Many people living with HIV continue to face unfair discrimination in various aspects of their lives, says social justice organisation SECTION27. 'SECTION27 often receives reports from people who are denied access to insurance products solely on the basis that they are HIV positive, or are offered cover at what appear to be highly inflated prices. The practice of denying cover has gone on for more than two decades, with little change. And yet the implications of HIV infection for health status and life expectancy have changed dramatically over the same period.'

Representatives of the parties to the Western Sahara dispute, Morocco and the Frente Polisario, have wrapped up another round of talks, during which both sides continued to reject each other’s proposal as a sole basis for future negotiations, United Nations envoy Christopher Ross said. 'The proposals of the two parties were again presented,' said a communiqué read by Mr. Ross, the Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy for Western Sahara at the end of the two-day meeting, held in Malta. 'By the end of the meeting, each party continued to reject the proposal of the other as a sole basis for future negotiations,' it added.

Migrant workers around the world started out 2011 by sending home significantly more money than they did in 2010, according to the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). Each year, migrant workers send a total of more than US$ 330 billion to their home communities.

As the world celebrates hundred years of the commemoration of International Women’s Day on 8 March Ugandan human rights defender Kasha Jacqueline has been nominated as one of the top hundred most inspiring people who have delivered for girls and women worldwide by a global advocacy organisation Women Deliver. According to Women Deliver the list of a hundred most inspiring people recognises individuals who have committed themselves to improving the lives of girls and women around the world and comprises of women and men, both prominent and lesser known.

Building on momentum from a mass voter registration drive, a coalition of several youth empowerment groups and blogs, including Vote or Quench, Enough is Enough Nigeria, Sleeves Up, and Nigerian Leadership Initiative, are calling for the first-ever presidential youth centered debate in Nigeria. Looking ahead to the April elections, the debate would focus on the key issues affecting a critical voting demographic, with the age group of 30 and under representing 70 per cent of the population.

Following a statement issued by the Democratic Alliance on 31 January this year, calling for the axing of controversial columnist, now South African Ambassador in Uganda, Jon Qwelane from his post, government has responded in full support of Qwelane stating he will occupy his current position despite any opposition. Clayton Monyela, spokesperson of the Department if International Relations and Cooperation said 'the issue of those people asking for the removal of Ambassador Qwelane is not up for debate, the ambassador shall remain as ambassador as appointed by the President himself'.

The situation of women in Kenya, as is the case in many other countries in Africa, leaves a lot to be desired. Women remain the suffering face of HIV/AIDS in the world. Statistics from the Kenya Aids Indicators Survey show women constitute three of every five people living with HIV. The issue of feminisation of poverty remains a reality for many women especially in the agricultural sector. According to Vision 2030, a government economic blueprint, five out of a total eight million households are engaged in agriculture. It is estimated that 80 per cent of labourers are women.

The Advanced Diploma in Child Protection in Emergencies aims to address the gaps in child protection in emergencies staff capacity, as identified in the recent scoping study carried out on behalf of the CPWG in October 2010.

This blog post points to the exciting potential created by volunteers from thousands of miles away using social networking platforms and free, open source software to create live crisis maps. '...thanks to today’s easy mapping platforms, volunteers can help respond to a crisis from thousands of miles away by collaborating online to create a live map that can be used to support humanitarian operations. They can use social networking platforms to connect, organize, recruit and train.'

'Fighting the scourge of Acid Mine Drainage becomes not only a matter of environmental importance, but also one of protecting vulnerable, local communities that depend upon South Africa's finite natural resources,' says this article from the Consultancy Africa Intelligence newsletter published on the Sangonet website. 'The AMD scourge may place undue stress upon the country's resources and industries, and potentially undermine the overall stability of the country.'

On 8 March, Olivier De Schutter, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, presented his new report 'Agro-ecology and the right to food' before the UN Human Rights Council. Based on an extensive review of recent scientific literature, the report demonstrates that agroecology, if sufficiently supported, can double food production in entire regions within 10 years while mitigating climate change and alleviating rural poverty. The report therefore calls States for a fundamental shift towards agro-ecology as a way for countries to feed themselves while addressing climate and poverty challenges.

is an online video and photographic archive documenting the Egyptian revolution.

Almost five months after the anti homosexuality bill was tabled before the National Assembly of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transsexual (LGBT) organisations and activists say they have not had the opportunity to mobilise or even undertake any action to oppose the bill due the lack of funding to support the activities. Jean Bedel Kaniki of Hirondelles Bukavu, an LGBTI organisation in the DRC, said organisations had solely depended on financial support promised by an international funder, which they did not get.

There is a ray of hope for millions of poor Zambians - thanks to the unwavering anti-corruption efforts of many organisations like Transparency International Zambia (TIZ) and the Medicines Transparency Alliance (MeTA). Supported by the UK’s development agency DFiD, since 2008, the international initiatives have been spearheading a project aimed at helping to increase access to essential medicines by low income and disadvantaged people in Zambia. MeTA and TIZ want to improve transparency and accountability in the selection, procurement, sale and distribution of essential medicines in Zambia. And it involves the key sectors in government, the pharmaceutical industry, civil society and the donor community.

A new programme, funded largely by the United States President's Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (Pepfar), will provide $130-million in grants to African institutions, with the aim of strengthening medical education and research training. Dr Francis Collins, director of the National Institute of Health (NIH), said the goals of the Medical Education Partnership Initiative (Mepi) are ambitious. 'The intention here is, over five years, to train no less than 140 000 healthcare workers and to provide a real platform for a wide variety of research activities going forward. This is not something that has been attempted before,' he said.

To mark the centenary year of International Women's Day on 8 March, Panos London has produced a case study media pack profiling extraordinary women from around the world who have taken on roles previously deemed just for men. 'Breaking Barriers: Women in a Man's World' is a showcase of exceptional women who are breaking stereotypes to change their own lives and inspire other women and girls around them.

Tunisia's interim authorities have disbanded the country's feared state security apparatus, notorious for human rights abuses under the ousted president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. Seeking to assert their authority and gain legitimacy in the eyes of protesters who forced Ben Ali to flee in January, the authorities appear to be attacking the remaining vestiges of his 23-year rule, one-by-one.

The independent news magazine Kontext TV, supported by Noam Chomsky and others, was at the World Social Forum in Dakar, Senegal in February and has produced a series of broadcasts on the occasion of the Forum's 10th anniversary. The first programme is now online in English and German versions under The programme reports about some of the key issues at the Forum such as the impacts of the revolutions in North Africa and the formation of a worldwide movement for climate justice and land grabbing. Another broadcast focussing on Africa is going to follow.

On the centenary of International Women’s Day 2011, FIAN calls for equal land rights for women worldwide. Access to and control over land is one of the most important means for men and women in rural areas to realise their right to food. Discriminatory practices, however, have driven women into increased marginalisation, especially when it comes to access to resources such as land, water or seeds. As a consequence, women are disproportionately affected by hunger and malnutrition.

Few people are aware that a group of women - calling themselves the Peace Women - were instrumental in bringing peace to Liberia. Their story, which begins with the simple act of sitting along the streets for months under the hot sun or torrential rains of Liberia, led to the exile of alleged warlord Charles Taylor in 2003, now awaiting his verdict in The Hague. In 1998, women united in their common goal for an end to violence, and played an essential role in the decommissioning of young rebels to install peace and democracy in a war-torn country. The movement took place under the auspices of the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP). Today the work of these Peace Women continues.