FEATURE: We bring you highlights of the year and give you reasons for continuing to support Pambazuka News
COMMENT AND ANALYSIS:
- There has been an increase in violence against aid workers in Darfur. Eva Dadrian argues that for international development aid to be effective, peace must be restored first to Darfur.
- WSF is a few weeks away. Onyango Oloo writes that social movements want to see the WSF being transformed into a space for organizing and mobilizing against the nefarious forces of neo-liberalism.
- Dieu-Donné WEDI DJAMBA explores what reconciliation means for the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)
PODCASTS: Safaa Elagib Adam from the Sudanes Community Development Association talks to from Pambazuka News
PAN AFRICAN POSTCARD: Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem celebrates the intellectual achievements of Issa Shivji, 'a legend in his own lifetime.'
BLOGGING AFRICA: Sokari Ekine reviews the film ‘Blood Diamonds’.
WORLD SOCIAL FORUM: What is the WSF?
CONFLICT AND EMERGENCIES: Links to news on Sudan, Somalia, Chad, Nigeria and the CAR
HUMAN RIGHTS: Darfur demands sanctions, not words
WOMEN AND GENDER: Annan’s legacy for women
REFUGEES AND FORCED MIGRATION: Refugee camps after dark
ELECTIONS AND GOVERNANCE: Gabonese go to the polls
DEVELOPMENT: Beware of China-Africa economic ties
CORRUPTION: Tackle corruption not critics
HEALTH AND HIV/AIDS: Libya HIV death penalties condemned
ENVIRONMENT: New drive for the environment in Zanzibar
MEDIA AND FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION: Egyptian Blogger Abdel Kareem Nabil Suleiman has spent six weeks in custody
NEWS FROM THE DIASPORA: Germany’s black community demand demolition of racist statue
PLUS: e-Newsletters and Mailings Lists; Fundraising and Useful Resources; Courses, Seminars and Workshops

How does one summarise the year 2006 in a few words? It’s been a year of hope and dashed-hopes. The Democratic Republic of Congo held its first democratic elections since the country’s independence in 1960. In Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe is making moves to extend his tenure of office as president by a further two years. In Nigeria, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) is waging a struggle to have access to the wealth generated by the oil found in the area. In the Sudan, the Janjaweed continues killing and causing destruction in Darfur. China has become a major economic - and political - player on the continent. Amidst all of this, Africans celebrated in June the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and the first anniversary in November of the coming into force of the AU Protocol on the Rights on Women in Africa.

But is has also been a year in which Pambazuka News has helped the voices of those engaged in the struggles for social justice be heard through the cacophony of stereotypes that normally fills the mainstream media. In 48 issues of the English language version, and 17 of the French language version, over 200 authors have written more than 270 articles.

This rich collection of analyses and commentaries has also given rise to two books that will be available at the World Social Forum in Nairobi in January: 'Grace, tenacity and eloquence: the struggle for women’s rights in Africa' and 'African Perspectives on China in Africa'.

And to complement that, there have been 14 podcasts featuring the voices of activists committed to expanding freedoms in Africa.

Pambazuka News has become a critical means for organisations in Africa to exchange information, to forge networks of solidarity, and to open much needed debate about major developments in the region. This community - connected through Pambazuka News - is unique to the continent.

All this has been done on a shoestring. We’ve been generously supported by loyal funders (see the acknowledgements at the bottom of this newsletter), but we rely primarily on the generosity of our authors and readers to really make Pambazuka News what it is today. Pambazuka News is able to do what it does because it remains independent. And to retain that independence, we continue to need your support. You can support Pambazuka News in many ways: by writing articles or reviewing books; telling your friends and colleagues about Pambazuka News; by distributing articles to others; by volunteering your time. But if you don’t have time or inclination to do such things, you can support us by making a regular donation to Pambazuka News.

You can donate to Pambazuka News at

Your donation will make a real difference to ensuring the long-term survival of Pambazuka News.

And to remind you of some of the highlights of the year here is a selection of 12 feature articles from 2006. You can read these and some 40,000 other news, resources and analyses at www.pambazuka.org

HAITI: A COUP REGIME, HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES AND THE HIDDEN HAND OF WASHINGTON
Ben Terrall

'To its everlasting discredit, in 2004 the UN sent troops to Haiti when a U.S. marine occupation became politically untenable. In effect, this international presence, consisting of soldiers from more than twenty countries, comprises an occupation force that legitimizes the current coup regime and controls dissidents unwilling to accept the new status quo. And, as a Chilean officer told me in Cap Hatien in December 2004, the troops are ‘trained as soldiers, so it is very hard for us to not react in a military fashion.’ A Haitian activist I spoke to who identifies himself as a member of Lavalas told me that one useful thing the UN has done in Haiti is to bring in health care. Unfortunately, he noted sardonically, the treatment only comes after UN troops shoot civilians.'
-- Pambazuka News 239: 26 January 2006

CHINA IN AFRICA – THE NEW IMPERIALISM?
Stephen Marks

'China’s increased presence in Africa is part of a wider effort to ‘create a paradigm of globalisation that favours China’. In the past China’s African presence benefited from a shared history as an object of European imperialism and its ideological commitment to anti-imperialism and national liberation. China’s declared principles of respect for national sovereignty and non-interference in internal affairs appealed not only as a contrast with the suspect motives of former colonial powers, but for less elevated reasons to rulers threatened with internal dissent. But more recently China’s policy has shifted from Cold War ideology to a more classical pursuit of economic self-interest in the form of access to raw materials, markets and spheres of influence through investment, trade and military assistance - to the point where China can be suspected of pursuing the goals of any classical imperialist.'
-- Pambazuka News 244: 02 March 2006

ZIMBABWE 2006 – WE ALL FALL DOWN
Mary Ndlovu

'Every year since 2000, Zimbabweans have wondered: ‘Will this be it, will this be the year when it all ends, when Humpty Dumpty finally totters off the wall?’ And if it is, what will it mean for each one of us, and for the nation as a whole – healing, restoration and return to ‘normality’, or deepened chaos, insecurity and catastrophe? We listen to talk about elections in 2008 and 2010 and deep down nurture a hope that there will be no more ZANU PF elections. But even deeper down we fear that even if there aren’t, things will never come right again, not in our life-times, unless we are still very young. Several years ago, as Zimbabwe left the gentler rapids and began its headlong rush towards the precipice, some people declared loudly that we had reached the bottom and could now only go up. How deluded they were.'
-- Pambazuka News 248: 30 March 2006

