The International Refugee Rights Initiative has launched the seventh paper in its series on Citizenship and Displacement in the Great Lakes Region. The paper, 'Darfurians in South Sudan: negotiating belonging in two Sudans' is about the construction of citizenship, identities and belonging at a moment of profound political change: the secession of South Sudan from the Republic of Sudan (Sudan or North Sudan) that took place on 9 July 2011. The full paper can be accessed through the website of

Arts and human rights charity, Sandblast has been knocked offline in an internet attack. The charity, founded by West Hampstead resident, Danielle Smith, works with the indigenous people from Western Sahara, the Saharawis, whose identity and culture is threatened by the impact of prolonged refugee life and Morocco’s occupation. Sandblast’s mission is to empower the Saharawis to tell their own story through the arts. The attack has come two weeks before the launch of its ambitious music empowerment project, Studio-Live, which aims to engage UK-based musicians, producers, technicians, and music industry specialists in building a Saharawi music industry from scratch in the refugee camps in the Algerian desert.

Birthing Justice: Women Creating Economic and Social Alternatives is a series featuring 12 alternative social and economic models which expand the possibilities for justice, equity, and strong community. The eighth narrative of Birthing Justice focuses on Julie Castro, a young doctor from France, a country that proves that it is possible for a nation to offer quality health care for all.

Saferworld is an independent non-governmental organisation that works to prevent and reduce violent conflict and promote co-operative approaches to security. We work with governments, international organisations and civil society to encourage and support effective policies and practices through advocacy, research and policy development and through supporting the actions of others. We are seeking a country manager with experience in the areas of conflict prevention, peace- and security- building to manage Saferworld’s Somalia/Somaliland programme.

The visiting United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has called on Zimbabwe’s political leaders to quickly find a solution to their differences and implement key reforms, in order to avoid the violence that marred the 2008 elections. Speaking to journalists at the end of her five-day visit to assess human rights, Navi Pillay said unless the parties quickly agree on key reforms, the next election could turn into 'a repeat of the 2008 election which resulted in rampant politically motivated human rights abuses, including killings, torture, rapes, beatings, arbitrary detention, displacements and other violations'.

Sierra Leone’s President Ernest Bai Koroma is threatening tough measures against the media in what is a departure from his traditionally tolerant bearing. 'The honeymoon for reckless journalism is over,' he said in a statement, warning journalists and civil society activists to stay away from politics. That has touched on the nerves of media figures.

A combined Amisom force comprised of Ugandan, Burundian and Somali Transitional Federal Government troops launched a massive dawn assault on al-Shabaab positions outside Mogadishu, marking the second phase of the Somalia war. Sources said an estimated 5,000 Ugandan, 1,500 Burundian and 2,000 Somali soldiers were still advancing to Afgoye and areas of Shabelle with tanks and motorised infantry fighting vehicles, including armoured mambas and tanks.

People who just want to grow food and make a living from the land are being expelled, criminalised, and sometimes killed, to make way for land grabbers. It is nothing less than an assault on peasants.

About 40 students at Wits University in Johannesburg have gone on an indefinite hunger strike to protest the unfair dismissal of 17 female workers. They were joined by 2,000 students who boycotted the canteen staffed by outsourced workers from the offending company. This is part of a larger campaign to fight the externalisation and casualisation of labour at Wits, and in South Africa generally.

The facilitation team of South African President Jacob Zuma is expected in Zimbabwe to check on progress made by the unity government in fine-tuning the election roadmap the Southern African Development Community says is necessary before the country's next polls. President Robert Mugabe and his Zanu PF party have consistently called for elections this year, even in the absence of a new constitution. But the two MDC formations in the coalition government insist critical democratic reforms are implemented before any fresh polls are called, in particular the writing of a new constitution.

Kenyan police arbitrarily arrested, detained, and beat refugees following the discovery of explosives and an attack on a police vehicle in the Dadaab refugee camps in mid-May 2012. Senior officials visiting the camps on 23 May should ensure a full and speedy investigation leading to the identification and disciplinary measures against any officer responsible for abuse and the compensation of victims.

ARTICLE 19 and the Caucus of Women Leaders of Senegal unveiled two documentaries on May 14 2012 to celebrate the second anniversary of the adoption of the law on equal political representation. The first documentary produced by the Caucus, highlights the process that led to the adoption of the law and the commitment of all political actors. The second documentary produced by ARTICLE 19 assesses the level of access to information and freedom of expression in relation to the parity and public debate on political representation of women.

Twenty pan-EU networks have called on the EU to ensure implementation of the Family Reunification Directive for all migrants. According to the Family Reunification Directive, all Member States are obliged to guarantee family reunion which signifies ensuring that there are no legal or practical obstacles to this practice. The full statement is available through the web address provided.

The government plans to spend R2,7bn buying more than 320,000 ha of agricultural land during the current financial year in a bid to advance its land reform programme, says Rural Development and Land Reform Minister Gugile Nkwinti. The government aims to redistribute 24,5-million hectares, equivalent to 30 per cent of agricultural land, to black farmers by 2014 -a target it is far from meeting. The department last year acquired 848 farms totalling 882238 ha, reports Business Day.

The Judiciary has apologised to health activists and advocates for the delay to pronounce itself on a case in which government was sued over high preventable maternal deaths, citing administrative issues, among others. The apology followed a peaceful demonstration by health activists. The activists marched from Kamwokya, a Kampala suburb to the Constitutional Court under police guidance, to express their concern over the seven-month delay.

This letter from African civil society critical of foreign investment in African Agriculture at G8 Summit was presented by Mamadou Cissokho,?Honorary President of ROPPA, ?President Steering Committee CDP/CSO, on behalf of farmers who are members of the organizations listed below.

On the impact of the April 12 coup d’état on vulnerable communities

European leaders in Brussels failed to agree on any concrete measures to deal with the continent’s rapidly worsening economic crisis, reports 'Following last night’s six-hour summit, leaders of the major economies were unable to paper over sharpening disagreements on economic policy, particularly the proposal backed by France’s new Socialist Party President Francois Hollande and reportedly the majority of those present for the issuance of euro bonds, pooling state-backed European debt, and the closely related question of propping up the continent’s crisis ridden banks.'

Africa needs to reduce its dependency on foreign aid and get to the point of financing its own development, some of the continent’s key development experts say. Timing is optimal now that Africa is experiencing an economic boom with annual growth rates of up to eight per cent. 'Africa has become a place where you will make money, not lose money,' said Graca Machel, the wife of former President Nelson Mandela and a renowned women and children’s rights activist. She addressed delegates at the 'Money, Power and Sex: the Paradox of Unequal Growth' conference organised by the Open Society Institute of Southern Africa May 22 to 24 in Cape Town, South Africa.

The Gibe III Dam, now under construction in Southwest Ethiopia, will devastate ecosystems that support 500,000 indigenous people in the Lower Omo Valley and around Kenya’s Lake Turkana. The UN’s World Heritage Committee called on the Ethiopian government to 'immediately halt all construction' on the project, which will impact several sites of universal cultural and ecological value. In August 2011, the Kenyan parliament passed a resolution asking for the suspension of dam construction pending further studies. On 21 June, the World Bank is expected to submit to its Board of Directors a credit of $684 million for a 1,000-kilometer-long transmission line from Ethiopia to Kenya. Strong evidence links this transmission line to the Gibe III Dam.