The murder of Trayvon Martin is no isolated tragedy. The murder of Black men and women by police and other state officials and by self-appointed 'keepers of the peace' is standard practice in the United States, and essential to the very fabric of the society. Please join us is pressing these demands to hold the United States government accountable for its failure to fully address the systemic problem of institutionalized racism. You can help by endorsing these demands and raising them to the Obama administration and state and local governments in every venue possible.

Launched in March 2012, the African Peacebuilding Network (APN) supports independent African research on conflict-affected countries and neighboring regions of the continent and the integration of African knowledge into global policy communities. The APN promotes the visibility of African peacebuilding knowledge among global and regional centers of scholarly analysis and practical action and makes it accessible to key policymakers at the United Nations and multilateral, regional, and national policymaking institutions by facilitating the transformation of the quality and scale of African research, consolidating the contributions of African researchers and analysts, and connecting African researchers, policy analysts, practitioners, and networks with each other and with policymaking communities around the world.

Over R570-billion will be needed for investment across South Africa's water value chain, in the coming 10 years, according to Minister for Water and Environmental Affairs Edna Molewa. The money is needed to pay for water resources infrastructure, water services and water conservation and demand management across national government, municipalities and the country's existing 12 water boards.

Angola is ending its military mission to help modernise the army in Guinea Bissau as a result of requests from unnamed 'sectors' in the country, Portuguese news agency Lusa quoted Angola's foreign minister as saying. Guinea Bissau is currently in the middle of two rounds of voting to elect a new president to replace Malam Bacai Sanha, who died in a Paris hospital in January after a long illness.

The newest issue of the Kakuma News Reflector is now available online at The Kakuma News Reflector (or KANERE) is a refugee free press devoted to independent reporting on human rights and encampment.

While many Capetownians were running through leafy suburbs from one ocean to another and while others drank and/or sang themselves to stupor in celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, a unique group of about fifty people staged their second annual Welcome to Hell 'Crucession' from Gugulethu to Khayelitsha. Drenched by the pouring rain despite wearing black garbage bags, we walked, sang and danced a full 16.3 kilometres without even a peep of attention from the local newspapers. I participated in the march, which was organised by the controversial Way of Life Church based in Mandela Park in Khayelitsha because of its message that reminds all of us that 18 years since the fall of the National Party, the ghettoised townships where the poor majority are forced to live, remain a living hell.

Oil transparency activists were disappointed by a ruling against them yesterday in Nakawa High Court, Kampala, but have vowed to continue a legal battle to require the government of Uganda to publish Production Sharing Agreements (PSAs) that it has reached with international oil companies. Lady Justice Faith Mwhonda rejected an application from the African Institute for Energy Governance (AFIEGO) and three other civil society organisations for permission to present evidence at an appeal by two journalists against a separate ruling which denied them access to the PSAs.

Whether on billboards along the roads or embroidered on shirt collars, mining companies are ubiquitous in this jungle hub of Ghana's Western Region. 'They take the gold and leave these kinds of things,' says Daniel Owusu-Koranteng, executive director and co-founder of the Wassa Association of Communities Affected by Mining (WACAM).

Global foreign direct investment (FDI) outflows rose by 16 per cent in 2011 to an estimated US$1.66 trillion, surpassing the pre-crisis levels of 2007, UNCTAD’s latest Global Investment Trends Monitor reports. This growth was due in large part to cross-border mergers and acquisitions and to increased amounts of cash reserves kept in foreign affiliates, the Monitor, No. 9, says. The report notes that much-needed direct investment in new productive assets through greenfield investment projects or capital expenditures in existing foreign affiliates appeared to be limited.

Join more than 500 policymakers, activists and practitioners, including young persons, people living with HIV & AIDS, with disabilities, and LGBQTI persons from Africa and around the world at the 5th Africa Conference on Sexual Health and Rights. The conference will will take stock of responses to sexual health and rights on the continent since ICPD, and interrogate the status of sexual health and rights, with particular focus on women, girls, adolescents and youth.

A coalition of pressure groups has unveiled a new campaign against three controversial sponsors of the London Olympics, accusing them of using the Games to 'greenwash' unethical corporate activities. With the growing prospect of protests at the Games by groups seeking to highlight the activities of its corporate backers and others planning to use it as a broader canvas to protest against capitalism, the Greenwash Gold campaign marks a new level of co-ordination.

Julius Malema will continue to perform his duties as president of the ANC Youth League (ANCYL) despite his suspension by the ANC, the league has said. A previous meeting of the NEC resulted in a 'mandate to protect and defend the autonomy of the ANCYL by not agreeing with the removal or release of any of the elected leaders of the ANC Youth League until 2014'. The ANC’s national disciplinary committee suspended Malema for calling President Jacob Zuma a dictator.

Lawyers for Zambia's ex-president Rupiah Banda accused prosecutors Thursday of pursuing his son on politically motivated charges of corruption in the sale of the national telecom firm to Libya's LAP Green. Henry Banda is living in South Africa. After his father lost elections in September 2011 the elite Government Investigative Wing announced that he was wanted for questioning over the $257-million sale of fixed-line operator Zamtel to the Libyan firm.

Water privatisation has been proven not to help the poor, yet a quarter of all World Bank funding goes directly to corporations and the private sector, bypassing both governments and its own standards and transparency requirements in order to do so, says a new report. Corporate Accountability International, the US-based non-governmental organisation that published the report, has called on the World Bank to stop funding the private water sector and start redirecting its money to public and democratically accountable institutions.

The latest issue of the Mozambique Political Process Bulletin is available and deals with anti-corruption legislation.
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An ecological disaster of massive proportions is imminent in the Vaal River system because of the decision years ago not to implement the mining industry's proposal for the treatment of acid mine drainage. Government's own emergency plan to treat the acid water has resulted in the equivalent of 140 tonnes of salts being discharged into these rivers each day because of the decision to dump neutralised but sulphate-rich water into the rivers of the Western Basin.

Uganda’s dismal employment prospects have left more than 12 per cent of the population unemployed or underemployed. New college graduates say they can’t find long-term work or any work at all. In the face of unemployment and underemployment, many are sticking with jobs that underpay or conflict with personal values.

Leading a dedicated team to accompany the development and implementation of campaign strategies led by progressive African social justice movements, the Utetezi Director will support innovative strategies to amplify grassroots demands and realize people-centred change.

Former President Benjamin Mkapa put up a spirited defence for the decision of his third phase administration to privatise state firms, at a public forum held in Dar es Salaam. He told participants at the fourth Mwalimu Nyerere Professorial chair that the poor performance of the firms was due to bad management, in reaction to accusations directed at him personally from some participants. Mkapa said during his time in office when he decided to adopt the privatisation, some 386 state owned industries were privatised, 180 of which were sold to locals. According to Mr Mkapa, all the 386 companies have since collapsed due to what he termed as bad management.

PEN American Center has named Eskinder Nega, a journalist and dissident blogger in Ethiopia, as the recipient of its 2012 PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award. Nega, a leading advocate for press freedom and freedom of expression in Ethiopia, was arrested on September 14, 2011, and is currently being tried under the country’s sweeping anti-terror legislation, which criminalizes any reporting deemed to 'encourage' or 'provide moral support' to groups and causes which the government considers to be 'terrorist'. He could face the death penalty if convicted.