DRC’S POTENTIAL: LIGHTING THE CONTINENT FROM CAPE TO CAIRO
Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja

'The DRC cannot play a positive role in Africa’s development as long as it remains a dependent territory with approximately 60 percent of its national budget, over US$400 million for its national elections and virtually all of its development policy decisions coming from external sources. Elections, in this context, are not an exercise in self-determination but a ritual designed to justify external control through weak and non-patriotic elements of the political class. To play an emancipatory role with respect to Africa’s development, the DRC must complete its transition from colonialism to genuine independence as a sovereign nation with its own social project and capacity to make and implement its own development policies.'
-- Pambazuka News 261: 21 July 2006

THE POLITICS OF OIL AND POVERTY
Emira Woods

'It is almost impossible to imagine, as we sit in a well lit, fully functioning gas station on Main Street, USA, that a community blessed with oil riches under its soil could look as impoverished as Yenagoa in the Nigerian state of Bayelsa. Yenagoa is the site of one of Nigeria 's first oil wells, built in pre-independence 1956. Yet as in many communities in Nigeria’s oil rich Delta region, most people of Yenagoa live in mud huts. Some reside only a few feet away from the oil wells. But they lack electricity and indoor toilets. They have no hospitals, no running water, no schools. And there is unemployment too. Oil companies like Royal Dutch Shell, BP, Chevron, and Exxon Mobil bring in foreign workers for even the most menial jobs.'
-- Pambazuka News 272: 05 October 2006

MEND: ANATOMY OF A PEOPLES’ MILITIA
Ike Okonta

'The first thing that strikes you on meeting members of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) militia is the ease with which they move about in Warri metropolis, and also in the creek villages, indicating clearly that they are amongst people who not only identify with their cause but also go out of their way to offer them protection and safe havens during attacks by Nigerian soldiers. However, their movements are constrained by the ever-prowling soldiers. The second thing you notice is that the militants, or the ones elected by the others to respond to your questions, are articulate, well-educated, and conversant with latest political developments in Nigeria and other parts of the world.'
-- Pambazuka News 275/6/7: 02 November 2006

* Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at www.pambazuka.org

OFFICIAL CHINA WEBSITES

Peoples Daily online in English

Official website of China-Africa summit
http://english.focacsummit.org/

Xinhua News Agency website in English
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/

http://www.chinese-embassy.org.za/
chinese embassy in South Africa

UNOFFICIAL AND SEMI-OFFICIAL SITES

‘Afroshanghai.com: the African community in Shanghai and China’
Shanghai-based website anbd blog for African and Afro-American expats in China.
http://www.afroshanghai.com/

http://chinadigitaltimes.net
‘a collaborative news website covering China's social and political transition and its emerging role in the world. ...Our goal is to harness the distributive power of the Internet to advance the world's understanding of China...China's democratic transition, sustainable development and peaceful emergence in the global community’. Run by the Berkeley China Internet Project in the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California, Berkeley.

China Dialogue: China and the world discuss the environment’
Edited by Isabel Hilton and based in London and Beijing it describes itself as ‘the world’s first fully bilingual website devoted to the environment’. With a joint British-Chinese board. it is part-financed by the UK Government as part a series of ‘sustainable development dialogues’[see ]http://www.sustainable-development.gov.uk/international/dialogues/">
http://www.chinadialogue.net/

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

‘China Business’ - the special China section of the Hong Kong-based Asia Times Online
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China_Business.html

Business Report - South Africa.
http://www.busrep.co.za/

THINKTANKS AND NEWS SERVICES

African Geopolitics; ‘world leaders and international experts express their views on African affairs’
‘the first bilingual quarterly on African affairs’
http://www.african-geopolitics.org/home_english.htm
also http://www.african-geopolitics.org/home_french.htm

The Jamestown Foundation. ‘mission is to inform and educate policy makers and the broader policy community about events and trends in those societies which are strategically or tactically important to the United States and which frequently restrict access to such information’.
http://www.jamestown.org/

Africa Confidential is one of the longest-established specialist publications on Africa, with a considerable reputation for being first with the in depth news on significant political, economic and security developments across the continent.

...all our contributors write for us on the basis of strict anonymity, a principle that was established from the outset in 1960 to ensure writers’ personal safety in the turbulent, early years of post-colonial African independence. Hence the newsletter’s title’.

CAMPAIGNS AND NGOs

‘Global Witness campaigns to achieve real change by challenging established thinking on seemingly intractable global issues. We work to highlight the link between the exploitation of natural resources and human rights abuses, particularly where the resources such as timber, diamonds and oil are used to fund and perpetuate conflict and corruption’.
http://www.globalwitness.org/

Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative [EITI]
The EITI supports improved governance in resource-rich countries through the full publication and verification of company payments and government revenues from oil, gas and mining.
campaigns.
http://www.eitransparency.org/

Human Rights Watch is dedicated to protecting the human rights of people around the world.
We stand with victims and activists to prevent discrimination, to uphold political freedom, to protect people from inhumane conduct in wartime, and to bring offenders to justice.
http://www.hrw.org/

Friends of the Earth defends the planet and champions a healthy and just world. Active in 70 countries, Friends of the Earth has the world's largest network of environmental groups.
http://www.foe.org/

Global Timber.‘Provides information and statistics on the global trade in wood-based products, especially that from Africa and East Asia [and] insights into trade in Illegal Timber particularly in relation to importing countries such as Japan, the UK, and the USA’.
http://www.globaltimber.org.uk/

Reuters Foundation - alerting humanitarians to emergencies.
http://www.alertnet.org/

SPECIAL ISSUES

‘China in Africa’
Special issue of South African Journal of International Affairs Vol 13 No.1 Summer-Autumn 2006
ISSN: 1022-0461
see also the Institute’s website at www.ippr.org

