The arrest of more than 60 Sudanese women's rights activists on 14 December 2010, for peacefully protesting the lashing of a woman by police shows the urgent need to reform Sudan's public order laws and practices, Human Rights Watch has said. The system imposes illegitimate restrictions on a range of personal behavior and public expression and disproportionately targets women, Human Rights Watch said. The lashing case, in a public place in Omdurman in November, garnered public attention as it was captured on a video clip, widely circulated on the internet and in the media. Visit this link to read more and to watch the video.

Akina Mama wa Afrika is an international Pan–African non-governmental development organisation for African women based in Kampala, Uganda, with a UK/Europe Regional Office in London. AMwA aims to provide development services for African women, serves as a research forum on African women’s issues, and provides a platform for African women to participate in policy and decision-making. AMwA also serves as a networking, information, advocacy and capacity building forum for African women and builds their leadership capacities to influence policy and decision-making. We are tendering for applications for consultants to conduct a Tracer Study on the African Women’s Leadership Institute.

Closing date for applications: 15 January 2011

AMwA welcomes all applicants and values diversity. Suitable candidates within Africa are strongly encouraged to apply.

Please send your application to [email][email protected]/[email protected]

After successfully suppressing scourges of fruit, tsetse and screwworm flies in the Americas, researchers are exploring whether the same sterilised insect technique can be used to control malaria, which kills some one million people every year, many of them in Africa. Entomologists and other researchers at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) are testing whether sterilised insect technique (SIT) can be used to reduce populations of malarial mosquitoes. Experiments are taking place at the agency’s laboratory facilities in eastern Austria, and researchers emphasise that their work is at an early stage.

Contents of the latest edition include:
- Cover Story:
The plight of internally displaced people: A failure of social justice.
Case studies: Kenya: Examining the plight of the IDP’s after the post election violence in 2007/8
Africa: Algeria, Burundi, Chad, Cote D’Ivoire, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Angola, Congo, Rwanda, Guinea, Nigeria, Senegal, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda, Zimbabwe.
Columbia: Internal displacement in Columbia by Bettina Ngweno

- Regular Columns:
Playing the Race Card by John Sibi-Okumu
The Imperial Capital 1910 – 2010 by Ramnik Shah

- Book Reviews:
Becoming Indian by Pavan K Varma: Reviewed by Warris Vianni
Burnt Shadows by Kamila Shamsie: Reviewed by Ramnik Shah
Cheche; Reminicenses of a Radical Magazine by Karim Hirji (An announcement)
Dreams in a Time of War by Ngugi wa Thiongo: Reviewed by Chris Wanjala
A Knight in Africa: Journey from Bukene by Sir Andy Chande: Reviewed by AwaaZ
How to Euthanise a Cactus by Stephen Partington: Reviewed by John Sibi-Okumu
Discovering the Vedas: Origins, Mantras, Rituals, Insights: by Fritz Staal

AwaaZ Magazine
P O Box 32843 - 00600
Nairobi, Kenya
Tel: Orange Wireless:020 2063405, 020 2431554,
Mobiles:0722 344900, 0733 741085
Email: [email][email protected]
Website: www.awaazmagazine.com

Research has shown that women account for more than half of the population of any country. This is reflected in the 2010 Census results, where there are slightly more women than men in Kenya. However, this large population of women is invisible in key decision-making processes, particularly in governance - at both local and national level. Even though the trend is slowly changing in Kenya and there are now more women in the current Parliament than there have ever been, there is still a need for more women in political leadership.

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.

The Google Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship: Europe, the Middle East and Africa aims to encourage women to excel in computing and technology, and become active role models and leaders.

On the morning of Tuesday 14 December, hundreds of women and men came on the streets in central Khartoum planning to walk peacefully to the Ministry of Justice to hand in a memo signed by a large number of Sudanese men and women protesting against the repressive and humiliating practices and laws constituted by the Sudanese Public Order Regime and to condemn the flogging of women. Prior to reaching the ministry, and while people were still gathering, a wave of arrests took place, with approximately 41 women and five men summarily arrested.

A China-Africa Dialogue took place recently in China, organised by the Heinrich Böll Foundation, Beijing office in collaboration with the Institute of West Asian and African Studies under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the Institute of African Studies, Zhejiang Normal University. The first article of this edition, by Antony Otieno Ong’ayo, provides an overview of the implementation and the value of these Dialogues.

The second article, by Chris Alden and Dan Large, looks at the existence of ‘exceptionalism’ in China’s relations towards Africa. They trace the development of this exceptionalism in China’s foreign policy and the rhetorical manifestation of this in China’s relations with Africa. This is followed by an article focused on an important domestic issue in China, the rising price of food and access to food amongst Chinese workers. Finally, a report by ActionAid just released puts SABMiller in the spotlight. It reports that the company has avoided paying taxes in African countries, as well as India.

