The UN recognises the international community’s Responsibility to Protect (R2P) civilians during conflict, and this philosophy has quickly become embedded in peacekeeping and peace enforcement missions, but a new report questions some basic humanitarian assumptions. The reality - reinforced by a new study from the UK’s Overseas Development Institute (ODI) entitled 'Local to Global Protection in Myanmar (Burma), Sudan, South Sudan and Zimbabwe' - is that in conflicts and crisis people almost always have to provide their own protection, for themselves, their families and their villages.

Sudan and South Sudan have signed a 'non-aggression' pact over their disputed border following talks in Addis Ababa where African Union-led negotiations between the two sides are being held. Al Jazeera's Harriet Martin, reporting from Khartoum, said that one of the mediators told her there were no expectation of immediate change on the ground, but that the agreement would be a 'means of calling [both countries] to account because they have signed up to the deal'.

More than 5,000 of the 25,000 young school leavers who were recently recruited into the public service have failed to show up to sign their employment contracts. 'I am a university graduate and they are offering me a monthly salary of $200 plus the equivalent of $40 as rents allowance. There is no way I can accept that kind of salary. Since graduating from the university, I have been farming in the village and what I earn from the farm is triple what they are offering me so I cannot accept that,' one of the recruits who sought anonymity told Africa Review.

Zimbabwe must hold elections before the end of June 2013, but the reforms needed to ensure appropriate conditions are critically wanting, says the International Crisis Group. 'Opportunity for a calibrated, full removal of sanctions before the next elections, geared to broad progress on reform, such as perhaps existed three years ago when the Global Political Agreement (GPA) was fresh and the Inclusive Government formed, has probably passed. But a chance to promote progress and break the current deadlock still exists through a coordinated approach that distinguishes types of sanctions and focuses on specific reforms needed for those elections. It should be seized.'

From conflict and natural disasters to progressive laws and the ascension of women into key political posts, 2011 brought progress and setbacks to women's rights. The Association for Women's Rights in Development (AWID) has put together a visual overview of the year through a women's rights lens.

On the occasion of the first anniversary of Mubarak’s resignation on 11 February 2011, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) has released a position paper which shows that the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF), the de-facto ruler of Egypt has not upheld the basic human rights of Egyptians during the transitional period over the last year. 'Since the fall of Former President Mubarak and after the army took over power, we have been documenting and reporting dangerous developments that question the Supreme Council of Armed Forces’ ability to conduct a peaceful transition. At a time where the protection of basic fundamental rights, such as freedom of peaceful assembly, freedom of expression, freedom of religion and freedom of association should not be compromised, we are worried that red lines have regularly been crossed which constitutes a major step-back for the demands of the Egyptian revolution,' says Souhayr Belhassen, FIDH President.

Angola's President Jose Eduardo dos Santos will seek a new term with former state oil company head Manuel Vicente as his vice president in September polls, a source in the ruling MPLA said. The southern African oil giant is expected to hold elections around September, and the run-up is being closely watched for signs of whether Dos Santos will seek a new term and whom the MPLA might pick to replace the long-ruling leader, in power since 1979, when he eventually steps down.

Zimbabwean homosexuals claiming asylum in the United Kingdom are more than likely to be turned down because the African country has a thriving 'gay scene' and is 'not the worst place in the world to be gay or lesbian', a court ruled. A Zimbabwean asylum seeker, known by the initials LZ, arrived in the United Kingdom in 1999. She claimed asylum in 2009, stating that she feared persecution as a lesbian back home. The UK Home Office turned down her asylum bid leading to the case reaching the Upper Tribunal of the Immigration and Asylum Chamber.

The Angolan government will this year launch the second phase of the privatisation programme which in the last ten years has enabled the sale to private interests of 198 state companies, Economy Minister Abraão Gourgel announced. Appearing on Angola’s TPA television, Gourgel also lamented that the privatisation process started by the government in 1990 via its Business Readjustment Office had not achieved all of its goals. The low results are due to economic questions such as the lack of a capital market and social issues such as the lack of financial power to settle state debts, Gourgel said.