FEATURE: Jody Kollapen argues that the main challenge to the human rights framework is how society makes a connection between social values and human rights. We must interrogate whether that connection is obvious, and what prevents it, writes Kollapen.
COMMENT AND ANALYSIS:
- Although Cape Town is one of the top tourist destinations in the world, it is a city characterized by inequality. Gael Reagon argues that Cape Town is being “enslaved and stratified according to who has material wealth and who does not.”
- In most African states, homosexuality is illegal. Juliet Victor Mukasa writes that in Africa, transgender people are punished and ostracised for being who they are.
- Joel Bisina explains that ecological devastation on the one hand, and neglect arising from crude oil production on the other hand, have left much of the Niger Delta desolate, uninhabitable, and poor.
OBITUARY: The incomparable Joseph Ki- Zerbo
PAN AFRICAN POSTCARD: Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem cautions that we need to stop criminalizing other Africans as smugglers’, ‘aliens’, or ‘illegal immigrants’.
BLOGGING AFRICA: Sokari Ekine reports on the actions of multinational mining companies operating in Ghana.
BOOKS & ARTS: Female sex practices in Africa
WORLD SOCIAL FORUM: WSF registration deadline extended
AFRICAN UNION MONITOR: Ministers propose 2007 as ‘year of science’ in Africa
CONFLICT AND EMERGENCIES: Links to news on Sudan, Somalia, Chad and the DRC
HUMAN RIGHTS: Army to probe human rights abuses in northeast Uganda
WOMEN AND GENDER: Creation of new UN agency for women
REFUGEES AND FORCED MIGRATION: Angolan refugees flee camps in Zambia for fear of repatriation
ELECTIONS AND GOVERNANCE: President Kabila sworn in
DEVELOPMENT: Diamonds, the curse of Africa
CORRUPTION: More needs to be done to fight South African corruption
HEALTH AND HIV/AIDS: Ugandan HIV/Aids campaign in crisis
EDUCATION: Africa’s hidden histories
ENVIRONMENT: First Horn of Africa regional environment meetings opens
LAND AND LAND RIGHTS: Grappling with land pressure
MEDIA AND FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION: Chad’s media goes on strike
NEWS FROM THE DIASPORA: World AIDS day, the free trade way
PLUS: e-Newsletters and Mailings Lists; Fundraising and Useful Resources; Courses, Seminars and Workshops

FEATURE: During the 16 days of activism campaign to end violence against women and children, some thought needs to be given to adult sex workers, who experience violence on a number of levels. Nicole Fick explores the consequences of stigma and isolation for Sex Workers.
COMMENT AND ANALYSIS:
- The proposition of a traditional form of justice, Mato Oput, as an alternative to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the Ugandan peace process, raises many questions. Dieu-Donné WEDI DJAMBA points out that Mato Oput raises a couple of questions such as will Mato Oput apply to types of crimes such as mutilation, burning of houses, abduction, use of children soldiers and slavery, which are crimes against humanity?
- On the basis of electoral fraud charges, Jean-Pierre Bemba and his coalition have rejected the run-off presidential election results. There are fears that the country might return to war. However, professor Wamba dia Wamba argues that it is unlikely that the Democratic Republic of Congo will return to war
- Patrick Bond and Greg Ruiters comment on the global launch of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Human Development Report 2006 (HDR), which was held in Cape Town recently.
PODCASTS:
* Professor Wamba dia Wamba speaks to Pambazuka News about the elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo
BOOKS & ARTS: We have two poems this week, from the urban music award winner, Omékongo Dibinga, and from Akwasi Aidoo.
CONFLICT AND EMERGENCIES: Links to news on Sudan, Somalia, Chad, DRC and Uganda
HUMAN RIGHTS: New data reveals that a Child is abused every hour in Zimbabwe
WOMEN AND GENDER: The girl child and armed conflict
REFUGEES AND FORCED MIGRATION: Down and out in London
ELECTIONS AND GOVERNANCE: Bemba rejects poll results
DEVELOPMENT: A new fibre route to Africa
CORRUPTION: Development official caught in corruption
HEALTH AND HIV/AIDS: Africa faces the world’s most dramatic public health crisis
EDUCATION: Catholic universities to focus more on social doctrine
ENVIRONMENT: Annan speaks out on toxic emissions
LAND AND LAND RIGHTS: Mujuru urges Africa to integrate infrastructure
MEDIA AND FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION: Al Jazeera comes to Africa
NEWS FROM THE DIASPORA: Rejoicing in genocide and white supremacy
INTERNET AND TECHNOLOGY: Growth expected in broadband market
PLUS: e-Newsletters and Mailings Lists; Fundraising and Useful Resources; Courses, Seminars and Workshops
JOBS: Fahamu seeks Director for Education for Social Justice

On the 17th of November 2006, Al Jazeera published an article that reported, among other things, that the “…prime minister of Chad has announced plans to send troops to its southern neighbour Central African Republic to fight rebels allegedly backed by Sudan.”

The article further stated that “Pascal Yoadimnadji, the prime minister… also called for the ‘general mobilisation’ of Chad's people against what he called ‘a generalised war imposed by the Sudanese government.'"

Similar reports and those about relief workers being killed in Chad, abound on the internet. What Pambazuka News has not managed to cover, however, is to provide analyses of the origin of the conflict and who stands to benefit if the status quo remains in Chad. We are seeking articles that interrogate how the situation in Chad impacts on the Darfur crisis. Indeed, we need to assess how the situation impacts on the entire region.

Pambazuka News believes that such an analysis would be useful for both lay-readers and those who follow closely the political developments on the continent. It is for this reason that we are sending out this communiqué, asking any political scientists who would be willing to write an article on the current situation in Chad and its impact on the Darfur crisis, to please contact us. We welcome articles written in either French or English.
If you are interested, please contact [email protected]

