A Kenyan minister who expressed her opinion in support for HIV and Aids mitigation programmes for gays and lesbians has come under sharp criticism from church and Muslim leaders who said her remarks we 'satanic' and 'contrary to African culture'. Esther Murugi, the special programmes minister in the Kenyan government, challenged the government to help the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) community efforts in the war against the scourge.

A new film and book, launched in London on 5 October, show how community participation in development projects has led to successful agricultural change and environmental recovery in Burkina Faso and Kenya. They show that despite a growing population, tree cover and food production have
both improved because of the tactics local people have adopted to manage their environment.

Following the International Forum on Food Sovereignty held in Mali in February 2007, the social movements that brought this initiative to life have decided to create a tool for communication and exchange in order to continue the fight for food sovereignty and to defend the interests of disadvantaged groups such as small - scale farmers, fisherfolk, indigenous peoples and those living from pastoralism. The situation of these groups continues to deteriorate due to the ongoing assaults of an increasingly inhuman capitalism. A new wave of landgrabbing can now be added to the problems of our times, a reality which the World Bank seeks to legitimize in its latest report. It is therefore urgent and critical for social movements to regroup and to strengthen our alliances in order to deal with the offensive of neoliberalism, unprecedented in the history of mankind. This newsletter aims to bring a small stone to the edifice of resistance that will be built to counteract transnational corporations, the World Bank and their allies. We urge all organisations and all movements committed to the struggle for food sovereignty to embark with us on this journey. The newsletter will be published every two months on the website. The next edition is on climate change. Send your contributions by the 10 October. For any further information, please contact [email][email protected]

For the first edition, visit: http://nyeleni.org/DOWNLOADS/newsletters/nyeleni-newsletter-en.pdf

In this week's emerging powers news, a call for applications to attend a Fahamu study tour to India, emerging economies outpace Japan in the battle for trade with Africa, China extends Africa push with loans and a deal in Ghana, an Africa-China partnership in combating HIV/AIDS and India to train police forces of African countries.

We are seeking a dynamic professional for a key specialist position in Dakar, Senegal. As the Senior Program Specialist, you will collaborate in managing research activities that support broader Program challenges around promoting inclusive growth, including labour market issues, institutional frameworks for investment, competition and entrepreneurial activity, and the role of social protection policies. Reporting to the Program Leader and the Regional Director, you will develop, manage and monitor a portfolio of research projects in West and Central Africa. As part of a global team and a corporate Program Area, you may have selected responsibilities for projects in other regions as well as working in collaboration with the Think Tank Initiative. You will also interact with experts in the field and represent IDRC in a variety of fora, draw attention to new developments in economic policies and research, and play a key role in the progress of strategic thinking in this area.

Much as developing countries have often taken the approach that 'no deal is better than a bad deal' at the World Trade Organisation (WTO), a strong joint negotiating position would leverage larger gains in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) governance reform process due to be concluded by the end of 2010. Possible gains from a tough negotiating position include a rewriting of the IMF quota formula, double majority voting, more developing country seats on the board, and an end to the US veto.

Girleffect.org tells the story of girls creating a ripple impact of social and economic change on their families, communities and nations. Last week, at the Clinton Global Initiative, the Girl Effect launched a new video that builds on the original message, and discusses important issues like child marriage and early pregnancy for adolescent girls.

The cancellation by Egyptian security of an international NGO conference in Cairo, just two days before it was to take place, is a brazen example of the government’s increasingly hostile behavior towards civil society, according to Freedom House. The conference, entitled 'Freedom of Association in the Arab World: Reality and Expectations', was organised by One World Foundation in cooperation with Al Sadat Association.

The number of Congolese refugees repatriated from neighbouring Zambia by UNHCR since 2007 has topped the 40,000 mark. The milestone was passed last Sunday when a UNHCR-chartered boat carrying 555 people arrived at Moba in the Democratic Republic of the Congo's Katanga province after crossing LakeTanganyika from the north Zambian port of Mpulungu.

Comrade Peter Young Kihara, veteran human rights defender, died on 26 September 2010 in Nairobi, Kenya. Kihara played 'a crucial role in constitution making' and showed 'unwavering commitment to work with the poor' at grassroots level, writes the RPP.

The EU is nowhere near implementing the burden sharing regime on immigration, which Malta has been lobbying for, according to the Council of Europe’s Human Rights Commissioner, Thomas Hammarberg. Scolding northern EU member states for resisting the much needed changes in the way the EU deals with asylum, Mr Hammerberg warned the situation was becoming very serious and accused the resisting member states of disrespecting the rights of asylum seekers.

The World Bank and IMF will hold their 2010 Annual General Meetings (AGM) and the accompanying Civil Society Policy Forum in Washington, DC, between 6 -10 October. Civil society will be sponsoring and participating in several events on issues ranging from access to information at the World Bank and the importance of contract transparency in extractive projects, to the dual imperative of tackling energy poverty and climate change concerns.

WHO, UNICEF and UNAIDS have launched the report 'Towards universal access', the fourth report tracking progress made towards achieving universal access to HIV prevention, treatment and care by the end of 2010. Despite accomplishments, the report shows that the universal access target will not be met. Two-thirds of those needing access to treatment are still not receiving it, and women are the most impacted by this burden.

This paper describes the potential role innovative agricultural practices and technologies can play in climate change mitigation and adaptation and aims to address the question: what policy and institutional changes are needed to encourage the innovation and diffusion of these practices and technologies to developing countries? The authors focus on developing countries in general with some specific references to Africa.

Five million barrels of oil reportedly spilled into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. For both environmentalists and people whose livelihood depends on the fishing and tourism potential of the Gulf, this was a grim disaster. But if Americans with all the sophisticated necessary gadgets could not contain the oil spill, what is the fate of developing economies of Africa, especially the Gulf of Guinea where oil discoveries are mostly offshore? Indeed, recent discoveries in Sierra Leone, Ghana and Angola are all offshore, writes Edem Torkornoo for TWN Africa.

Socio-economic problems are the major cause of xenophobia in South Africa, the United Nations refugee agency said in Johannesburg on Wednesday. 'No society is xenophobic by nature, these attacks were caused by lack of development,' UN High Commissioner for Refugees deputy regional representative Sergio Calle Norena told the Congress of South Africa Trade Unions' summit on xenophobia.

Under one per cent of poetry books published in the UK are by black or Asian poets. 'This is, quite simply, not fair,' says Bernardine Evaristo, one of the editors of Ten, a poetry anthology published by Bloodaxe Books. A week before the launch of Ten, Jeremy Hunt, the secretary of state for culture, Olympics, media and sport told delegates at the Media Festival Arts that he is firmly in favour of 'broadening participation' in the arts and is 'very ashamed' that we still live in a country 'where many, many people don't get a chance to access the arts'. Unfortunately, writes Lara Pawson in the London Guardian, what he said next was not as hopeful: 'The debate has got to move on from the kind of box-ticking targets approach that says that in return for your grant from the Arts Council, you will get so many people from particular ethnic or social backgrounds.'

WE THE UNDERSIGNED petition you to speak out against the death penalty for Mumia Abu-Jamal, and all the men, women and children facing execution around the world.

The United Nations initiative to boost the number of female police officers deployed in peacekeeping missions around the globe has made real progress since it was launched a year ago, according to the world body’s top police official. The so-called Global Effort was launched in August 2009 with the aim of more than doubling the proportion of women comprising UN Police (UNPOL) to 20 per cent by 2014.