The Second Committee of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, which focuses on economic and finance policy, released in January a draft resolution on external debt sustainability and development. The text of the draft resolution on external debt sustainability recognises the important role of debt relief, debt restructuring and debt cancellation for the purpose of debt crisis prevention as well as for mitigating the adverse impact of the world financial and economic crisis in developing countries.

The recent uprisings that have affected almost every country in the Middle East and North Africa region are indicative of deep structural issues that are facing societies in these countries. Calls for democracy, economic reforms, employment opportunities and greater accountability require us to question the development model pursued in the region by institutions like the World Bank and the underlying assumptions that may have led to the failure of this model, says this article from the Bank Information Centre.

Ravensmead brothers who are alleged to have subjected three black workers at a factory in Blackheath to sexual, verbal and physical abuse appeared in court today (14 April) amid high drama. About a hundred people protested outside the Blue Downs Magistrate’s Court. The charges relate to claims by the three workers that the brothers, owners of a timber company in Blackheath Industria, had beaten, sexually assaulted and hurled racial remarks at them after they reported for work last Tuesday night.

A group of human rights activists led by Kenya National Commission on Human Rights commissioner Hassan Omar have been denied entry into Uganda. The four were detained at Entebbe Airport by immigration officials despite having secured an appointment with the Ugandan Chief Justice over the continued detention of activist Al-Amin Kimathi.

Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, the richest man in the Middle East, had a grand vision for turning a swath of land in southern Egypt into an agricultural marvel. Since 1998 Alwaleed has invested $127 million in 100,00 acres (40,470 hectares) of land in the Nile River delta Tushka agricultural project (also known as Toshka). Egypt’s public prosecutor’s office said Sunday (10 April) it froze the land controlled by Alwaleed because the original sale of the land violated the law, Reuters reported.

The East African region is experiencing a severe drought that has left an estimated 2.4 million Kenyans food-insecure; acute malnutrition rates of more than 25 percent have been recorded in the arid north-east of the country. According to government statistics, food prices have gone up by about 15 per cent over the past year. In Kenya's arid eastern and northern regions, health workers are noticing a higher number of malnourished HIV-positive people visiting health centres.

United Nations and French helicopters have fired rockets on the residence of Laurent Gbagbo, Cote d'Ivoire's incumbent president, in Abidjan. Sunday's violence comes after forces loyal to Gbagbo fired on Alassane Outtara, the president-elect's hotel headquarters, on Saturday. Gbagbo, who has ruled Cote d'Ivoire since 2000, is defended by about 1,000 men, while the UN peacekeeping mission has about 12,000 troops.

Anti-riot police on Saturday 9 April 2011 violently stormed and suppressed a church service organised to pray for peace in Glen Norah suburb of Harare, says a Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights statement. A truck load of riot police carrying tear gas rifles and truncheons descended on the Nazarene Church in Glen Norah while the service was underway, stormed the church hall during prayer, and dispersed the congregation, which included many church, civic and community leaders.

An African Union (AU) bid to halt Libya's civil war, led by South Africa's President Jacob Zuma, collapsed within hours on Monday (11 April) after Muammar Gaddafi's forces shelled a besieged city and rebels said there could be no deal unless he was toppled. The rebel rejection came less than 24 hours after Zuma, head of the AU's mission, said Gaddafi had accepted the plan, including a ceasefire proposal for the conflict in this North African desert state.

AfriForum youth leader Ernst Roets on Monday (11 April) testified that ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema promised his delegation a repeat of the Shell House massacre if they marched to his offices to complain about the singing of the song Dubul' ibhunu. Malema, who is facing charges of hate speech in the Johannesburg high court, publicly sang the contentious liberation song repeatedly during March and April last year.

Cameroon's parliament stripped its electoral body of the right to announce provisional results in future elections, and opposition parties called the move a 'foul game' by President Paul Biya to steal another term. The government proposed the change in light of the violent post-election crisis in Ivory Coast, where electoral commission results showing incumbent Laurent Gbagbo's loss were quickly reversed by the country's highest court.

'As activists, health professionals, technicians, researchers, lawyers and other individuals and organisations concerned about the adverse consequences of inadequate and poorly maintained sanitation services, we hereby commit to working with local government to ensure that every person living in the City of Cape Town has their right to Basic Sanitation realised.'

Kenya's suspended Higher Education minister William Ruto has been cleared of graft charges involving irregular allocation of a forest land. Also acquitted were Ruto's co-accused Baringo Central MP Sammy Mwaita and Joshua Kulei.

The International Federation of Medical Students' Associations (IFMSA), representing over 1.3 million medical students worldwide, has expressed its solidarity with the students of health sciences in Côte d'Ivoire in opposing the months-long embargo of medications imposed on the West African nation. Concerns have been raised by the IFMSA regarding this restriction of access to essential medicines, while reminding the international community of their responsibility to uphold health as a human right.

Some 1.5 billion people live in countries affected by repeated cycles of political and criminal violence, and no low-income fragile or conflict-affected country has yet to achieve a single Millennium Development Goal. Fixing the economic, political, and security problems that disrupt development and trap fragile states in cycles of violence requires strengthening national institutions and improving governance in ways that prioritise citizen security, justice, and jobs, according to a new report from the World Bank. The World Development Report 2011 notes that at least 1.5 billion people are still affected by current violence or its legacies.

Humanitarians do not yet make the most of new technology and virtual teams to expedite emergency response, and deal with 'exponential' information flow, says a new report. 'The humanitarian community, though relying on scarce resources in response, is still performing [basic] tasks that computers can handle,' John Crowley, from the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, and the lead author of 'Disaster Relief 2.0: The Future of Information Sharing in Humanitarian Emergencies', told IRIN.

Nigeria's ruling party looks set to see its grip on parliament weakened after results emerging from the first of three crucial elections this month showed it losing key parliament seats. Results by voting district began trickling through on Sunday, though some areas of the country's north voted late into the morning because of high turnout, residents said, possibly delaying announcements there. Early indications showed opposition parties making gains at the expense of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP).

Join us for a short documentary film: ‘Assassination: Colonial Style – Patrice Lumumba, an African Tragedy’. The film will be followed by a discussion with Firoze Manji from Pambazuka News and Vava Tampa from Save the Congo. 50 years ago Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) first Prime Minister, Patrice Lumumba, was assassinated as part of Belgian and US plots only 10 weeks after he took power. The event has been described as 'the most important assassination of the 20th century'.

An Angolan journalist who was convicted for reporting on a local judge has been released on bail of $2,400. The Voice of America’s Armando Chicoca was sentenced on 3 March 2011, to one year in prison for criminal defamation against a judge in the coastal town of Namibe.

The party of Zimbabwe’s prime minister said on Thursday (07 April) that 14 people were hurt after youths attacked scores of mourners at a memorial service. The ceremony was being held to remember four party activists slain during the election violence in 2008. An independent Christian group known as Heal Zimbabwe Trust organised the ceremony. It has held services for victims of political violence across the country since the 2008 poll.