FEATURE: Wangui wa Goro discusses the importance and the role of culture in today’s society. She argues that culture should be viewed as the pulse which can feed blood into the arteries of justice, peace, democracy and development.
COMMENT AND ANALYSIS:
- Milton Allimadi interrogates the presentation of Africans in the Western media.
- According to the Slam Poetry movement, the performance of poetry is an art -- just as much an art as the art of writing it. However, is it possible to draw from the experiences of pre-colonial African oral traditions in developing an organically grown and contextualised slam poetry movement in Africa? asks Mphutlane Wa Bofelo.
- How does a post-colonial state undermine oppressive racial categories without unintentionally replacing diversity with homogeneity? Neville Alexander points out that Sub-national identities can be based on many different factors such as religion and linguistics.
PODCASTS: Pambazuka News celebrates the culture of resistance in Africa.
* Ngugi wa Thiong'o speaks to Pambazuka News about language and culture
* Emerging South African rapper PlanBe explores with Sokari Ekine violence and rape in South Africa.
* Omékongo wa Dibinga, Congolese poet, shares three of his poems with us exploring the attitudes towards Africa, aid and development
BLOGGING AFRICA: Sokari Ekine reports on a new documentary film called “NO” which highlights the realities of rape in the African American community and also focuses on the healing process for victims
BOOKS & ARTS: A poem from the urban music award winner, Omékongo Dibinga.
WORLD SOCIAL FORUM: Procedures to apply for media accreditation
CONFLICT AND EMERGENCIES: Links to news on Sudan, Cote d’Ivoire, Chad and DRC
HUMAN RIGHTS: Ghana forced to ban blood diamond trade
WOMEN AND GENDER: Campaigning against gender violence
REFUGEES AND FORCED MIGRATION: Expulsion of illegal immigrants begins in Tanzania
ELECTIONS AND GOVERNANCE: Kabila has won Congo elections
DEVELOPMENT: Oil industry sees Africa as most promising
CORRUPTION: Future of fair trade
HEALTH AND HIV/AIDS: Zambia mortality ratio about highest in the region
EDUCATION: Blogger dismissed from University
ENVIRONMENT: Changing climate, changing lives
LAND AND LAND RIGHTS: Ugandan government can’t sell Acholi land
MEDIA AND FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION: Urgent reforms to the DRC state-owned radio and television required
INTERNET AND TECHNOLOGY: Critical view on communication for development
PLUS: e-Newsletters and Mailings Lists; Fundraising and Useful Resources; Courses, Seminars and Workshops
JOBS: Fahamu seeks Director for Education for Social Justice

The first Pan African Cultural Congress was held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia this week (13 to 17 November 2006). The Congress was organised by the African Union (AU), and its purpose was to “review and assess the cultural sector in Africa, and consider challenges and opportunities in order to draw strategies and appropriate programmes,” according to the AU press statement.

To coincide with that conference, Pambazuka News publishes today a special issue on the theme of Culture and Social Justice. It is a ‘multimedia’ edition, with a series of audio-recordings accompanying the written word.

Culture is frequently seen as something that is either peripheral to the struggle for social justice, or as entertainment or fashion. In many cases it is seen as something embedded in history, immovable and sacrosanct, referring to some idealised vision of the past, confining creativity and limiting freedoms. The continued oppression of women, for example, is frequently justified on ‘cultural’ grounds. But culture is a living form: it is rooted in our histories, but constantly evolves. It reflects the deeper spirit of humans, but also serves as a tool for emancipation. As with all aspects of human existence, whether it is art, literature, music, economics, personal relationships, and science (yes even science), culture expresses the underlying social relationships: the ‘culture’ of those who sit comfortably in the back of the Mercedes is different from the culture of those over whose lives the wheels churn. Culture has many languages, even in a society that appears homogeneous.

In this collection of essays and poems, accompanied by a series of audio-recordings that we are distributing as ‘podcasts’, Pambazuka News celebrates the culture of resistance in Africa.

Ngugi wa Thiong’o, the renowned Kenyan writer and thinker, discusses in his recorded interview with Robtel Pailey the critical role of language and its potential both to free thought as well as imprison it, a theme that is developed further by Neville Alexander, interviewed by Mandisi Majavu, who cautions against using race discourse in our quest for social justice.

Wangui wa Goro argues that to talk of the African Renaissance when Africans go without food and die unnecessarily of curable diseases, when children have no access to clean water and basic education, compels us to ask ourselves who this renaissance is intended for. “… unless we can meet the fundamental needs of the majority of African people,” she argues, words like Renaissance (rebirth) in the face of death for many sound like a mockery.”

From the Harlem Renaissance, to the Negritude Movement, up to the present day African Renaissance, black people have always struggled to find ways to redefine themselves, while in the process creating sites of cultural resistance. From literature, to the movies, history, and to fine art black people have struggled to create spaces, “wherein we can both interrogate the gaze of the Other but also look back, and at one another, naming what we see.” (hooks,1992:116) The ‘gaze’, as bell hooks argues, is the actual site of resistance for culturally colonised black people globally.

Mphutlane Wa Bofelo points out that when it comes to poetry, one of the sites of resistance is the global slam poetry movement. However, Bofelo problematizes the issues by asking: “How do we relate the slam movement to our own history of using poetry in particular and literature and theatre in general to open the space of discourse and critical engagement with prevailing socio-economic, political and cultural conditions? Can we draw from the experiences of pre-colonial African oral traditions in developing an organically grown and contextualised slam poetry movement in [Africa]?”

It is in the same spirit of resistance that Milton Allimadi writes that the overall Western attitude towards Africa is that the continent is trapped in a tribal time warp. Allimadi states that the Western media plays a vital role in perpetuating this misconception. Western journalists and editors, writes Allimadi, still have the same colonial attitude towards Africans. “…Not much has changed since the earliest days when Western reporters first started to cover African countries on a widespread basis.”

In a podcast interview, emerging rapper PlanBe explores with Sokari Ekine violence and rape in South Africa and he performs his rap Stand Against. And in another podcast, Congolese poet Omékongo wa Dibinga shares three of his poems with us exploring the attitudes towards Africa, aid and development (the text of the latter is also reproduced here).

This issue was guest edited by Robtel Pailey, to whom we express our thanks.

FEATURE: In the second of a three part series, Ike Okonta analyses how MEND has transformed the image of Niger Delta communities from hapless victims to an assertive political bloc.
COMMENT AND ANALYSIS:
- Rafael Marques argues that Angola is undergoing a process of commercialization as a substitute to democratization.
- Emman Ozoemena wonders if there are lessons to be learnt from the American experience in managing an open political field.
LETTERS: Readers respond to recent articles.
PAN AFRICAN POSTCARD: Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem bids farewell to Dr Wanjiru Kihoro.
WORLD SOCIAL FORUM: Registration announcement
CONFLICT AND EMERGENCIES: Links to news on Sudan, Somalia, Cote d'Ivoire and Uganda
HUMAN RIGHTS: Zim government intensifies crackdown on dissent
WOMEN AND GENDER: Women in the new millennium
REFUGEES AND FORCED MIGRATION: Q/A: Internally displaced people
ELECTIONS AND GOVERNANCE: From votes to security
DEVELOPMENT: Development indicators improve in Africa
CORRUPTION: Corrupting the fight against corruption
HEALTH AND HIV/AIDS: AIDS campaign induces behaviour change
EDUCATION: School fees and HIV/AIDS
RACISM AND XENOPHOBIA: Xenophobia and the East African federation
ENVIRONMENT: Programmes to combat climate change
LAND AND LAND RIGHTS: San communal lands contested
MEDIA AND FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION: MONUC press preview
NEWS FROM THE DIASPORA: The return of the bell curve
INTERNET AND TECHNOLOGY: UNICEF launches online Swahili game to boost HIV prevention
PLUS: e-Newsletters and Mailings Lists; Fundraising and Useful Resources; Courses, Seminars and Workshops; Jobs.

