The Gender and Media Southern Africa (GEMSA) Network seeks the services of a senior policy and advocacy expert for its regional campaign on making care work count. Please submit a letter of motivation CV, references, and at least two samples of your work to [email][email protected] by Friday 5 February 2010.

While still struggling with the aftermath of a decade-long Islamic insurgency, oil-rich yet impoverished Algeria is getting a makeover: a new airport, its first mall, its largest prison, 60,000 new homes, two luxury hotels and the longest continuous highway in Africa. The power behind this runaway building spree is China.

2008 statistics show that total trade between the China and Africa was valued at $106.8 billion, up 45.1 per cent in 2007. These fast rising Sino-Africa ties are expected to face a major test in March when Tunis plays host to a rare meeting to scrutinise China’s engagement with the continent.

The Institute for Security Studies through its Addis Ababa-based African Conflict Prevention Programme invites policy-makers, academics, practitioners, policy researchers to submit abstracts, and subsequently papers, which will assess a broad range of issues relating to the AU Peace and Security Council, with specific reference to its first five years of operation. Abstracts should be submitted by Friday 29th January and the papers will be due on 19th March 2010.

Freedom House has published its “Freedom in the World 2010: Global Erosion of Freedom” Report. The Report divides up the world into three categories of Free, Partly Free, and Not Free. Accordingly, declines in liberty were registered in 40 countries while gains were made in 16.

An Exiled Eritrean rights group, Solidarity Association for Justice and Democracy in Eritrea said that Libyan authorities along with representative of the Eritrean government in Tripoli are conspiring to deport hundreds of Eritrean refugees who are Currently languishing in Libyan prisons.

On 11 January 2010, the third anniversary of Eritrean journalist Fessehaye "Joshua" Yohannes' death in detention, Reporters Without Borders wrote to Manfred Nowak, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, asking him to do everything possible to obtain an improvement in the conditions of journalists imprisoned in Eritrea.

Governments responsible for serious human rights violations have over the past year intensified attacks against human rights defenders and organizations that document abuse, Human Rights Watch has said in issuing its World Report 2010.

Jacques Depelchin

Alfredo Prado

Nigeria's failure to make the progress commensurate with 50 years of nation-building is not just a failure of leadership. It is first and most catastrophically, a failure of followership.

The Luxembourg steel giant ArcelorMittal, the world’s biggest steel company has been shortlisted along with five other candidates for the Public Eye Global Award to be held in Davos, Switzerland, on the 27th January – the opening day of the World Economic Forum.

John Kanilamba sits under the porch of a half-finished house on the outskirts of Dongou - his home, despite its lack of doors and windows - since early November. His four children play idly at his feet, all refugees from inter-communal clashes in Equateur province in northwestern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

ICTJ is pleased to announce the publication of a new policy report, Identities in Transition: Challenges for Transitional Justice in Divided Societies (attached). This report is the fruit of a multi-year, global research project on the ways that identity shapes transitional justice efforts.

WWSF invites nominations for its 2010 Prize for women's creativity in rural life. The aim of the prize is to draw international attention to women's contributions to sustainable development, household food security and peace, as well gain recognition and support for their community work.

Thailand, the World’s largest exporter of rice, is to support the Irrigation Company of Upper Region (ICOUR), to expand local rice production under the Tono and Vea Irrigation Schemes in the Region.

Six Sudanese men have been executed for their part in a riot at a refugee camp in Khartoum in 2005. The men were held responsible for killing 13 policemen during the riots in which five civilians also died.

Malawi's government should drop all criminal charges against a same-sex couple who are facing up to 14 years in prison, Human Rights Watch has said in a letter to high-level justice and home affairs officials.

The Federation of African Journalists (FAJ), the African regional organisation of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), is calling on the Zambian authorities to immediately end attacks on Zambian media as they work to establish self-regulatory mechanism.

Leaders from the southern African region have urged the international community to reject plans by Madagascar's military-backed Andry Rajoelina to ignore power-sharing talks and hold an election.

This report presents the findings of preliminary quantitative and qualitative surveys of workers on commercial farms in the wake of the catastrophic "Land Reform" policy in Zimbabwe. Whilst the companion reports produced from this series of projects have received some attention, this report is the first to deal solely with data gathered from the farm workers themselves.