Governments and businesses need an overhaul of policies and strategies to respond to the rapid loss of nature's riches, worth trillions of dollars but long taken for granted, a UN-backed study said on Wednesday. Damage to natural capital including forests, wetlands and grasslands is valued at $2-4.5 trillion annually, the United Nations estimates, but the figure is not included in economic data such as GDP, nor in corporate accounts.

The top leadership of Zimbabwe’s civil society organizations will meet with South African President Jacob Zuma’s facilitation team at the Union Buildings in Pretoria on Wednesday. The meeting, at the instigation of Zuma’s team, will explore ways of how SADC can help Zimbabwe come up with guidelines for violence-free elections, which are expected mid next year. The poll is expected after the drafting of the new constitution.

At the First Forum on South-South Cooperation on Biodiversity for Development, convened in Nagoya on 17 October, the Group of 77 and China unanimously adopted a draft Multi-Year Plan of Action on South-Couth Cooperation on Biodiversity for Development. 'The Plan defines targets and South-South cooperative strategies, including triangular cooperation and programmes, to the year 2020,' said Ambassador Abdullah M. Alsaidi, permanent representative of Yemen and chairman of the G77.

Egypt, the new chair of the UN refugee agency's governing body, should immediately end its policy of shooting foreign nationals trying to cross from Egypt into Israel, Human Rights Watch has said in a letter to the Egyptian authorities. Egypt should also stop impeding the refugee agency's access to foreign nationals detained in Egypt who want to claim asylum. Member States of the executive committee of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) elected Egypt to chair the committee for one year on 8 October 2010. Hisham Badr, Egypt's ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva will serve as the chair.

The Center for Migration and Refugee Studies (CMRS) at the American University in Cairo (AUC) is offering the following three winter short courses in January 2011:
1. Introduction to Refugee Law (January 9-13, 2011)
2. Migration/Displacement, Development and Gender (January 16-20, 2011)
3. Community Interpretation for Refugee Aid Settings – CCIP Interpreter Training Short Course (January 23-27, 2011)
Please contact [email][email protected] for more information.

The purpose of the Break the Silence Congo Week is to raise consciousness about the devastating situation in the Congo and mobilize support on behalf of the people of the Congo. Break the Silence Congo Week will take place from Sunday 17 October to Saturday 23 October 2010.

The Right2Know (R2K) Campaign, an umbrella campaign representing a broad front of civil society groups, is campaigning against the Protection of Information Bill - also known as the Secrecy Bill - currently before South Africa's Parliament, which they believe will fundamentally undermine hard-won constitutional rights including access to information and freedom of expression. R2K is currently running a countrywide week of action between 19 – 27 October 2010. Visit their website to find out about events in your area, to sign up against the proposed bill or to join their Facebook or twitter accounts.

On 14 October 2009 the draft Anti Homosexuality Bill was introduced to the Parliament of Uganda by Ndoorwa West MP David Bahati. Bahati’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill stipulates the death penalty for repeated same-sex relations and life imprisonment for all other homosexual acts. A person in authority who fails to report an offender to the police within 24 hours will face three years in jail. Likewise, the promotion of homosexuality carries a sentence of five to seven years in jail.

Inter Press Service (IPS) Africa has created a new multimedia website to present the story of Africa’s development. The website launch in Africa will coincide with the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, commemorated on October 17.

The African Women’s Development and Communication Network (FEMNET) will hold its 5th Programming Conference and General Assembly from 16 - 18 October 2010, at Crowne Plaza Hotel, Nairobi under the theme: ‘The African Women’s Decade- A Road Map for Bigger Dreams’. The conference which brings together over 120 women rights activities from across Africa.

Confined field trials of genetically modified maize will begin in Kenya and Uganda this year, the US-based non-profit African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) said. Scientists from Kenyan and Ugandan government research bodies, Monsanto and research body International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) developed the 12 varieties of Water Efficient Maize for Africa (Wema) due to be planted.

The Rwandan government should fully respect the rights of opposition party members and allow them to carry out their legitimate activities without fear for their safety, Human Rights Watch has said. Human Rights Watch issued its statement in response to the re-arrest of Victoire Ingabire, president of the opposition party FDU-Inkingi, and the transfer from prison to a hospital of Bernard Ntaganda, president of another opposition party, the PS-Imberakuri, both on 14 October 2010. Both parties have been critical of the Rwandan government and were prevented from participating in the presidential elections in August.

Elizabeth Njeri, a social worker at a camp for thousands of internally displaced people (IDPs) in Kenya's Central Province, frequently feels powerless, especially when faced with medical and logistical difficulties that can have catastrophic results. 'I watched two children die of pneumonia in my arms; they needed a professional health expert who could administer strong drugs, but I was helpless,' Njeri, herself an IDP, who also serves as a medical officer at the Mawingo IDP camp, told IRIN, underlining the camp's lack of access to health facilities.

Swaziland is one of very few African countries where hunger has become more widespread during the last decades, new evidence shows. But Swazi authorities tried to manipulate data to the UN, saying the opposite. Today, 18 per cent of Swaziland's one million people are suffering from hunger, compared to 12 per cent in 1990. In addition, 6.1 per cent of Swazi children under five are underweight, compared to 8.1 per cent in 1992.

Computer Aid has launched its first solar powered Internet cafe in Kenya in conjunction with longstanding Kenyan partners Computers For Schools Kenya (CFSK). The Internet cafe made its long journey from London to Nairobi in the guise of a standard 20ft shipping container, normally used to transport refurbished computers. On arrival the container converts into a fully functional Internet cafe for 11 users at a time.

The Rural Poverty Report 2011 from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) provides a coherent and comprehensive look at rural poverty, its global consequences and the prospects for eradicating it. Young people and children make up the single largest group among poor rural people, and the Report emphasizes the importance of creating new and better opportunities for them – in particular, with a focus on expanding educational opportunities that specifically address the skills young people will need to succeed in the rural context.

On Thursday October 14, Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, the president of Somalia, appointed Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed 'Farmajo' as his new prime minister. Mohamed, a Somali - American and a member of the Somali diaspora, is a relative unknown in the Somalian political scene. Systemically, institutional divergence prevents Somalia from establishing a strong system of national governance. The appointment came after the September 21 resignation of former prime minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke.

How much state attention and help can you expect if the area where you live is not even marked on official maps? Not a lot, decided the residents of one of Africa's biggest slums and designed a digital map of Kibera - a great help in all too familiar emergency situations. Such information is useful to the Kenya Red Cross, which deals with 144 fires in Kibera each month.

The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) has expressed its dismay at the Egyptian government’s ongoing policy of punishing and discriminating against individuals because of their religious beliefs. Several media reports have reported in the past few days that a group of Shi’ites, both Egyptians and non-nationals, had been arrested and questioned by the Supreme State Security Prosecutor because of their religious beliefs, information confirmed by the EIPR. The EIPR asked the Public Prosecutor to immediately intervene to secure the release of the suspects and put an end to successive Interior Ministry campaigns of harassment against religious minorities in Egypt.

Vocal actors within policy and practice contend that environmental variability and shocks, such as drought and prolonged heat waves, are important drivers of violent conflict. This paper examines the scientific evidence base for this claimed relationship, investigating whether future wars will be fought over diminishing resources. This document from the International Peace Research Institute shows that exposed societies that lack necessary capacity and knowledge to adapt successfully may face increasing asymmetries between demand and supply of subsistence resources.