Very disturbing news coming from Kenya. The East African nation's new LGBT magazine Identity reports that college students and unemployed men have been forced into sex trafficking. Young men are reportedly being lured to Gulf states with the promise of high-paying jobs ... but ultimately become sex slaves.
The report alleges that gay and bisexual men are lured from university campuses – particularly from Kenyatta University – with promises of high-paying jobs and then transported to labor as sex workers for men in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
According to the magazine, due to Kenya’s soaring unemployment rate, the men are easily fooled into this trap. The publication interviewed one Kenyan victim who was promised a job in Qatar but ended up suffering sexual abuse.
Qatar specifically, has no laws against human trafficking, which has made cracking down on the practice nearly impossible. “Qatar is a transit and destination country for men and women subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced labor and, to a much lesser extent, forced prostitution,” the US State Department stated in a recent report.
"Before anyone gives me a lecture about homosexuals and their rights, first talk about railways," Museveni told delegates at the end of a regional meeting in Kampala attended by five other African presidents. "Homosexuals also need electricity, homosexuals also need roads, homosexuals also need railways," Museveni said to applause.
Meanwhile: China has announced that it "wants to build roads and railways in Uganda" ... with no conditions on human rights.
Homosexuality is punishable by up to life in prison in Uganda, which has been condemned by the international community for its state-sponsored anti-gay terror campaign. Parliament has revived the extreme Anti-Homosexuality Bill, which seeks the death penalty or life imprisonment for anyone caught engaging in homosexual acts for a second time—as well as for gay sex where one partner is a minor or is HIV positive.
In January 2011, Uganda's opposition leader Dr. Kizza Besigye said police should not waste resources investigating homosexuality and said that he would decriminalize the practice if elected. Museveni was later re-elected, extending his 25 years in power by another five-year term.
President John Evans Atta Mills and members of Ghana's parliament are outraged after British Prime Minister David Cameron suggested that foreign aid should be decreased to countries that do not respect gay rights.
Officials and religious leaders in the West African nation have compared the suggestion to colonialism and "oppression", reports Radio Netherlands Worldwide Africa.
Reverend George Asante, the head pastor of the Christian Messengers Church in Ghana’s second largest city Kumasi, opposes the UK premier’s ideas. "Homosexuality is wrong on so many levels. From a constitutional and religious point of view it is illegal and must never be tolerated," he says. Ghanaian law does indeed prohibit the practice of homosexuality, which makes it difficult for gay people to express themselves.
Cameron’s threats haven’t impressed President John Evans Atta Mills of Ghana. Cameron said that "British aid should have more strings attached… While we appreciate all the financial assistance and aid which has been given to us by our development partners, we will not accept any aid with strings attached if that aid doesn’t serve our interests."
Reverend Asante [believes] that “Ghanaians must resist every form of oppression even if it means economic sanctions. Historically we have never condoned homosexuality, which is why Ghana’s constitution makes sure that any form of unnatural sex isn’t legalised.” But [the] constitution of Ghana doesn’t explicitly mention homosexuality.
RNWA quoted one gay Ghanaian who supported sanctions. But many other African LGBT and human rights groups have publicly distanced themselves from Cameron's position.
"When it (gay) became a topical issue, we made one of our members to make a statement condemning it and unanimously, across both divides, we said never shall we ever pass a law in the Parliament of Ghana [promoting gay rights]," Gershon Gbediame, Majority Chief Whip has told Myjoyonline.com.
Gbediame ... asked Ghanaians, especially, Christians to remain firm behind the government in the fight against gay rights to avoid the wrath of God visiting us.
"When you come to Ghana you will know that Ghana is richly blessed, so much, there is no need why we should bow and kowtow to people like Cameron, Obama to say that if you don’t pass gay rights we are not going to give you any aid; to hell with their aid, we shall not, shall not sell our birthright, we believe in the word of God, we shall not go contrary to the word of God...we are prepare to go hungry."
Recent months have seen an increase in anti-gay rhetoric coning from elected officials and media in the West African nation. Last summer, President Mills denounced homosexuality and the Western Region Minister announced the "immediate arrest of all homosexuals."
"We have a strategy to save 16 million lives by 2016," Dr. Zewdie told Rod 2.0 in a one-on-one interview before the the plenary. "I'm confident in that strategy."
This comes as HIV/AIDS activists in Addis Abba and around the world have protested after the Global Fund's surprise announcement that it would cancel $1.5 billion in planned disbursements. Officials say that "U.S. and European budget problems have hurt it, but donor backlash over losses to corruption and other misspending also have played a role."
