This distance learning course provides human rights activists with a range of proven human rights advocacy methods and critical concepts as a means for them to reflect on and deepen their own work. The course will look at the theoretical foundations and critical issues of human rights advocacy, elements of advocacy planning, and strategies for action.

Millions of children are engaged in labour that is detrimental to their education, development and future livelihoods. How should the international community work to eradicate exploitative child labour? How can this complex phenomenon be measured? With a host of state and civil society organisations now committed to its eradication, why are so many kids still engaged in hazardous work? A book from the International Labour Organization traces the ILO’s historical concern with the abolition of child labour and assesses the prospects for its fulfilment.

Torture continues and is not confined to military dictatorships or authoritarian regimes; torture is inflicted in democratic states too. It is also clear that victims of torture are criminal suspects as well as political prisoners, the disadvantaged as well as the dissident, people targeted because of their identity as well as their beliefs. They are women as well as men, children as well as adults. Join Amnesty International's online campaign to stop torture.

You are invited to participate in an ecumenical gathering in Washington, DC, that begins Sunday evening, February 23, and ends Wednesday afternoon, February 26. The gathering offers two distinct learning/advocacy tracks, one focused on Africa and the other on the Middle East. Both tracks will provide challenging speakers, issue briefings, and advocacy training workshops.

A Nigerian Woman, Amina Lawal, has been sentenced to death by stoning because she had a baby out of wedlock. You can help save Amina Lawal's life by sending an email to the Nigerian Ambassador. Additional details are on the Medical Advocates' Advocacy News web site.

Burkina Faso has at least 165,000 migrant labourers aged six to 17 years and half of them work abroad - mainly in Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana and Benin - a study on child labour migration shows. Most of the young migrant labourers were boys, according to the study by the NGO Terre des Hommes and the World Bank.

Meeting recently in Lusaka, Zambia, south and east African debt campaign networks, together with partners from the North, declared that Highly Indebted Poor Countries initiative was failing to meet the needs of the poor. The African campaigners called for debt cancellation under HIPC to be refocussed on meeting the UN's 2015 Millennium Development Goals, rather than meeting so-called "sustainable" debt service.

Meeting recently in Lusaka, Zambia, south and east African debt campaign networks, together with partners from the North (including JDC), declared that HIPC is failing to meet the needs of the poor. The African campaigns called for debt cancellation under HIPC to refocussed on meeting the
UN's 2015 Millennium Development Goals, rather than meeting so-called "sustainable" debt service.

The world's senior police chiefs Thursday wound up Interpol's 71st general assembly in Yaoundé, Cameroon with a strong declaration issued on the plight of children who have been trafficked for the purpose of forced labour.

The Communication Rights in the Information Society (CRIS) campaign aims to ensure that communication rights are central to the information society and the upcoming World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS).

Ethiopia launched its biggest ever polio vaccination campaign on Thursday as it was revealed that the country is almost totally free of the virus. More than 14 million children are to be targeted in the final immunisation in Ethiopia in which more than 74,000 volunteers will take part.

Do you need tips or materials on running organisations, running campaigns, communication skills, administration, local government, HIV/AIDS etc? Do you give advice and development support to poor communities? Visit http://www.etu.org.za for a complete guide of paralegal advice targeting the poor, as well as a community organiser’s toolbox filled with guides that will help your organisation perform better. This free service is provided by the Education and Training Unit, a non-profit organisation that focuses on capacity building for community based organisations and local government. ETU also provides training on all topics listed. Materials may be copied and used by non-profit organisations as long as you acknowledge the source. For-profit organisations must get permission from ETU.

In a new report on Zambia, produced to coincide with the 23-25 October WTO review of that countries' trade policy, the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions has condemned "serious and widespread" usage of child labour as well as a deterioration in workers' basic rights.

The World Organisation Against Torture has called on activists to write to the Zimbabwean government urging them to guarantee that teachers’ leader Raymond Majongwe is given a fair trial before an impartial and independent civil tribunal and that 627 teachers dismissed for striking are reinstated.

Over one billion people are living in poverty today. And the gap between rich and poor is getting wider. The global trading system lies at the heart of this inequality. Christian Aid is campaigning to tackle the negative impact of international trade rules on the world's poorest people. Your role is vital.

The World Organisation Against Torture has expressed concern over the sentencing to death by stoning in Nigeria of 32 year-old Fatima Usman and 35 year-old Ahmed Ibrahim and requests concerned parties to write to the Nigerian authorities voicing their disapproval.

From 8:30am tomorrow, hundreds of Khayelitsha residents will gather outside the Mitchells Plein magistrate’s court to show their support for five community members who were jailed and face outstanding charges as a result of an interdict by multinational banks.

The Writers in Prison Committee of International PEN (WiPC) is launching a campaign on Zimbabwe at the end of October aimed at focusing pressure on the government of Robert Mugabe to free imprisoned journalists and repeal recently enacted laws curbing free expression. Set to run from 28 October to 10 November, the campaign invites IFEX members and other participants to send letters of appeal to Zimbabwean authorities over a two-week period calling for an end to criminal proceedings against journalists and the restoration of free expression.

The Combined Harare Residents Association has launched a petition to dispute the Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing in imposing another commission in Harare, Zimbabwe.

Benin has intensified a national campaign against child labour which has attracted at least 600,000 children in a population of 6.7 million people, the InterPress Agency reported last Thursday.