FEATURE: With compelling evidence and historical insight, Ike Okonta traces the origins of the Niger Delta Conflict.
COMMENT AND ANALYSIS:
- What is the problem with Madonna adopting a Malawian Child? Why all the fury? Adotey Bing-Pappoe comments on the issue by analysing carefully the possible pitfalls of inter-country adoption
- Dieu–Donné Wedi Djamba considers the options of bringing lasting peace to the Democratic Republic of Congo
- Patrick Bond argues that the idea of microcredit, which won Muhammad Yunus the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize, is based more on hype than substance.
PODCASTS: Pambazuka News publishes two more podcasts: SACTWU research speaks about the impact of WTO regulations on job losses, and Tajudeen Abul Raheem speaks about Castro's illness
LETTERS: Readers respond to recent articles
BLOGGING AFRICA: Sokari Ekine, still blogging from South Africa, comments on the Reporters Without Borders report on the 2006 “Worldwide Press Freedom Index”
CONFLICT AND EMERGENCIES: Links to news on Sudan, Somalia, Chad and Nigeria
HUMAN RIGHTS: Minorities defend their right to organise
WOMEN AND GENDER: Maternal deaths worry WHO
REFUGEES AND FORCED MIGRATION: Niger’s Arabs to fight expulsion
ELECTIONS AND GOVERNANCE: Kabila, Mobutu’s son sign pact to form government
DEVELOPMENT: Privatisation threatens small-scale miners
CORRUPTION: Inquiries turned gravy trains
HEALTH AND HIV/AIDS: Child deaths from HIV/AIDS to keep growing
EDUCATION: Government Urged to support e-learning in schools
RACISM AND XENOPHOBIA: HSRC’s Habib denied U.S. entry
ENVIRONMENT: Poachers close to wiping out hippos
LAND AND LAND RIGHTS: No need for Zim-style land grabs in South Africa
MEDIA AND FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION: MISA-SA And FXI statement
INTERNET AND TECHNOLOGY: Employmint.co.za challenges recruitment model
PLUS: e-Newsletters and Mailings Lists; Fundraising and Useful Resources; Courses, Seminars and Workshops; Jobs.

FEATURE: With compelling evidence, Victoria Brittain shows how the West has used political assassinations of the Third World leaders as an effective political strategy of control
COMMENT AND ANALYSIS:
- Jacqueline Tanaka argues that for the African healthcare system to work efficiently, organisations like the Bill Gates Foundation need to provide funding to train the African physicians
- Birgit Michaelis writes that the ordinary Somalis have suffered enough
- Assodesir warns that the situation on the ground in Darfur is worsening
LETTERS: Expel Sudanese diplomats from African capitols
PAN AFRICAN POSTCARD: Suren Pillay argues that the Native Club is only concerned about Native Power
BLOGGING AFRICA: Sokari Ekine struggles with the crime situation in South Africa
WORLD SOCIAL FORUM: Register now for WSF2007
CONFLICT AND EMERGENCIES: Links to news on Sudan, Somalia, Uganda and THE DRC
HUMAN RIGHTS: Britain Must Pay
WOMEN AND GENDER: AU Countries fail To agree on abortion
REFUGEES AND FORCED MIGRATION: Of social exclusion and refugee integration
ELECTIONS AND GOVERNANCE: The best way to guarantee peace in the DRC
DEVELOPMENT: Gates, Rockefeller and the Green revolution
HEALTH AND HIV/AIDS: Drug resistant TB threat
EDUCATION: Do we really need Shakespeare?
ENVIRONMENT: Uganda to ditch WB/ADB environmental policies
MEDIA AND FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION: Judge rules against SABC
INTERNET AND TECHNOLOGY: EASSY Deal to be signed soon
PLUS: e-Newsletters and Mailings Lists; Fundraising and Useful Resources; Courses, Seminars and Workshops; Jobs.

FEATURE:
- As in many communities in Nigeria’s oil rich Delta region, most people of Yenagoa live in mud huts. They have no hospitals, no running water, no schools. And there is unemployment too, writes Emira Woods.
COMMENT AND ANALYSIS:
-Aaron Tesfaye argues that the situation in Darfur is a grim reminder “of the after-effects of colonialism.
- Glenn Brigaldino describes Somalia as a state that only exists on paper, including maps
- Mouhamadou Tidiane KASSE argues that the implementation of neo-liberal policies and strategies in Africa, which have culminated today in globalisation, resulted in the feminisation of poverty on the continent.
LETTERS: Disarmament Programme in Mozambique
PAN AFRICAN POSTCARD: Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem despairs at the Latin Americanization of Nigerian politics
BLOGGING AFRICA: This week, Sokari Ekine focuses on Kenyan blogging community.
BOOKS: Robtel Pailey interviews Tsitsi Dangarembga
CONFLICT AND EMERGENCIES: Links to news on Sudan, Nigeria, Uganda and Angola
HUMAN RIGHTS: A call on the UN Assembly to approve Indigenous Declaration
WOMEN AND GENDER: Renewed efforts to outlaw Female Genital Mutilation
REFUGEES AND FORCED MIGRATION: Risk of polio amongst Somali refugees
ELECTIONS AND GOVERNANCE: EISA Regional Observer Mission To The Zambia 2006
DEVELOPMENT: Making trade work for the poor
CORRUPTION: Corruption is rampant in relief work
HEALTH AND HIV/AIDS: HIV/AIDS, A threat to national development
EDUCATION: World Teachers’ Day
ENVIRONMENT: Download A new book on Carbon Trading
LAND AND LAND RIGHTS: Land reform a tricky issue in South Africa
MEDIA AND FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION: Campaign of intimidation against Burundi radio stations
DIASPORA: Black women and stress
INTERNET AND TECHNOLOGY: Lack of consensus threatens EASSY cable
FAHAMU Announces free online course: Introduction to human rights
PLUS: e-Newsletters and Mailings Lists; Fundraising and Useful Resources; Courses, Seminars and Workshops; Jobs.