A number of important reports have recently become available, notably a series of Policy Briefs by the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC) collaborative research China-Africa Project. A list of links to these Briefs are provided in [pdf].

The following are a selection of petitions available online in support of WikiLeaks and Julian Assange.

The policies pursued by the collective imperialist triad (USA, Europe, Japan), which aim exclusively at restoring the system to what it was before 2008, are bound to fail. As a result, the North-South conflict moves to the forefront. By taking independent initiatives, the countries of the South can take this opportunity to move ahead towards the construction of the only effective and viable alternative for their liberation from the domination of imperialist monopolies.

Wherever change needs to occur, advocacy has a role to play. In this age of globalisation, development practitioners and civil society actors around the world are increasingly finding the need to be actively engaged in influencing the policies, programs and laws that affect their work at the grassroots level. Whether the goal is to protect a threatened watershed, get funding for a health clinic, enact laws to make buildings accessible for people with disabilities, or change laws which discriminate against women, advocacy can help to accomplish those goals. This three-week certificate explores advocacy as a political act. It is designed to enhance the capacity of civil society to influence decision-makers and policy makers by building the constituency for change and mobilising public opinion around issues of common concern.

Venance Konan

Adama Gaye

Real Stories Gallery is a conversation created by our visual arts and stories, to shift perceptions surrounding HIV and AIDS. Today HIV affects the lives of men, women and children on all continents around the world. Artists, poets, writers and storytellers from across the breadth and depth of our communities, are invited to share their experiences, reflections and life-saving knowledge. By working together we will inspire a culture of compassion and acceptance for our neighbours whose lives are affected. To submit your contribution you will first need to 'Register'. Once this is done you will then 'Add Your Contribution' to the Gallery, by uploading a photographic image of your work and/or text in word document form. Poets, creative writers and storytellers will follow the same submissions procedure. As will those who would like to contribute music or video submissions. You may choose to exhibit only or to sell your work.

The December issue of the International Development Research Centre's (IDRC) 'Lasting Impacts, Access to Water' has been published. Articles, which can be read by visiting the website available through the link provided, include:
- A home-based clean water revolution
- Science helps to calm water conflicts
- Recycling wastewater offers a solution to scarcity
- Economic benefits flow from taps.

Pambazuka News staff are taking a break for the next couple of weeks. We'll be back bringing you the latest on the struggle for freedom and justice on 6 January 2011. Meanwhile we wish you all a restful seasonal break, a happy new year and look forward to your coming back ready to advance the cause of freedom in 2011.

Editors

identity - making decisions - peer pressure - values - HIV and AIDS - love - sex... These are just a few of the topics covered by 'My Life - Starting Now'. This 80-page manual, no. 8 in the Called to Care toolkit published by the Strategies for Hope Trust, focuses on knowledge and lifeskills for young people aged 10 to 15.

Career blog Kazi Afrika has a comprehensive list of job vacancies posted on their site. Some of the jobs include:
- World Vision Africa Program Officer – Nutrition Job Vacancy
- College Principal Vacancy in Mombasa Kenya
- Marketing & Communications Manager Job Vacancy in Kenya
- New Kenya Co-operative Creameries Limited Jobs
- Pathfinder International Jobs in Kenya
- Social Assessment for Indigenous People in Lake Victoria North Water Service Board.

Fahamu is supporting the 'We are the Solution' campaign to ensure that rural women’s associations have the skills to improve, promote and share their traditional agricultural knowledge, ensuring that this rich knowledge is not lost and is indeed promoted as an alternative to the Green Revolution methods.

The three-year pan-African campaign, coordinated by ROPPA (Network of Farmers’ and Agricultural Producers’ Organisations of West Africa), launches in February 2011.

Its objectives are to:
- Strengthen the work of 12 rural women’s associations and their leaders through organisational and individual capacity building activities
- Facilitate the participation of 75 rural women participants in media and advocacy activities so that they can engage in decision-making processes in local, regional and global campaigns
- Mobilise and sustain an Africa-wide action oriented network of 1,000 stakeholders for information sharing, partnership and advocacy.

You too can support 'We are the Solution': By making a donation through our page, you'll help ensure that West Africa’s women farmers can campaign for an African agro-ecological solution to the food crisis.

More South African farmers expect to receive land offers in Mozambique as they seek to expand across Africa amid uncertainty over land reform at home, an official from a mostly white farmers group said on Monday. South Africa - Africa's biggest economy - has one of the most developed agricultural sectors on the continent and its farmers are looking to expand into other countries. Some 800 South African farmers are already farming in Mozambique.