The training of more doctors, the refurbishment of nursing colleges, the appointment of retired nurses and specialists and the building of more hospitals and medical faculties are some of the plans presented by health minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi and the launch of the Human Resource for Health Strategy. 'A number of studies and our own assessment attest to significant gaps in the planning, production and deployment of human resources for health. Further evidence indicates that the training and production of certain key health worker categories has stagnated or reversed over the years. The weak management skills in the public service aggravate the situation even further,' he said.

A number of prominent West African LGBTI activists have urged the British government to rethink its recent threat to cut aid to 'anti-gay nations'. The activists suggest that the British government move with caution in the matter as it could result in even more homophobia when the general public and marginalised groups who rely on foreign aid for day to day survival blame the LGBTI community for the loss of their sustenance.

In 'Detention Abuses Staining the New Libya', Amnesty International reveals a pattern of beatings and ill-treatment of captured al-Gaddafi soldiers, suspected loyalists and alleged mercenaries in western Libya. In some cases there is clear evidence of torture in order to extract confessions or as a punishment. 'There is a real risk that without firm and immediate action, some patterns of the past might be repeated. Arbitrary arrest and torture were a hallmark of Colonel al-Gaddafi's rule,' said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Amnesty International's deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa.

The study presents findings from Dominica, Lesotho, India, Samoa and Sri Lanka. It explores the feminisation debate from a variety of perspectives that have dominated much of the discourse on the role of women teachers within expanding education systems, particularly within primary education provision. The study analyses issues through a broader lens on gender equity as it pertains not just to education, but also to employment and women's rights and empowerment more generally.

Reporters Without Borders has condemned the 'illogical' conviction of newspaper editor William Tonet for libel and an order for him to pay a 10 million kwanzas (€77,000) fine within five days or go to prison for a year. The supreme court will not agree to hear his appeal unless he first pays the fine. 'The libel has not been proven and the judge was clearly in league with those suing the journalist, who has been a target of the authorities for a long time,' the worldwide press freedom organisation said.

This Africa Files post is a summary of a UNEP report on DR Congo’s post-conflict natural resources environment. It states that the country has immense natural resources and could become a powerhouse for Africa’s development if the multiple threats to these resources are urgently addressed.

Cameroon's opposition parties said on Wednesday they would ask the Supreme Court to annul a presidential election because of widespread irregularities. Joshua Osih, vice-president of the main opposition Social Democratic Front (SDF), said evidence of double-voting and a lack of ballot papers in some polling stations meant the results, which are due in coming days, could not be credible.

With World Mental Health Day marked on 10 October, the Refugee Law Project says more attention needs to be given to the mental health of refugees.

The October - December 2011 issue of Race&Class is available. It includes:
- Spaghetti House siege: making the rhetoric real
- ‘Seize the time’: an interview with Stephen Jones
- The Attica Liberation Faction Manifesto of Demands
- Mariner, renegade and castaway: Chris Braithwaite, seamen’s organiser and Pan-Africanist.

Not quite the role for women the Chief Justice has in mind!

As Tunisia is preparing to hold historic elections on 23 October, the profound reform of the media sector is yet to take place, despite genuine initiatives taken and valid recommendations made by competent groups and voices. In this context, the International Freedom of Expression Exchange Tunisia Monitoring Group (IFEX-TMG), a coalition of 21 free expression groups, urges the interim government to authorise without any further delay the 12 radio and five television services recommended by the National Authority to Reform Information and Communication (INRIC), respectively on 29 June and 7 September, to start broadcasting.

This report on Botswana is the first of two country studies (the second concerns Mali) that examine gender and employment in Africa. The study is informed by two broad development frameworks. The first is the Millennium Development Agenda that views Millennium Development Goal 3, Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment, as a critical determinant in the attainment of all the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and more broadly, poverty reduction. The second is the African Development Bank’s Managing for Development Results (MfDR), the organisation’s blueprint for development effectiveness.

In a country where only 8.6 per cent of the population has access to the internet - and where freedom of information is limited by a pervasive culture of secrecy - the importance of mobile phones in Kenya extends far beyond one to one communication. In this context ARTICLE 19 is deeply concerned by the latest plans by the telecommunications regulator, the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK), to deactivate all 'counterfeit' mobile phone handsets by the end of the year. 'In light of the importance of mobile phones in Kenya, penalising the consumer rather than the perpetrator of the fraud is manifestly disproportionate.'

Kurmuk hospital in Sudan’s southern crisis-hit Blue Nile State is struggling to cope with an influx of war wounded, according to hospital doctor Evan Atar. So far he has treated 626 people for shrapnel injuries since clashes began last month between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) opposition political party-turned-rebel group.

Early on the morning of 24 September, University of Malawi Polytechnic student Robert Chasowa was found dead. Initial reports were that the death was as a result of suicide, but since then speculation has grown about the cause of the student activist's death. This Global Voices article looks at the reaction of blogs and official media channels to the death.

Despite years of trying to obtain legal documents of his citizenship and residency status, Jabulani Sibanda remains undocumented. Without them, he is resigned to living quietly and unobtrusively under the radar of officialdom. 'I always find myself back at square one,' he said, shrugging at the repeated obstacles he faces. 'I know no other life but one of being sent from pillar to post, begging and ingratiating myself into and out of situations. It is my life.' Sibanda's problems started when he was seven, when he and his mother crossed illegally from Zimbabwe into South Africa.

A cholera epidemic sweeping through west and central Africa, one of the largest in the region's history, has killed at least 2,466 and infected 85,000 more, this year alone, according to the United Nations. Unicef, the UN Children's Fund, said the virulent disease was causing an 'unacceptably high' rate of fatalities and called for a redoubling of efforts from government agencies.

More than 200,000 Malawian farmers who depend on government subsidies to grow enough food to feed their families will have to go it alone when the agricultural subsidy programme is pruned. During the 2010/11 farming season 1.6 million farmers received vouchers to buy heavily subsidised fertilizer and maize seed, costing the government and donors 23 billion kwacha (US$152.3 million). Now, in the midst of a crippling economic crisis, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security has announced that only 1.4 million farmers are eligible to receive vouchers for the 2011/12 season.

Tucked away in Kumasi, Ghana’s second city, is a small office manned by four ambitious software engineers promoting African languages and cultures around the world through publishing downloadable phrase books for study. 'It started as a dream but three years after we set up Nkyea Learning Systems (NLS), the company has been able to develop software to help in the study of Akan and Swahili,' NLS chief executive officer Kwabena Sarpong told the Africa Review.

The Federation of African Journalists (FAJ), the African regional organisation of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), called on the legislative body of the African Union (AU), Pan-African Parliament (PAP) to end injustice of impunity and protect safety of journalists. 'As parliamentarians, you are readily expected by the journalists' community in Africa to end the injustice of impunity for crimes against journalists that has been rocking the continent and contributed to the lack of safety for journalists,' said Omar Faruk Osman, FAJ President, addressing PAP's select committee on justice and human rights. It was the first time since its establishment that the PAP addressed the issue of freedom of expression.