, 25 June (PLUSNEWS) - Male circumcision as a method to the reduce

risk of HIV infection is being hotly debated this week after a prominent

politician announced that his four sons had been circumcised, contrary to

Swazi tradition.

" All male children should be circumcised. To show my seriousness, I have

taken all my sons for circumcision, " MP and former House Speaker, Marwick

Khumalo, told his constituents at Lobamba, 20 km east of the capital,

Mbabane. Khumalo said he wondered why circumcision, despite the evidence

of its effectiveness, was not being stressed as a way to reduce HIV

infection.

Dr Alan Brody, national director of the UN Children's Fund, who supports

male circumcision as one precaution against HIV infection, said studies on

the effectiveness of the procedure have produced differing statistics.

" Depending on the report you read, the possibility of infection is reduced

by 25 percent to 50 percent in the circumcised male. This is significant.

The male child is best circumcised at an early age, preferably in

infancy, " Brody said.

But traditionalists in this conservative country frown upon the procedure,

because it is not a Swazi custom. Some of Khumalo's constituents at

Lobamba, a stronghold of tradition that was the royal village of King

Mswati's long-reigning father, King Sobhuza, reacted negatively to the

idea of male circumcision.

" That is a custom of the EmaXhosa (an ethnic group in neighbouring South

Africa). They do it as a manhood ritual. Swazi men do not need to prove

themselves in that way, " said Simelane, a 55-year-old father of

three sons.

Simelane said he was unswayed by the medical argument in favour of

circumcision. " First, they say we must use a condom to stop AIDS, even

though a condom is unknown to Swazis. Now they say we must cut off our

foreskins. They should just leave our penises alone, and invent an

injection to stop AIDS. "

The Ministry of Health has no policy on the promotion of male circumcision

(female circumcision is unknown in Swaziland) in a country where close to

40 percent of adults are estimated to be HIV-positive. However, most NGOs

dealing with AIDS and health issues support the procedure, and the health

ministry intends to seek data on the prevalence of circumcision in a

Demographic and Health Survey, soon to be conducted nationwide.

" We debated whether to include circumcision in the health data. The survey

looks into issues of family planning, HIV and AIDS, and sexually

transmitted infections, " Rudolph Maziya, national director for the

Alliance of Mayors Initiative on Community Action on AIDS at the Local

Level (AMICAALL), told PlusNews.

" We decided to ask families whether they have circumcised children, to

establish baseline data. The anecdotal evidence is that more and more

parents are asking for circumcision. They learned of it from South Africa,

which is our neighbouring state and has a large influence here, " Maziya

said.

Hannie Dlamini, president of the Swaziland AIDS Support Organisation

(SASO), a counselling and treatment centre for Swazis who are HIV-positive

or have AIDS, told PlusNews, " We support circumcision as public health

policy. It is just one part of what is needed to reduce risk, but it is

not a substitute for using a condom, remaining faithful to a single sexual

partner, and taking other precautions. "

Member of Parliament Hlobsile Ndlovu, who is also the communications

director for PSI Swaziland, an NGO which distributes condoms, is strongly

opposed to circumcision. " Circumcision must not be promoted, because HIV

infections will increase, and AIDS will spread. People will stop using

condoms. Unfortunately, there is a tendency for people to listen to only

half of a story, and they will believe that because a man is circumcised,

he cannot get infected. "

She added: " [swazi men] don't like using condoms, and they will also use

circumcision as a way to avoid them. "

[ENDS]

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