Dr. Zewdie is a native of Ethiopia, has a doctorate in Immunology from the University of London, was a Senior MacArthur Fellow at Harvard University and was formerly the Global HIV/AIDS Advisor for the World Bank. Dr. Zewdie's team reached out to Rod 2.0 at ICASA 2011 to discuss the Global Fund's long term health and funding African projects for men who have sex with men (MSM).
ROD MCCULLOM: The Global Fund has been in the news in recent weeks. Can you explain what happened and why?
DR. DEBREWORK ZEWEDIE: Of course. As you know, the Global Fund has been funding AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. To date we have disbursed $14 billion. About 67 percent of our funding goes to Africa.
The noise you hear is related to our board decision about two weeks ago. The board approved our strategy for 2011-2016 which [aims] to save the lives of 16 million people by 2016. It also approved a transformation plan for the Global Fund to make it more efficient. We’ve been funding for the past 10 years. We now have a two-step process and this coincided with Round 11. For the 2011/13 funding cycle, all of the donors who pledged their resources are still honoring their pledges. But because of the economic climate, the cash at hand was not in the bank by the time we wanted to disburse. Our funding policy is such that all the money for the life of the program must be in the trustee account.
In view of the fact that we didn’t have the resources in the trustee account, the board postponed Round 11. You can ask me is the Global Fund broke and the answer is no—
That was my next question—
No. The amount that we have assigned up until now, those resources are in the trustee account. We will continue to put people on [HIV] treatment, we will continue to buy bed nets, we will continue to put people on treatment for tuberculosis. If we sign Round 11 now, it only becomes effective two or three years down the road. There’s a lot of money … but only down the road.
Does the Global Fund want countries to become more strategic, have more sustainable funding options?
It is. What we’ve been doing up until is that countries have been scrambling for funds. This gives them an opportunity to consolidate funds and inefficiencies so that they can stretch the dollar. Sure, it would have been nice if we had the resources to continue Round 11 but we have enough money in the trustee accounts to fund all.
What is your response to the auditor’s report?
That report came out in September. We’ve been instructed to [develop] a new funding plan. As a result, at least three donors have turned on the tap again—Germany, Belgium and the United Kingdom have released monies. That’s the positive response to the plan.
There’s been much discussion at ICASA that African nations should do more to fight HIV/AIDS.
I think it’s appropriate and it’s about time. Some African nations ... up to 100 percent of their funding for HIV is from external sources. That needs to change.
But you’re confident about the Global Fund’s long term health?
Absolutely.
Finaly, there’s been some claims that certain African nations have a line item in their funding proposals for MSM issues ...
[NODS]
But they’re not doing anything about MSM issues.
Yes. We wish more countries were funding [MSM]. But they aren’t. We don’t discriminate.
Not the Fund but the individual nations—
Yes, unfortunately, there is a long way to go, although there are just as important as any other sector. We can only hope.
The most common petrol stations in Addis Ababa are Total and Oil Libya. This station was about one block south of the hotel on Gambia Street.
Petrol is relatively very expensive in Ethiopia. The price of petrol is approx 16 to 20 Birr per liter. There are 17 Birr per dollar, so the price of gas is about $4 to $5 a gallon. The same as what we pay in the States ... but the average income in Ethiopia is less than $1000 USD annually.
Another Oil Libya about three blocks away on Cameroon Street.
ADDIS ABABA: More criticism after British Prime Minister David Cameron's suggestion that foreign aid should be decreased to countries that do not respect gay rights. Cameron made the announcement at the recent 54-nation Commonwealth meeting in Australia in response to soaring HIV rates in the global south. A number of African leaders have criticized the suggestion—as well as many African LGBT activists at ICASA 2011 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
"Cameron's statement was extremely dangerous to our movement," said South African-based attorney and human rights activist Joel Nana of the African Men for Sexual Health and Rights, responding to a question from R20. "It re-emphasizes the notion that homosexuality is un-African or European. It shows that Great Britain will cut aid over LGBT issues and nothing else. ... We're also part of mainstream African society. They're also cutting aid to youth services and people living with HIV."
"We know that Britain is facing some economic problems, " said Nana. "If Britain wants to cut aid, let them cut aid because of that, but not over LGBT rights in our name."
Nana and more than 100 African-based activists and organizations issued a statement in response to Cameron's suggestion. Many activists from Cameroon, Nigeria and other African nations believe that anti-gay persecution has escalated in recent months as a result of Cameron's threat.
ADDIS ABABA: The legal status of men who have sex with men (MSM) and the criminalization of HIV transmission across Africa was discussed in several plenary sessions at the 16th International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The trend was also the focus of several key sessions, including the standing room only "Key Populations on HIV/AIDS: LGBT."