Do you want to reach a whole new audience with your original music? Would you like us to help promote your music? We're looking for artists to share their work with Pambazuka News to use in our new Podcasts - and we'll credit your work. Your work will be exposed to the 100,000 people who read Pambazuka News every week... Whether you're an up and coming musicians or an established artist, get in touch with our multimedia coordinator Heidi Bachram at [email][email protected]

Press Release

Pambazuka News: Audio and video now available

Pambazuka News readers can now not only read about what’s going on in Africa, but also listen to the voices of Africa, with this week’s release of the first in a series of regular audio offerings.

Fahamu, the producers of Pambazuka News, are introducing the new feature as the first step to incorporating regular multimedia content on the Pambazuka News site, which will also include video through a partnership with Raised Voices, a collection of online testimonies of people from the global South.

The recordings, available as a podcast – the term used for a series of multimedia files distributed over the internet, will consist of interviews, readings and personal stories.

Firoze Manji, Fahamu Director, said: “We are launching this podcast because there has been an astounding growth in the distribution of multimedia files over the internet, but to a large extent the voice of Africa is missing from this dialogue. We believe it is important for these voices to be heard.”

This week’s launch consists of two episodes, now available from the Pambazuka News website at

The first episode consists of an interview with Sizani Ngubane of the Rural Women’s Movement in South Africa. The RWM represents 500 grassroots women’s organisations in Kwa-Zulu Natal that fight against the abuse of women and land evictions. In the interview, Ngubane talks about women in the new South Africa and how their rights have been eroded by unpopular economic policies.

The second release is a recording of Pan-African Movement Director Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem giving his views on the Millennium Development Goals. Abdul-Raheem has been a regular Pambazuka News columnist for the last few years and this is the first time his columns have been recorded live. Tajudeen poses the question: With the world economy rigged in favour of the rich nations, can Africa deliver on the MDGs?

The Raised Voices Link

Raised Voices is a sister project of Pambazuka News. It is a set of filmed testimonies from people in the global South and marginalised communities in the North talking about the social and environmental justice issues that affect them.

It's a unique set of statements coming directly from the people most impacted by issues such as land rights, climate change, oil exploitation, neoliberalism and more. These are the people most affected but least heard in decision-making. Raised Voices seeks to promote these voices injecting them into the public sphere where they can take their rightful place in directing discussion and shaping debate.

A selection of these testimonies will be available from the Pambazuka News website and are available in full from http://www.raisedvoices.net/

Listening Online

People wishing to listen to the episodes can do so from the Pambazuka News website using any MP3 software (such as QuickTime), or can subscribe to the podcast through iTunes or other software.

The introduction of the feature is an experiment and as we are aware that many people may not be familiar with listening online, we have developed a Frequently Asked Question page at http://www.pambazuka.org/en/broadcasts/faqs.php

Here you can find answers to the questions:

- What is a podcast?
- Can I listen to the broadcasts without subscribing to the podcast?
- How can I subscribe to Pambazuka podcasts?
- Can I broadcast the Pambazuka podcasts on my radio station?
- The podcast sounds muffled – why is this?
- Can I copy the Pambazuka podcasts?

Contact [email][email protected] for more information or if you have technical problems.

Calling All Podcasters and Filmmakers in Africa

Have you got audio or video on social justice issues that you want to reach a wider audience? Would you like to make podcasts and film but don't know where to start? Do you work in community radio or TV and want to get your work on the internet or are you looking for exciting programming from other sources? Get in touch with Pambazuka News and we can provide material, promote your work and in some cases help you to produce it.

Your work can be linked from our website and mentioned in our roundup of African multimedia. You could also create films and audio for the Pambazuka multimedia project. We're particularly interested in hearing from people who are non-professionals as we want to support media from the grassroots whose messages and voices are not being heard. Pambazuka News is also developing a set of resources for beginners to help you get started and techniques to make film and podcasts accessible for all parts of the community to learn to use. So if you're interested get in touch with our multimedia coordinator Heidi Bachram at [email][email protected] for more information.

Heidi Bachram
Fahamu multimedia coordinator
[email][email protected]

iTunes® and QuickTime® are trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.

The production of the podcasts has been supported by a grant from HIVOS Netherlands.

FEATURE:
- Pambazuka News releases audio and video content
- Lansana Gberie reviews Sierra Leone's Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration programme.
COMMENT AND ANALYSIS:
- Ghana must go a step further and adopt measures to protect children from abuse through advocacy, community action and awareness of children’s rights, writes Afua Twum-Danso
- Mohammed T. Yusuf argues that so far, both the government and the LRA have adhered to the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement.
- Last year th ICC issued warrants of arrest for Kony and four other Lord’s Resistance Army commanders. Now, a year on, it finds itself at odds with Uganda's government. Joseph Yav Katshung reports.
- Listening online: the what and the where
LETTERS: Religion and Children in Armed Conflict
PAN AFRICAN POSTCARD: Tajudeen admonishes those who may be reluctant to celebrate Winnie Mandela's 70th birthday (and we celebrate Taju delivering on time for a change!)
BLOGGING AFRICA: This week, Sokari Ekine focuses on West African blogs.
BOOKS: African Languages Refuse to Die: A review of Ngugi wa Thiong’s lecture.
PODCASTS:
- Women's rights in rural South Africa
- Can African deliver on the Millennium Development Goals?
CONFLICT AND EMERGENCIES: Links to news on Sudan, Somalia, Uganda, Ivory Coast and Zimbabwe
HUMAN RIGHTS: In Africa 171 Million Children are Victims of Child Labour
WOMEN AND GENDER: Health Ministers Adopt Measures To Curb Maternal Death
REFUGEES AND FORCED MIGRATION: Kenya Braces For Influx of Somali Refugees as Violence Escalates
ELECTIONS AND GOVERNANCE: Elected Parliament Inaugurated in the DRC
DEVELOPMENT: AID Should Be Channelled Through Special Fund
CORRUPTION: CAGE Asks ICPC To Investigate PTDF Fraud
HEALTH AND HIV/AIDS: In Zimbabwe It is Reported that There is HIV Prevalence Decline
EDUCATION: MAKERERE is Still a Reputable University
RACISM & XENOPHOBIA: Groundbreaking Lawsuit Challenges Racial Profiling by Police
ENVIRONMENT: The World’s ‘Septic Tank’
LAND AND LAND RIGHTS: Defiant Farmers To ‘Face The Music’
MEDIA AND FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION: No End In Sight For Abuse Of Press Freedom
DIASPORA: White Race Riots of 1906
INTERNET AND TECHNOLOGY: Highway To Freedom
PLUS: e-Newsletters and Mailings Lists; Fundraising and Useful Resources; Courses, Seminars and Workshops; Jobs.