Global Press Institute reports that rape victims in Kenya are encouraged to seek immediate medical attention and report cases to the police. But a lack of government coordination leads to long delays in the justice system. Parliament is set to debate a bill to consolidate services in order to hasten the process for victims soon.

Fishermen, under the aegis of Famous Fishing Organisation (FFO), have said the recent bonga oil spill had negatively affected the economy of coastal settlements in Akwa Ibom. Mr Umoekeyo Eno, legal adviser of the organisation in Oron, said that the fishermen would be compelled to seek legal redress if the oil firm responsible for the spill failed to compensate the victims. He said that he had written to Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCO) on the impact of the spill on members of the organisation in Akwa Ibom.

Thirteen leaders of national and grassroots activist organisations in Tanzania were detained 10 February 2012 by the government in the Oyster Bay Police Station, Dar es Salaam, in a government clamp down on protests by women/feminist and human rights activists against the failure of the government to resolve the health crisis arising from a two week doctors strike in Tanzania. The leaders come from LHRC, TGNP, TAMWA, NEDPHA and several other grassroots organisations.

Thousands of Zimbabwean households are feeling the effects of lost remittances from family members forcibly returned from neighbouring South Africa since that country resumed deportations of undocumented Zimbabwean migrants in October 2011. Makaita Gwati, 60, from rural Chirumhanzi, about 90km from the provincial capital of Masvingo in southeastern Zimbabwe, relied on the income her son and daughter sent from South Africa to support the rest of the family, until both were deported in November last year. 'I counted on them for money to buy food and other essential items, but now that they are here and they can’t find jobs, I don’t know how we will survive,' Gwati told IRIN.

Jacob Zuma, South Africa's president, has revealed an ambitious set of infrastructure projects designed to rescue South Africa from the effects of a global recession that has hit the nation harder than most on the continent. 'We have chosen five major geographically-focused programmes, as well as projects focusing on health and basic education infrastructure, information and communication technologies and regional integration,' Zuma said in his annual televised state of the nation address to parliament in Cape Town. Zuma's focus on infrastructure development was applauded by opposition politicians, but they questioned whether he could or would follow through on his pledges.

In this week's edition of the Emerging Powers News Round-Up, read a comprehensive list of news stories and opinion pieces related to China, India and other emerging powers...

In this broadcast of Africa Today, host Walter Turner speaks to Dr Adam Hanieh, a lecturer from the School of Oriental and African Studies about developments in North Africa and the gulf states and Tidiane Kasse, editor of the French edition of Pambazuka News, about developments in West Africa. The broadcast also profiles African Awakenings, a new publication from Pambazuka Press.

In January 2012, International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF) staff traveled to Sahrawi refugee camps near Tindouf, Algeria, known as the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), to assess the state of the news media and examine the prospects for developing a journalistic information network. They have posted a photo gallery which shows the state of media and life in the camps more generally.

Hopes have risen of fresh investigations into the Anglo-Leasing scandal after the government finally secured a mutual legal assistance agreement with Switzerland. The Anglo-Leasing scandal dates back to 2002 when the Kenyan government sought to get new generation passports with advanced security features. The investigations involved two contracts which started during former President Daniel arap Moi regime, but were inherited when the Narc government, under President Kibaki, took over in 2003.

Namibia, the fourth biggest uranium producer in the world, first floated the idea of acquiring a nuclear power plant of its own four years ago. If it goes forward, the nuclear project represents the culmination of Areva’s more than five years’ efforts in the African country, which have been beset by problems, including cost overruns, reports New Era.

The Health Ministry in Zimbabwe said it has recorded two suspected typhoid deaths, as an outbreak of the disease appeared to worsen. The ministry was awaiting laboratory analysis to confirm if the deaths were the result of the bacterial disease that is spread through contaminated food and water. Since the start of the outbreak in late October, 2,716 cases have been identified, mostly in two crowded townships with limited and run-down sanitation infrastructure near the capital Harare.