LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

As we continue confronting a lot of challenges in Malawi and Zambia as well as Africa as a whole, some of them appearing insurmountable, we at the JCTR feel honoured and delighted to assemble material for you, our readers in the quarterly Bulletin.  Materials that try to bring to the fore various issues -- theological, economic, political, social, etc.  In this issue, of prominence are the three articles on HIV/AIDS.

One of the articles raises fundamental but hitherto unexplored areas of explanation surrounding the HIV/AIDS pandemic.  At the same time igniting further explorations and/or responses.  The issues being raised are more of a departure from the traditional ''group thinking'' approach that has characterised analyses of the HIV/AIDS problem.

DEVELOPMENT AS UTOPIA

Perhaps one of the greatest disillusionment in the fight against the challenges confronting us in Malawi and Zambia and the whole of Africa is the failure to realise development -- development as freedom, improvement in living conditions of people and realisation of the dignity of the human person.

Take a telescopic hind view, for instance, one would not need a lot of effort to realise that there has been little or no attainment development.  While some parts of the world experienced massive advances unparalleled in world history during the last two decades of the 20^th century, Zambia, Malawi and many other parts of Africa were in a developmental slide.

The debt burden, poor economic management and performance with attendant problems such a deterioration in health care standards, a fall in education standards, etc added to reinforcing the developmental slide.

Amidst all this, international development targets agreed by governments continued and are still being set.  Some of the current development targets include;  the reduction in the number of people living on less than US$1 per day by the 2015;  that there should be universal primary education by 2015, with the disparity between girls and boys in primary and secondary schools eliminated by 2005;   that the death rate for infants and children under the age of five should be reduced by two-thirds of the 1990 level in all countries (The Oxfam Education Report, 2000).

Obviously, it is to the knowledge of almost everyone that this is not the first time development targets are being set.  It is most likely not the last.  For example, in 1990 the World Conference on Education for All held in Jomtien, Thailand set attainment of universal primary education by the year 2000.

Did that happen? NO.  Instead we saw a shift of attainment of the target to a later date.  We might see that being repeated if current trends are anything to go by.  A question that comes to ones' mind begging asking is, to what extent are the projected targets linked to the overall economic situations of individual countries, presently and in the future?  In the absence of the capacity for individual economies to deliver to the attainment of the development targets, what about trying something on the scale of the marshall plan?

Setting targets without looking at the overall current economic situation and its projected future trends is an exercise in isolation that is tantamount to a ''wish list.''  This is not to say that within the framework of projected targets there has not been anything achieved in relation to those targets.  There has been.  But more needs to be done at the level of the overall country's economic situation.

For example, recent research findings on a study conducted in Zambia in the area of Cost Sharing in Zambia's basic education revealed that while cost sharing may be necessary, there was greater need for strengthening economic situations at the household level if the education quality, access, etc are to be enhanced.