Citizenship Law in Africa: A comparative study, published by two programs of the Open Society Institute (AfriMAP and the Open Society Justice Initiative), describes the often arbitrary, discriminatory, and contradictory citizenship laws that exist from state to state and recommends ways that African countries can bring their citizenship laws in line with international rights norms.

This paper looks at IMF agreements with 41 countries. These include Stand-By Arrangements (SBA), Poverty Reduction and Growth Facilities (PRGF), and Exogenous Shocks Facilities (ESF). The paper finds that 31 of the 41 agreements contain pro-cyclical macroeconomic policies. These are either pro-cyclical fiscal or monetary policies – or in 15 cases, both – that, in the face of a significant slowdown in growth or in a recession, would be expected to exacerbate the downturn.

With the growing use of satellite imagery and easy-to-use technology, geographical maps are being used more often by human rights organizations. Geo-mapping can help an organization map crises, places of heritage, visualize data, monitor the impact of conflict, uncover critical evidence, and more! The goal of this dialogue will be to take the stories shared by practitioners with experience using these tools and tactics and draw out lessons to enable other organizations to strategically apply these resources.

Twenty-seven civil society groups, among them, Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) rose from a brain-storming session in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city, with a call on governments in Africa must initiate, implement and sustain policies that guarantee the protection of small scale farmers and provide them subsidies and needed inputs to ensure increased food production and general food sovereignty

In a statement published in a local newspaper, Oyia, the Libyan general people's committee of justice urged citizens deprived of their freedom by security agencies or those who have been proved innocent after being jailed, to fill the reconciliation application forms. The invitation is also meant for Libyan men who have been arrested without trial and those who have been released and wish to participate in the national reconciliation process.

Some 14,955 Mauritanian refugees, consisting of 3,888 families, have been repatriated from Senegal to Mauritania since the end of January 2008, under a tripartite agreement signed in November 2007 by both countries and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

United Nations torture expert Manfred Nowak said on Thursday he would recommend that the U.N. Human Rights Council (UNHRC) take action against Zimbabwe after his expulsion from the country. Zimbabwean officials denied him entry and forced him to board a South Africa-bound plane on Thursday after he was detained by security officials on arrival overnight.

A Rwandan man convicted of war crimes has been jailed for life by a Canadian court, without the prospect of parole for 25 years. Desire Munyaneza, 42, was found guilty in May in the first court case brought under Canada's 2000 War Crimes Act.

By hosting the next eLearning Africa, Zambia is confirming its commitment to placing Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) at the heart of its development projects and is highlighting the different plans and programmes in progress that incorporate ICT as an essential development factor.

Senegal has admitted that it gave a "money gift" to an International Monetary Fund official earlier this month at the end of his three-year posting, citing an African tradition of offering goodbye presents. The gift, which the IMF said amounted to 100,000 euros and $50,000, was returned within days by IMF representative Alex Segura, who had been an outspoken critic of the West African nation's budget process during his posting.

Guinean youths have embarked on a hunger strike exactly one month after the massacre to demand justice and call for a political dialogue. The youths say the hunger strike will last for five days and they hope to draw their leaders' attention to engage in dialogue, and prevent any further violence.

Well known gay rights activist, Zanele Muholi, has been awarded a Fanny Ann Eddy accolade, by the International Resource Network in Africa (IRN-Africa), for her outstanding contributions in the study of sexuality in Africa, at the recent Genders & Sexualities in Africa Conference held in Syracuse, New York.

Transparency International, the leading civil society organisation fighting corruption worldwide, will release its annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) on 17 November 2009. The index ranks 180 countries by their perceived levels of corruption, as determined by expert assessments and opinion surveys. Released annually since 1995, the CPI helps to highlight the propensity of domestic corruption and its damaging influence.

The human rights record of the Zambian military is being tested in court by two former air force officers who allege they were fired for being HIV positive. Stanley Kingaipe and Charles Chookole claim they were tested and treated for HIV without their knowledge, and then discharged for being medically unfit a year later.

In this week’s [mp3] The Kennedy Thirteen, members of the embattled shackdwellers’ movememt Abahlali baseMjondolo are arraigned in court, miners stage a sit-in at a Mpumalanga mine, and Tanzanian workers push for salary review implementation. This bulletin is part of a partnership between Worker’s World Media Productions and Pambazuka News that seeks to highlight labour issues affecting Africa’s workers.

The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum unreservedly condemns the arrest and detention of NANGO Board Chairperson Dadirai Chikwengo and Chief Executive Officer Cephas Zinhumwe on Sunday, 25 October 2009. The conduct of the police in Victoria Falls is reminiscent of the repression and clamp down on Civil Society and political opposition forces that was taking place before the inception of the Inclusive Government.

Burkina NTIC has launched a social network platform to prepare West Africa’s first regional forum on marketing agricultural products through ICT. The event will take place 23-25 November in Ouagadougou, and the platform will help deepen the discussions and share the outcomes with a wider international audience. Burkina NTIC is the national ICT for development network.

Immigration officials in the self-declared republic of Somaliland have expressed concern over the increase in the number of illegal Ethiopian migrants entering the region, with claims that up to 90 people are arriving daily, against 50 in 2008.

Private radio stations have cancelled political programmes in Guinea as journalists continue to be harassed by opposition supporters and the military after last month's massacre at an opposition rally, says the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA).

Amadou Diouf et Ambroise Gomis

Samir Amin

Renaud Vivien, Damien Millet, Eric Toussaint