REMINDER: Please remember to vote for Pambazuka News at
FEATURE: Ir?ng? Houghton reviews emerging policies on sexual and reproductive health, the reality for women and girls and what governments need to adopt during this Health Ministers and Experts conference in Maputo, Mozambique.
COMMENT AND ANALYSIS: - Baffour Dokyi Amoa argues that it is not an exaggeration to say that small arms have contributed to the political disintegration of many African countries.
- Mandisi Majavu argues against the “Africa Aerospace & Defence 2006” exhibition.
- Patrick Bond argues that the assault against the international civil society has been devastating. He writes that nearly all the major multilateral institutions have been captured by hardliners over the past couple of years.
BLOGGING AFRICA: Sokari Ekine reminds us that this past Sunday marked the Global Day of Action for Darfur. The aim was “to show world-wide support for the Darfuri people and to put pressure on our Governments to protect the civilians.”
Pan-African Postcard: Tajudeen Abdul Raheem argues that Islamic faith replaced Communism in the pantheons of Western phobias
CONFLICT AND EMERGENCIES: Links to news on Sudan, Somalia, Uganda, Ivory Coast and Zimbabwe
HUMAN RIGHTS: Ugandan is the worst place in the world to be a child
WOMEN AND GENDER: Women leaders meet in Maputo
REFUGEES AND FORCED MIGRATION: AU mission extended with Arab and UN support
ELECTIONS AND GOVERNANCE: Number of women contesting the polls low and disappointing
DEVELOPMENT: IMF and the World Bank found guilty
CORRUPTION: State to seize 78 bank accounts with looted money
HEALTH AND HIV/AIDS: Labour urged to demand sacking of health minister
EDUCATION: Higher education and economic growth
RACISM & XENOPHOBIA: How obsession with race stops SA from meeting its challenges
ENVIRONMENT: Africa’s environment under siege
LAND AND LAND RIGHTS: The third Chimurenga
MEDIA AND FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION: In Eritrea, journalists still jailed after five years
DIASPORA: Genealogical quest
INTERNET AND TECHNOLOGY: Zimbabwe internet shuts down
PLUS: e-Newsletters and Mailings Lists; Fundraising and Useful Resources; Courses, Seminars and Workshops; Jobs.

COMMENT AND ANALYSIS: Yveline Deverin argues that almost all the mediators who have attempted to intervene in Ivory Coast have done so simply because they had a personal interest in intervening
- Rotimi Sankore explores the factors that contribute to the poor health of Africans
- Sokari Ekine argues that as long as Spain continues to reap benefits from cheap labour, the Spanish government’s rhetoric that it will not tolerate the continued arrival of migrants cannot be taken very seriously
- Maggie Makanza explains why the opposition in Zimbabwe has not been able to get rid of Mugabe
- Wahu Kaara argues that the reason the IMF and the World Bank chose Singapore for their meetings this year is because these institutions want to exclude poor people of the world
BLOGGING AFRICA: Sokari Ekine explores what the codifying of the African blogosphere means for people of colour
BOOKS AND ARTS: Hamidou Soumah argues that African films are marginalised in the US
CONFLICT AND EMERGENCIES: Links to news on Sudan, Somalia, Uganda and Ivory Coast
HUMAN RIGHTS: Ugandan press decides to publish the names of alleged homosexuals
WOMEN AND GENDER: Maternal mortality rate still high
REFUGEES AND FORCED MIGRATION: Newly displaced yearn for peace
ELECTIONS AND GOVERNANCE: Who benefits from inter-govt clashes?
DEVELOPMENT: Annan hails Civil Society Organisations
CORRUPTION: Lesotho tackles corruption
HEALTH AND HIV/AIDS: Who wants an HIV vaccine?
EDUCATION: Crisis in the teaching profession threatens education for all
RACISM & XENOPHOBIA: Why xenophobia persists in South Africa
ENVIRONMENT: Africa environment outlook
LAND AND LAND RIGHTS: Land invasion a wake up to tackle poverty
MEDIA AND FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION: Attacks on journalists alarming
DIASPORA: The traditional predators
INTERNET AND TECHNOLOGY: South African NGOs petition government to adopt foss
PLUS: e-Newsletters and Mailings Lists; Fundraising and Useful Resources; Courses, Seminars and Workshops; Jobs.

FEATURED: Cheikh Tidiane Dièye introduces a special issue on trade and women's rights, arguing that women, more than any other group, suffer the weight of the constraints of poverty largely brought about by the world trade system
COMMENT AND ANALYSIS:
- Roselynn Musa points out that the voices of women and poor people are largely missing from trade policy negotiations
- Salma Maoulidi asks what does trade mean for women in the East Africa region.
- Mohau Pheko argues that the July collapse of World Trade Organisation talks aimed at fostering a global free trade regime is actually an unexpected bonus
- Facts, figures, questions and answers on trade and women, compiled by Pambazuka News Staff
PAN-AFRICAN POSTCARD: Tajudeen Abdul Raheem on the AU, the UN and the Sudanese government
BLOGGING AFRICA: Sokari Ekine interrogates the political situation in Zimbabwe, racism in South Africa, the Darfur Crisis
BOOKS AND ARTS: Reinventing Development
CONFLICT AND EMERGENCIES: Links to news on Sudan, Somalia, Uganda
HUMAN RIGHTS: Great Lakes Summit kicks off
WOMEN AND GENDER: Fact sheet on reforming gender architecture in the UN
REFUGEES AND FORCED MIGRATION: Spain vows to curb migrant wave
ELECTIONS AND GOVERNANCE: Will Congo explode?
DEVELOPMENT: Preface to global poverty or global justice
CORRUPTION: Firms admit paying bribes in world bank program
HEALTH AND HIV/AIDS: ARVS becoming big business
EDUCATION: Zim University to teach Chinese language and culture
RACISM & XENOPHOBIA: Complaint of racial division in the newsroom
ENVIRONMENT: Bringing the earth back to life
LAND AND LAND RIGHTS: Vice president’s daughter grabs farm
MEDIA AND FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION: Beyond propaganda
DIASPORA: Haiti, shocking Lancet study
INTERNET AND TECHNOLOGY: NEPAD’s IT project faces failure
PLUS: e-Newsletters and Mailings Lists; Fundraising and Useful Resources; Courses, Seminars and Workshops; Jobs.

