• Contributor | Resources

    Fahamu has a vision of a world where people organize to emancipate themselves from all forms of oppression, recognize their social responsibility, respect each other’s differences and realize their full
    potential. Fahamu is looking for a qualified and passionate Intern to work with us for a period of three
    months July?September 2011. The intern will be responsible for promoting Pambazuka books including coordinating sale of Pambazuka books; distribution of publicity materials and coordinating the participation of Fahamu/ Pambazuka in book fairs and related events.

    Tagged under Resources

  • Contributor | Governance

    Ian Khama, Botswana's president since 2008, has interests in a premium tourism company that benefited from the controversial relocation of Botswana's Bushmen from their ancestral land to resettlement camps in the 1990s and the early 2000s. Khama is a shareholder in Linyanti Investments, a subsidiary of Wilderness Holdings, a company criticised by the Bushmen and international pressure group Survival International for illegally occupying their ancestral land in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve.

    Tagged under Governance Botswana

  • Health experts say the drug misoprostol is saving women's lives around the world. It's also controversial. Originally developed to prevent gastric ulcers, it's also been shown to prevent excessive bleeding after childbirth. That's the leading cause of maternal death in the developing world. It's estimated that one woman dies from postpartum hemorrhage every seven minutes. The controversy comes because misoprostol, or miso, can also be used to induce abortion.

  • Little attention is being paid to African women and children in Europe, who are faced with new forms of slavery and colonialism which they experience day in and day out in democratic states of the 'North', which are otherwise mindful of human rights. Eurostat estimates that there were some 90,000 African migrant women in Europe in 2007, but countries like Italy, France, Ireland and Portugal had not given any data. In 2009, very few countries provided the numbers. Italy, however, reported about 30,000 African migrant women.

  • Five detained journalists were on 26 June 2011 charged with conspiracy to undermine the state as part of probe into the political crisis following the defeat of former President Laurent Gbagbo in the second round of the November, 2010 elections. The five men including journalists and other media executives are part of 15 close associates of ex-President Gbagbo who have been charged with 'offences against the authority of the state'.

  • Opposition MPs and Parliament guests were shocked as the chairwoman of the parliamentary oversight committee on home affairs, Maggie Maunye, implied that foreigners flocking to the country were soaking up resources and preventing South Africans from enjoying their freedom. Maunye made the remarks on Wednesday at the conclusion of a briefing of her committee by Home Affairs officials. The delegation included deputy home affairs minister Fatima Chohan, and had dealt with the issue of refugee reception centres.

  • Contributor | Governance

    Protests have broken out in the Senegalese capital Dakar and in the southern city of Mbour over continuing power shortages. In Dakar, several government buildings were set on fire including the offices of the state electricity firm, Senelec. Security forces in Mbour fired tear gas to disperse thousands of demonstrators. The trouble over power cuts, which have lasted 48 hours in some areas, come just a week after rioting against the president.

    Tagged under Governance Senegal

  • Two years after the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) promulgated the Law on Child Protection, an estimated 3,000 children remain in prisons across the country. The law, which came into effect in January 2009, replaced a 1950 colonial law on juvenile delinquency that set the age of criminal responsibility at 16, leading to a number of severe penalties against children, including life imprisonment and the death sentence. The current law has provisions for judicial, penal and social protection of children under 18 and states that a judge can send child law-breakers to 'a public or private institution of a social character, but only as a measure of last resort', and not to a prison.

  • Contributor | Resources

    Somali Journalists Association Network has learned that a Puntland court in Bosaso, the capital of Bari region, sentenced a local reporter to one year in jail. The verdict of the court was announced Saturday by judge Sheikh Adan Aw-Ahmed after it was alleged the journalist supplied false information on the Puntland administration.

    Tagged under Resources Mali

  • 'Smouldering Evidence', AfriCOG’s latest report, examines the Charterhouse Bank Scandal which has received much attention in the media recently and dates back several years. The report documents the scandal and analyses violations of law and criminal acts including money laundering and the curious flip-flopping of public officials, including the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission, on the issue of whether the Bank should remain closed. This report is part of a series of studies explaining major corruption cases in order to raise public awareness and knowledge of corruption cases and the measures that can be taken to avoid them and seek accountability for their perpetration.

