This Unicef paper reports on a study to provide insights into the magnitude of the shocks associated with the crisis in macroeconomic terms in South Africa, the country’s capacity to withstand or cushion these shocks, and the extent of fragility in terms of poverty levels and child well-being.

Some researchers are pointing to land investment deals in Africa, also called land grabs. According to a recent study by the Oakland Institute these deals increase price volatility and supply insecurity in the global food system. The organisation says massive amounts of land are sold or leased to foreign companies. In 2009, this amounted to an area the size of France. For more, listen to this interview posted online by Free Speech Radio News with Anuradha Mittal, executive director of the Oakland Institute.

Ugandan police have fired tear gas and water cannon filled with a pink dye to break up an opposition vigil near the capital, Kampala. Several hundred opposition supporters gathered for a 'light a candle' ceremony to mourn at least nine people killed during protests in April. Police said the meeting was illegal and could cause violence. The opposition has vowed to step up protests against President Yoweri Museveni's government.

El Bechir Diallo, a freelance journalist, is currently being held at PM3, a military camp in Conakry, the capital of Guinea. The Media Foundation for West Africa’s (MFWA) correspondent reported that El Bechir was abducted in the morning of 11 August 2011 by officials of the Criminal Investigations Department (DPJ) of the Guinean police for no apparent reason. MFWA is sad that despite progress made by Guinea in democratic governance, journalists and citizens are still held without recourse to the laws of Guinea.

Two battered plastic chairs bar entry to the toilets at the Bangwe Township Clinic in Blantyre. The toilets are not working because there is no running water - yet again. And if patients want to use the facilities they will have to run to the next- door primary school, which has pit latrines. 'It’s not a new thing here,' says a nurse, speaking on the condition of anonymity. 'It’s been like this for two weeks now. We often don’t have running water, especially during the dry season. We have two toilets, so at times (like this) we close them.'

A summit of Southern African leaders this week was unlikely to affect the political crisis in Zimbabwe given the lack of regional consensus on the issue, analysts said. The fragile power-sharing government between Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and rival Morgan Tsvangirai was expected to feature prominently when leaders from the Southern African Development Community meet on Wednesday and Thursday in Luanda, Angola.

After 30 years and over 20 million deaths in Africa alone, US researchers now report that early treatment of people infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that leads to AIDS cuts transmission of the disease by over 96 per cent. Unexpectedly announced by the US National Institutes of Health on 12 May after a six-year clinical trial, the discovery that anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs) can make people living with HIV far less infectious means that humanity finally has the tools to reverse the global epidemic. But, says this article from African Renewal, having the technology to curb AIDS, however, is not the same as having the political will to do so.

Fears are mounting that a cholera epidemic could spread rapidly among the hundreds of thousands of people living in often unsanitary conditions in Mogadishu after fleeing drought, famine and insecurity. In Mogadishu's largest health facility, Banadir Hospital, 4,272 cases of acute watery diarrhoea, a symptom of cholera, have been recorded so far this year, causing 181 deaths. (Random laboratory tests showed that 60 per cent of the cases also tested positive for malaria, according to WHO.)

Gender-based corruption in workplaces exists in Rwanda, reveals a new report published by Transparency Rwanda (TR), the civil society organisation leading the fight against corruption. The report is the first of its kind in Rwanda and reveals a number of challenges for the country. The study acknowledges that Rwanda has made impressive progress both in the fight against corruption and in the promotion of gender equality. However, 5 per cent of respondents personally experienced gender-based corruption in workplaces, 10 per cent perceive that the problem exists and nearly 20 per cent know someone who has been a victim.

'Politics, Religion and Power in the Great Lakes Region' covers the political, religious and power relations in the contemporary Great Lakes states: Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Tanzania, Kenya and the Sudan. The work is important because of the nexus between these countries’ shared present and past - their political, socio-economic, cultural and historical aspirations.

When talking about ICTs and the relationship between informal online activists and civil society organisations, the key question, says this article, is: how can traditional civil society organisations capitalise from and build on an almost organic process, happening quite independently from them, without attempting to capture or institutionalise such processes, which would endanger their creativity and flexibility? Or put inversely: how can an undefined, motivated but oftentimes transient group of individuals best use the technical know-how of CSOs?

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In recent years Madagascar has experienced a slow, seemingly unstoppable decline of its fragile economy, that has put a strain on the lives of millions of Malagasy citizens. After two and a half years under the administration of the transitional government of Andry Rajoelina (half a presidential mandate), the economy has been ranked worst in the world by Forbes magazine; thousands have lost their jobs and a food crisis is looming in the southern region of the country. Food crises in the region have been recurrent over the past decade, but an independent United Nations expert has warned that the sanctions imposed on Madagascar have made the situation untenable from a food security standpoint.

Water affairs officials are unable to tell MPs whether the health of South Africa's rivers is improving or worsening, but a rash of red spots across maps they presented suggested the latter. Briefing members of Parliament's water and environmental affairs portfolio committee, the department's acting chief director for water resources information management, Moloko Matlala, listed the main problems affecting the quality of the country's river water. These included fecal pollution, eutrophication (the inflow of nitrates and phosphates), high salinity, high toxicity (from, among other sources, agricultural pesticides) and acid mine drainage.

Africa will speak with one strong voice at the United Nations Summit on Climate Change to kick-start in Durban, South Africa in November this year, the SADC Senior Programme Officer for Environment and Sustainable Development, Mr Alex Banda said. Mr Banda was speaking on the sidelines during the 5th SADC Multi Stakeholder Water Dialogue in Manzini on 28 June. 'SADC in April this year developed a common position during a meeting in South Africa on key issues we are going to be pushing for but within Africa as a continent,' Banda said.

This helpful guide for activists - developed by SECTION27, TAC, SERI and Read Hope Philips Attorneys - sets out the legal responsibilities of local government in South Africa and rights under the Constitution and in law. It shows how to engage government from inside, by participating in formal processes, and from outside by going public through complaints, petitions, protest action, the media and the courts.

Southern Africa, including Namibia, stands to loose a lot should the euro collapse, a local economist said. 'No one will be unscathed, not least Southern Africa,' said Rowland Brown, economist at Capricorn Investment Holdings (CIH). The region’s exports will be particularly hard hit, he said. Central in the unfolding financial drama is how much longer Germany will be willing to cover debt for others with little chance of being completely refunded, he said.

The Executive Director administers the CSO by defining and implementing corporate and financial strategy, by overseeing policy programs or projects, and by reporting on the Institute’s activities to the Board of Directors. In addition, he/she has an advocacy role with national and international institutions.

La Via Campesina have released a film on land rights. As the organisation notes: 'Watch this 20 minutes film and show it to your neighbours, friends, community, local organisation, in a cultural center, a film festival, a demonstration...You can organise a film screening followed by a discussion where you can invite local farmers, local authorities and anyone interested.'

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...