What is the role of women in world trade?

Compared to 50 years ago, women represent an increasingly higher number of the world’s labour force, with many studies placing the number at over 50 percent. However, this doesn’t include women who work in the informal sector or the unpaid activities of women at the household level. On a broader level, women’s access to health care and education, for example, are profoundly influenced by national economic policy – meaning that if international economic best practice doesn’t take into account gender issues, then women are disadvantaged.

How does trade have an impact on women’s rights?

Trade liberalisation, which refers to the untaxed flow of goods and services between countries, has had positive and negative influences. Increasingly, the negative impacts of trade liberalisation, has made trade a central feature of advocacy work by gender activists. Women have gained jobs in the manufacturing sectors, but these jobs may not lead to positive social outcomes as women often work longer hours and are paid low wages. The opening of markets and the influx of cheaper goods have in some cases destroyed livelihoods, and it is women who have borne the brunt of these changes.

Have women’s rights been considered in international trade bodies?

The World Trade Organisation, an international rules-based and member driven organization which oversees a large number of agreements defining the "rules of trade" between its member states, has long been criticized for not including the voices of women, preferring to view trade as gender neutral. Moreover, its main decision making bodies are male-dominated. To this extent, nothing has been done to take into account or lessen the negative impact of trade liberalization on women’s rights. Despite increasingly loud voices, the WTO refuses to reform itself, has unclear rules about its decision making and operates in manner that is non-transparent.

What is the core of the problem? – Trade or the global economic system in which we conduct trade.

There is nothing wrong with trade per se; in fact the cornerstone of human society is based on trade. To human beings, trade is a tool for survival. However, a problem arises when one group of people uses trade to exploit and oppress another group of people. From a feminist standpoint, this normally happens in a patriarchal society. A patriarchal society is a society based on the belief that women are inferior to men. The global economic system is shaped and influenced by patriarchal logic. Indirectly and directly, the global economic system cultivates and encourages misogynists attitudes in traders, which nine out of ten times tend to be men.

What is the Alternative? Or, as patriarchal society puts the question: What do women want?

Women want to be treated with dignity and respect. Lots of feminists have said this before, but women want an end to sex discrimination by job definition and sex-role stereotyping in the media. Like any “normally” functioning group of people on the planet, women want equity and self-management . Women want a good economy that accomplishes central economic functions without exploitation of women, people of colour and the environment; but most importantly, women want an economy that meet people’s needs and develop their potential, to paraphrase Michael Albert.

What’s the solution to these problems?

Most governments are already signatories to a host of international agreements committing them to gender equality. These include the UN’s Beijing Platform for Action, which requires that governments correct imbalances that any policy, including economic policy, might create.

Economic policies are often fostered on countries by International Financial Institutions and donors. Officially, consultation in the implementation of these policies does take place, but in reality economic policy should be formulated through a democratic process that takes into account the voices of local people and considers the existing power relations within society.

Fact and Figures: Women’s rights and trade

- "Thirteen countries - of which Burundi, Liberia, Nigeria, Somalia and Tanzania are a few - are in the same shape or worse off today than they were in 1990. For almost 40 countries the data is insufficient to say anything, which probably reflects an even worse situation for women." - Social Watch, an NGO watchdog system (Source:

- ."...there is growing evidence that trade liberalization tends to disadvantage women, who constitute the majority of small-scale farmers in rural areas. According to the FAO, women make up about 44% of the formally documented agricultural work force in developing countries..." (Source:

Trade and human rights

Economic Partnership Agreements: Territorial conquest by economic means

Trade liberalisation, hunger and starvation

We are fatigued with charity, we know we can do it ourselves

FEATURED: The first-ever convention on the rights of persons with disabilities has been passed. Lina Lindblom explains what it means
COMMENT AND ANALYSIS:
- Eva Dadrian writes on the aftermath of the Lebanese conflict - and its implications for Africa
- Nnimmo Bassey argues for clean and renewable energy
LETTERS: A tribute to Bi Kidude
PAN-AFRICAN POSTCARD: Tajudeen Abdul Raheem puffs about why he quit smoking and hasn't sold out!
BLOGGING AFRICA: Sokari Ekine interrogates the “keep the child alive” campaign. Ekine also questions Jeffrey Sachs’s developmental theories
BOOKS AND ARTS: Book review on the complexities of media regulations
CONFLICT AND EMERGENCIES: Links to news on Sudan, Somalia, Uganda
HUMAN RIGHTS: Statement from Sanctions Against Israel on Capitalism
WOMEN AND GENDER: Monuc troops among the most sex offenders
REFUGEES AND FORCED MIGRATION: Somalia’s refugees lose hope.
ELECTIONS AND GOVERNANCE: Nigerian elections set for April
DEVELOPMENT: A primer on foreign aid
CORRUPTION: Corruption in humanitarian aid
HEALTH AND HIV/AIDS: AIDS message to change in South Africa
EDUCATION: Girls’ education under microscope
RACISM & XENOPHOBIA: Racial profiling led to detention, harassment at airport
ENVIRONMENT: Satellite chronicles depleted continent
LAND AND LAND RIGHTS: Surviving the land invasions
MEDIA AND FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION: Threatened from everywhere
DIASPORA: First Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina
INTERNET AND TECHNOLOGY: Ministers to sign broadband agreement
PLUS: e-Newsletters and Mailings Lists; Fundraising and Useful Resources; Courses, Seminars and Workshops; Jobs.