  • Thousands of Haitian peasants marched in the city of Hinche in the Central Plateau region on 21 June to demand that the government promote food sovereignty, the restoration of the environment and the development of an agriculture 'adapted to the reality of our country'. 'There needs to be a real agricultural policy,' protesters said, in distinction to current policies that encourage the importation of food, seeds and other agricultural commodities. 'Every day we see our neighbours giving up farming in the absence of any decent income,' said a longtime planter who gave his name as Jérôme. 'Young peasants are very often discouraged by the lack of economic prospects [and] the prohibitive cost of land.'

  • Contributor | Governance

    Some 3,000 Ugandan soldiers from the African Union (AU) mission have arrived in Somalia to help government forces battle al-Shabab, a group trying to overthrow Somalia's weak Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and impose Islamic law. This comes after the mandate of the AU mission was expanded from peacekeeping to enforcement of peace last month, meaning that AU soldiers can now lead the onslaught against al-Shabab.

    Tagged under Governance Somalia

  • The temperature climbed a few degrees in the arms deal kitchen this week as the Swedish prosecutorial authority directed a seemingly low-key missive to South African counterparts inquiring whether investigations into the defence procurement scandal had been reopened. The letter, under the signature of Gunnar Stetler, the director of the Swedish National Anti-Corruption Unit, notes that details have come to light of what he describes as an alleged 'bribery scheme towards South Africa', and asks whether in response to the new information, the South African judicial authorities have seen fit to open preliminary investigations.

  • Contributor | Governance

    Zimbabwe and South Africa could be headed for another diplomatic furore after Zanu PF strategist and serial political turncoat Jonathan Moyo suggested that facilitator to the Zimbabwe political crisis, President Jacob Zuma could be aiding the 'regime change agenda' in the country. But Zuma’s international relations advisor, Lindiwe Zulu immediately dismissed Moyo’s astonishing claims, saying they will not be distracted from continuing their facilitation role for the sake of Zimbabweans.

    Tagged under Governance Zimbabwe

  • Contributor | Governance

    Thousands of demonstrators rallied in Tahrir Square on Friday, 1 July. Sharp clashes between youth on the one hand and police and regime thugs on the other on Tuesday and Wednesday 28 June and 29 June were the immediate impetus for the demonstration, says this article on the Jadaliyya website. 'But in addition to outrage about police brutality, which most Egyptians had hoped was a thing of the past, there is growing dissatisfaction with the limited changes since the fall of former president Hosni Mubarak,' says the article.

    Tagged under Governance Egypt

  • Contributor | Governance

    Governance gaps were considered in Midrand, South Africa on 28 June, when the APRM Monitoring Project (AMP) - run jointly by SAIIA, the Centre for Policy Studies (CPS) and the Africa Governance, Monitoring and Advocacy Project (AfriMAP) - launced its independent assessment of governance in South Africa entitled 'Implementing the APRM: Views from Civil Society'.

    Tagged under Governance South Africa

  • Contributor | Resources

    The North-South Institute (NSI) is pleased to invite applications for two Helleiner Fellow Visiting Researcher positions in 2011-12. The program is open to post-doctoral students or mid-career policy researchers working in a university, policy research institute, think-tank, or other relevant organization.

    Tagged under Resources

  • Contributor | Resources

    'We need to let the outside world hear our voices.' We are working to bring the voices of the Symphony Way Pavement Dwellers to the outside world with the launch of a new campaign. The aim is to bring three authors of the acclaimed book 'No Land! No House! No Vote! Voices from Symphony Way' on a tour of the USA and the UK. Their story is testimony that there is thinking in the shacks and that there are complex humans who dialogue, theorise and fight to bring about change. This tour is a response to global interest and will allow the authors share in person the story of their struggle against injustice with dignity and courage. Every donation is rewarded, from books and DVDSs to personal meetings with the authors themselves, and every donation helps carry their message further. See the campaign on IndieGoGo for details at and follow the struggle on Twitter at #symphonytour.

    Tagged under Resources

  • The Law, Gender & Sexuality Research Project at the Makerere University School of Law in Uganda is putting together a book on the life, work and legacy of David Kisule Kato. David was murdered in his home in January and is considered a founder of Uganda's LGBTI human rights movement. The project is calling for submissions of essays, fiction, poetry, web blogs, art, crafts, photographs, film, documentaries, speeches, diaries, letters and other correspondence, music, academic publications, etc. that reflect any aspect of the life and work of David Kato.

  • The Climate Change Media Partnership has published a briefing paper that recommends ways for policymakers to support a better class of climate change journalism that is relevant to local audiences, builds public awareness of the issues and contributes to improved policymaking. Climate change journalism can protect people and promote sustainable development - but only if it is accurate, timely and relevant, the brief says.

    Tagged under Violence & Peace