Duby is in charge of the Tutu Foundation's MSM Sensitivity Training for Health Care Workers. She presented an overview of the legal landscape for African MSM: "African is the continent with the harshest laws when it comes to homosexuality and other sexual minorities. Thirty-eighty African nations have laws criminalizing homosexuality. Four nations—Mauritania, Nigeria, Somalia and Sudan—boast the death penalty for same-sex activity."
Although a number of nations such as Burundi, Cameroon, Nigeria and Uganda have proposed harsher penalties for same-sex relations, there have been some improvements. "Fourteen nations have included MSM in national strategic HIV/AIDS plans," said Duby. "And there is an emerging MSM movement in almost every nation ... as well as regional movements such as AMSHeR.
AMSHer's Joel Nana welcomed support from American and European activitists—but reminded everyone that Africans should take the lead in addresing African problems. "As the African LGBT movement, we cannot work alone," said the attorney and human rights activist. "We have to work together. But when there is an issue with Nigeria, for instance, who usually issues the statements and protests? They are in London and New York. ... Why aren't African LGBTs consulted before these actions?"
Nana and several Nigerian MSM activists in the audience referenced recent anti-Nigerian protests in New York and London. "If anything, that's made the situation worse," said one African activist in the audience. "If those Nigerians in the diaspora feel so strongly, why not return to Nigeria and do something?"
As was the case at most MSM sessions throughout ICASA 2011, the Q&A session was interrupted several times by anti-gay and religious audience members.
Nana and AMSHeR organized a one-day MSM pre-conference on the eve of ICASA 2011. The meeting was forced to change its venue after Ethiopian religious leaders demanded its cancellation at ugly press conference. The MSM pre-con was re-scheduled to a secure location at one of the United Nations compounds. Christian and Islamic clergy and faithful demonstrated across the street from the new location.
One of the standout attractions at ICASA 2011 was the UNAIDS-sponsored "Condomize" campaign in the Global Village, their super popular t-shirts ... and the Ethio gym hottie in sagging jeans and boxer briefs demonstrating correct condom ettiquette. "What's your favorite flavor?" he asked.
Forgot his name but he was one of the star attractions at the conference. Trust.
"Condomize" is a program of the United Nations Population Fund. The goal is to de-stigmatize condom use and educate the public. The Condomize booths were very popular at ICASA 2011 and swamped with thousands of delegates. The booths were staffed with attractive, outgoing youth of all races and sexualities, who demonstrated how to make custom condoms and lubricants. Very nice.
Looking north on the palm-tree lined Gambia Street in downtown Addis Ababa.
The National Theater is at the intersection of Gambia and Sudan.
There are several sensitive military installations in this area which I was not aware of, including the Ministry of Defense above left. Soldiers politely asked me to move along and not take photos at this intersection.
About two blocks north of Sudan Street begins the Piazza. On Thursday evening, the square was the location of a huge rally for promoting condom usage among youth.
ADDIS ABABA: About 200 activists interrupted the afternoon plenary session at the 16th International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa in Addis Ababa. The activists demanded that African governments take more responsiblity to fund the AIDS response during a global financial crisis and decreased external funding.
"Where is the money for the money for AIDS?" about 100 activists demanded as they marched across the plenary session and through the Millenium Conference Center. "Fund the Global Fund, Kenya! Fund the Global Fund, South Africa! Fund the Global Fund, Nigeria!"
Two weeks ago, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria made the surprise announcement that it would cancel $1.5 billion in planned disbursements. Officials say that "U.S. and European budget problems have hurt it, but donor backlash over its losses to corruption and other misspending also have played a role," reports CBS News.
The Global Fund is the world's largest multilateral donor to the HIV/AIDS response in the developing world. The Global Fund has disbursed $15 billion since 2002—principally funded by the United States and European countries.
African HIV/AIDS activists have criticized African nations that rely on international donors and refuse to develop strategic plans to sustain funding streams. "Our governments made the promises to fund health budget by 15%, but they have not kept their promises. Our people are dying because of governments have failed to keep their promises," said J.P Mokgethi-Heath from INERELA.
Sub-Saharan Africa is more heavily affected by HIV/AIDS than any other global region. An estimated 22.5 million people are living with HIV on the continent—about two thirds of the global total.
According to the magazine, due to Kenya’s soaring unemployment rate, the men are easily fooled into this trap. The publication interviewed one Kenyan victim who was promised a job in Qatar but ended up suffering sexual abuse.
