Even as Kenyan LGBTI activists fight for legal recognition they are confronted by the spectre of violence against community members based upon their sexual orientation. Many members of the LGBTI community have faced violence in the course of their lives and as a result are psychologically affected by this. Behind the Mask’s Melissa Wainaina interviewed two LGBTI individuals about such violence and the effect it had on them.

An iWatch News report finds that as the famine in southern Somalia worsens, aid experts fear that corruption and the politics of terrorism are crimping the flow of humanitarian relief to areas where starvation is worst. Abundant U.S. aid targeted for the Horn of Africa cannot directly reach starving people in southern Somalia because it’s blocked by Al-Shabaab, an Al-Qaeda-aligned Islamist group labeled a terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department.

The new . This issue includes breaking news about Australia's plan to 'swap' asylum seekers with Malaysia; an in-depth article on the issue by Dr Savitri Taylor; a trio of pieces about the situation faced by Rwandan refugees, including an important statement, which you can sign on to, against the planned invocation of the Cessation Clause; a review of issues faced by LGBTI people in Sudan, a little-known topic; case notes on rulings about Dadaab camp and UK-Cyprus return; discussion of a recent review of asylum in Poland; and a report from visits to Syrian refugees in camps in southern Turkey – as well as our usual announcements of opportunities, requests and relevant new resources.

With fear still rife among the Ivoirian refugees remaining in eastern Liberia, NGO the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), which is managing refugee camps in Grand Gedeh County, is working to ensure refugee camps are apolitical and weapon-free.

'Thinking Africa: Liberation, Race and Higher Education' supplement was published by South Africa's Mail and Guardian newspaper (26 August 2011) and contains reflection pieces from Rhodes University's 'Thinking Africa: Fanon 50 years later' (6-9 July 2011) colloquium as well as the 'Race in Higher Education Roundtable' (11-13 July 2011) organised under the auspices of the university's Centre for Higher Education Research, Teaching and Learning.

A report by Climate Exchange Network for Africa includes five chapters, which cover: the impacts of climate change in Africa; options for adapting to climate changes; an assessment of the economic costs of climate change and adaptation; mitigation scenarios; and policy recommendations.

The National Elections Commission on Tuesday September 6, 2011, met with lawmakers, asking them to consider a way out of a possible constitutional crisis likely to result from the ensuing legislative and presidential Elections. The NEC delegation, headed by Chairman James Fromayan, wants the legislators to fashion a way to save the commission the unreasonable costs of rerunning the legislative elections pursuant to an absolute majority requirement to win.

Famine has spread to six out of eight regions in southern Somalia, with 750,000 people facing imminent starvation, the United Nations said, and hundreds of people are dying each day despite a ramping up of aid relief.

Zimbabwe has expelled Libya's ambassador who abandoned Col Muammar Gaddafi and backed the rebels. Taher Elmagrahi joined protesters who stormed the embassy and raised the pre-Gaddafi flag. Zimbabwe's foreign minister said it did not recognise the rebel National Transitional Council.

A squadron of airmen with key skill sets, including air traffic control and civil engineering, is preparing for a mission to train air forces in Africa to deliver supplies and large numbers of troops into conflict zones. The New Jersey-based 818th Mobility Support Advisory Squadron was established in April and is expected to become operational later this year in support of U.S. Africa Command, according to Air Force officials.

NAPE and other members of Save Mabira Crusade, in collaboration with other citizens of Uganda and Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) have submitted a petition opposing the proposed giveaway of Mabira and other forest reserves in Uganda. Save Mabira Crusade is a network of individuals, NGOs, civic leaders, religious, cultural and academic institutions, political organisations and local communities that have come together to save one of Uganda’s most valuable rainforests.

The Commonwealth Secretariat will present a paper on the role and status of forced migrant teachers in emergencies at the UK Forum for International Education and Training International Conference on Education and Development at Oxford University on 13 September 2011.

Investigative journalism distinguishes itself from regular journalism by its depth and subject matter, often involving crime, political corruption or corporate wrongdoing. It can play an essential role in a country’s governance by keeping corporations and government accountable. However, the political and economic environment in some regions of the world present specific challenges for investigative journalists: countries that score low on governance and transparency present particular risks and underline the need to build investigative journalism capacity. This brief analyses the obstacles to investigative journalism in the East African region, focusing on Kenya and Uganda, and discusses what can be done to help address these barriers.

Use your understanding of international development issues to strengthen the contribution of the African Diaspora to international development debates, policy and practice.

Many scholars acknowledge that industrial policy can work well in countries with strong merit-based public services and political checks and balances. However, there are very few empirical studies available that analyse industrial policies in low and lower-middle income countries. This study by Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik intends to help fill this gap by assessing the quality of industrial policies and industrial policy making in Mozambique.

The Frontier Strategy Group finds that the adoption of new forms of communication in Africa over the past decade – both mobile telephone and internet – has been nothing short of revolutionary. The continent is estimated to have produced over 316 million new mobile phone users since 2000, passing 500 million total subscriptions late in 2010, and its total internet user population is now estimated at almost 120 million. Previously, communicating over long distances was fraught with difficulty and expense; that outlook has been transformed. The significance of these trends for African economic development, transparency and democratization is profound; the opportunity for technology companies and indeed for businesses across many other sectors capable of leveraging such channels for advertising and delivery is no less significant.

Botswana is developing a policy to protect, preserve and promote its indigenous knowledge and mainstream it into the country's macro-economic framework. Development of the policy will involve identifying, documenting and gathering local traditional knowledge practices from areas including agriculture, health, culture and religious beliefs, and then feeding them into a legislative framework.

In an opinion piece in the FT, William Wallis asserts that Africans are relishing something of a reversal in roles. The former colonial powers in Europe are wrestling with debt crises, austerity budgets, rising unemployment and social turmoil. By contrast much of sub-Saharan Africa can point to robust growth, better balanced books and rising capital inflows. There is an opportunity in this novel scenario: for Africa to assert itself on the global stage, and for European countries to take advantage of their historic footprint in Africa by stimulating commercial expansion to their south. But it is far from clear either side will grasp it.

A new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) examines how the Community Markets for Conservation (COMACO) programme has succeeded in stabilising wildlife while improving agriculture in the Luangwa Valley. The ten-year-old initiative, run by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), is even close to becoming financially self-sufficient.

A number of jobs and business opportunities will arise as the South African government continues to design implementation programmes that favour renewable energy and energy efficiency. This information was made available at a workshop for women organised by the national Department of Energy. The aim of the day-long meeting was to help women understand this sector and the potential it holds for them in terms of job creation and business ventures.