UN Women Executive Director Michelle Bachelet has announced the members of her Global Civil Society Advisory Group that will facilitate regular consultations and dialogue between civil society and UN Women. The establishment of UN Women Civil Society Advisory Groups at the global, regional and national levels was announced earlier this year at the 56th session of the Commission on the Status of Women.

This special program of Africa Today is on the case of the Angola 3 - Herman Wallace, Alert Woodfox and Robert King. Woodfox and Wallace have served more than 14,500 days in solitary confinement in the Louisiana Prison System. A discussion on the issues of incarceration and solitary confinement with Robert King of the Angola 3, Marina Drummer of the Angola 3 Support Committee, Everette Thompson of Amnesty International and Professor Allen-Bell.

While the National Transitional Council government heads to elections, local militias threaten to launch secessionist movements and others refuse to demobilize. As preparations intensify for elections on 23 June for a parliament that will write a new constitution, much of Libya is still under the control of local militias.

Ghana’s Immigration Service is getting tough with illegal immigrants drawn to the country by the robust economic growth and its stability and has now set a deadline to start flushing them out. Most of the illegal immigrants are said to have entered the retail business and gone into illegal gold mining whilst others have targeted oil services, irking many locals who accuse them of stealing their jobs.

The South African government decided last week to draw attention of consumers that products they buy labeled “Made in Israel” could have been made in illegal Jewish settlements mushrooming the occupied Palestinian territories, a press release issued by the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee said. It said that after more than a year of joint work between Palestinian and South African organizations, South Africa’s Minister of Trade and Industry Rob Davies announced he will forbid false and misleading labeling of settlements products.

Africa's impressive growth during the financial and economic crisis of the last five years will be put at risk unless action is taken to combat rising inequality, according to the annual health check on the continent from a panel led by the former UN secretary general Kofi Annan. The report from the Africa Progress Panel found that African countries were growing consistently faster than almost any other region, with booming exports and more foreign investment. But it warned that there was a contrast between a growing yet still relatively small middle class and the Africans left behind after a decade of buoyant activity.

The UN has found asylum-seekers increased by 20 per cent in 2011. The Guardian UK has mapped the countries where asylum-seekers are coming from and the countries they are going to.

This is to invite you to Kilombo 2012, which is an event on Africa, Africans and Social Justice. This is going to be an annual event and the first which is Kilombo 2012 will lay the foundation for launching the Kilombo Centre for Civil Society and African Self-Determination.

'The Unemployed People’s Movement rejects the Youth Wage Subsidy as a solution to the unemployment crisis that is leaving millions of young people without a future. We note that there has been a concerted attempt by big business, their academic and media allies and the DA to present workers as lazy and overpaid. This is outrageous. Workers have struggled bravely for a living wage over many years and the gains that have been won must be defended.'

'Birthing Justice: Women Creating Economic and Social Alternatives' is a series that features 12 alternative social and economic models which expand the possibilities for justice, equity, and strong community. The latest installment looks at water being turned into a good for sale and for profit. 'Driven by a different vision and by economic necessity, a global counter-trend is growing to assure that household water be free or cheap, accessible, and safe, and that the earth’s water be kept pure and flowing. Marcela Olivera is a part of this movement. In 2000, she played a key role in organizing the massive protests in Cochabamba when residents of the city forced the Bechtel Corporation to give up control of the municipal water system, thereby restoring water as a human right for all instead of as a source of corporate income. This victory has been repeated elsewhere in Bolivia and around the world.'

Algeria's legislative election saw women take almost a third of the seats, making the national assembly the most gender-balanced in the region but activists say the battle is far from won. According to official results made public Wednesday, 143 of the enlarged national assembly's 462 seats will be occupied by women, up from a representation of only seven per cent in the outgoing house.

The Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) process relating to former rebels in the Central African Republic (CAR) is back on track: More than 1,000 already disarmed fighters of the Popular Army for the Restoration of Democracy (APRD) led by Jean Jacques Démafouth began to be demobilized on 12-13 May. APRD says 1,431 disarmed ex-combatants were demobilized on 12 May in the northern-central prefecture of Nana Gribizi in the presence of the Central African Armed Forces; representatives of the Mission for the Consolidation of Peace Central Africa (MICOPAX); Jean Jacques Démafouth in his capacity as senior vice-president of the DDR Steering Committee; and CAR Disarmament Minister Gen Xavier Sylvestre Yagaongo (second vice-chairman of the committee). The process is due to take a week to complete.

Activist Zackie Achmat writes about the recent showdown between Cosatu and the Democratic Alliance on the streets of Johannesburg: 'Cosatu’s counter-demonstration was an elephant dealing with a mosquito by stamping on it instead of snorting. Cosatu conceded the moral high-ground to the DA. The federation’s power and the moral force of its leaders particularly Zwelinzima Vavi has protected our society and politics from an uncontrolled slide to corrupt authoritarianism and courageously addressed the ANC government’s betrayals of democracy and social transformation.'

Journalists in Mali are accusing the military authorities of illegally tapping their telephones as a means of silencing critical opinion in the country. The accusation followed the arrest and subsequent detention of Birama Fall, managing editor of Le Prétoire, a privately-owned Bamako-based bi-weekly newspaper on May 12, 2012. The authorities had illegally listened to Fall’s phone conversation with a former government minister over civilian deaths during the recent counter coup attempt. Fall was, however, released after two hours without charge.

New data released by the World Health Organisation (WHO) titled, 'World Health Statistics 2012 Report' has focused on the growing problem of the non-communicable diseases burden. According to the report, one in three adults worldwide has raised blood pressure, a condition that causes around half of all deaths from stroke and heart disease; while one in 10 adults has diabetes. WHO Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan, said: 'This report is further evidence of the dramatic increase in the conditions that trigger heart disease and other chronic illnesses, particularly in low-and middle-income countries. In some African countries, as much as half the adult population has high blood pressure.' And although no new case of the Wild Polio Virus (WPV) was reported in the last two weeks in Nigeria, the country accounts for 56 per cent of global cases recorded in 2012.

‘I’ve dedicated my entire life to documenting queer lives. I wanted to make sure I document (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex) lives. All my major projects are gone.’ -Zanele Muholi, Cape Town

A Somaliland military court has sentenced 17 people to death and jailed five others for life following what it said was their role in attacking an army base. The ruling by the court sitting in Hargeisa, some 1,500 kilometres northwest of Mogadishu were immediately seen as harsh and raised concerns over its impartiality given the speedy delivery and absence of independent lawyers for those charged.

Date: 24th May 2012

Venue: UN Conference Centre, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

In honour of notable Pan-African civil activist - the late Dr. Tajudeen Abdul Raheem (6 January 1961 – 25 May 2009)

PANELISTS

1. Prof. Horace Campbell
2. Prof. Mohamed Salih
3. Dr. Kayode Fayemi
4. Dr. Funmi Olonisakin
5. Mr. Napoleon Abdullahi 6. Dr. Patricia Daley
7. Mr. Brian Kagoro
8. Mr. Ahmed Rajab
9. Ms. Uduak Amimo

For registration and attendance please contact :

Ms. Abijah Yeshaneh (email: [email][email protected] or 011 544 3536) or Mr. Gideon Gamora (email: [email][email protected] or 011 544 5479).

Last day for registration 21st May 2012.

Organized by the Governance and Public Administration Division (GPAD/UNECA)

The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) has denounced the crackdown of the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) and Security Services on the freedoms and rights acquired by the Egyptian people after the revolution. 'ANHRI considers the raid on the office of al-Alam news channel in Cairo on May 13th as a new episode in the series of stifling press freedom and clamping down on media work in Egypt for exposing the violations committed in the transitional phase.'

Transgender and intersex people in Uganda face physical and verbal abuse, are denied access to health services, are victims of blackmail and extortion as well as unlawful arrests and mob justice.