Wednesday June 27, join Hugh Masekela - world acclaimed South African music legend in a Solidarity Concert on Darfur at the National Theatre, Accra. The event starts at 7pm.

This is an African civil society programme in connection with the African Union summit being hosted in Ghana.

In less than a month since the massively fraudulent election that ushered in the present administration, the Nigerian working class is in a determined mood and on the offensive against it. This comes as somewhat of a surprise to some on the left and seems almost miraculous to those sectarians who had earlier condemned the Nigerian workers as reactionary, simply because the Labour leadership refused to mobilize the rank and file behind one wing of the ruling class in opposition to the fraudulent election.

How has South Africa’s Civil Society fared? This paper by the Cetnre for Policy Studies examines how specific civil society organisations (CSOs) have influenced state, and what lies behind the success or failure of these actions. It focuses on CSOs engaged in influencing post-apartheid policies.

Nigeria's main cities are reported to be very quiet on the first day of a general strike called by trade unions. Office blocks are empty in central Lagos, with long queues at petrol stations. Schools and offices are shut in the northern city of Kano.

Up to 2 million workers have hit back at the African National Congress(ANC) government's sacking of striking health workers, its deployment of army strikebreakers and increasing police violence against strikers. On June 13 the more than 700,000 teachers, nurses, health workers and other government workers on strike for higher pay were joined by hundreds of thousands of other unionists and supporters in a nationwide solidarity strike. Hundreds of thousands of people marched across the country.

Prince Collins Eselemo, the national president of the Warri National Congress (WNC), a non-governmental organization and grand patron of the Ijaw Youths Congress (IYC) in the Niger Delta, is not new to controversy. Some two years ago, he led a protest against the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) over a strike action by the then leadership of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole on the grounds that it was of no benefit to the people of the Niger-Delta.

In a move that may cut abductions in the volatile Niger Delta, a Nigerian high court yesterday freed on bail a former militia leader considered one of the country’s most dangerous men. The court freed treason accused and former Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend) leader Mujahid Dokubu Asari on health grounds, meeting a key demand of the group.

JOINT Action Forum (JAF), umbrella body for civil societies that formed the Labour and Civil Society Coalition (LASCO), has called on Nigerians to fully participate in next week's planned strike to force the government to revert the hike in fuel price and the Value Added Tax (VAT), amongst others, even as it charged Labour leaders not to disappoint Nigerians during the struggles ahead.

We the undersigned Africans and friends of Africa hereby petition the African Union (AU) at its historic Summit, in Accra, Ghana, July 2007 to take all necessary steps in collaboration with the United Nations to bring to an immediate end to the genocide ravaging Darfur.

The rape of women and girls, the burning and destruction of villages and settlements, and the consequent mass displacement of millions and murder of tens of thousands, including women and children, in Darfur constitute an affront to humanity and an indictment of leadership on the continent. The people of Darfur have a right to life, peace and security. The AU must act decisively and deploy adequate troops with effective military ware to protect the people of Darfur from the murderous forces supported by the Sudanese government. In today’s global world, it is impermissible for the AU to look on helpless as the genocide in Darfur continues.

The people of Darfur have an inalienable right to life, security, peace and development.

Join the campaign to end the genocide in Darfur! Send your name, address, email address and institutional affiliation (if any) Citizens for New Ghana at citizensghana at yahoo.com, to add your name to the petition.

This year's World Day Against Child Labour on 12 June is to focus on the elimination of child labour in agriculture, which accounts for a staggering percentage of the world's working children and is one of the most dangerous forms of work for children and adults like.

Some 300 people took part in a march through the Chad capital, N'Djamena, on Wednesday to express solidarity with the country's almost half-a-million refugees and internally displaced persons. The UNHCR-organized event was one of many activities planned by UNHCR around the country to mark World Refugee Day on June 20.

Trade unions are expressing their concerns over what they call an "escalating violence" by security officers against their representatives all over Chad. The country has been paralysed by an unpopular general strike for over one month. The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) has denounced what it called "the recent escalation in anti-union repression in Chad," where a public sector strike launched a month ago by the Inter-Union Group continues.

Striking public servants will completely shut down all government services in the Western Cape by Friday 8 June, the National Education, Health and Allied Workers Union (Nehawu) said. Provincial secretary Suraya Jawoodeen said Nehawu would intensify its strike action and re-mobilise all members to ensure a complete shut-down of services by Friday.

WOZA has been reading and hearing about 'the talks' and wish to express our views about these. Firstly, we would like to know exactly what South African President Thabo Mbeki, Tanzanian President Kikwete and our SADC brothers and sisters want to achieve by their mediation.

Approximately 20 members of Women and Men of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA/MOZA) were arrested in Bulawayo. Amongst those arrested are Jenni Williams and Magodonga Mahlangu, who handed themselves in at Bulawayo Central in solidarity with a group that had been arrested earlier.

Swaziland's truck drivers, who are twice as likely to be infected with HIV than the general population, are finally getting the programmes required to provide them with treatment and support, a conference was told this week.

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/307/41847_mob.jpgEverlyne Nairesiae of GROOTS Kenya reviews the recent three-day workshop of pan-African mobile phone activists, held in Nairobi. She explains how GROOTS has applied mobile phone technology in their work on property rights for rural Kenyan women.

Mobile activists across Africa converged in Nairobi Kenya for a three-day workshop facilitated by Fahamu in conjunction with the (known as 'Tactical Tech'). The aim of the workshops was to critically examine existing opportunities to enhance the wide use of mobile phone as media of advocacy, networking and collaboration among activists in Africa.

The workshop was a build up to the 'techie' preparation for a two-day workshop geared towards developing a toolkit especially tailored to suit the African context. The launch of the toolkit, which is anticipated to be ready by October 2007, aims to strengthen and facilitate the use of mobile phones as a tool for advocacy in responding to social development needs in Africa. The workshop culminated in the formation of a steering committee mandated by members to champion the development of the Pan-African Mobile Network (PAMONET).

My participation in the workshop was exiting, since it was characterised by the rich experiences of presenters from Africa and around the word on the application of mobile phones in advocacy work. The use of mobile phone technology stands out as a unique and emerging convenient mode of communication for community development across Africa. African countries including Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda and Kenya among others have recently started using this technology to resolve community needs, and advocate for human rights, among other cross-cutting issues. This is done mainly through use of short messages (SMS), and/or making direct calls via cell phone. During the workshop, activists reported concrete achievements registered with the use of mobile phone across countries in Africa and that their contribution in addressing social and development issues cannot be under estimated.

GROOTS Kenya regional electronic exchange mentorship strategy to address women and orphans property inheritance rights

GROOTS - is a grassroots organisation operating together in sisterhood is a movement of community based organisations and groups of women in Kenya. GROOTS Kenya is a member of GROOTS International and Huairou Commission. Their work is centred around the lives and needs of grassroots women. It is therefore largely non-thematic as it responds to community needs and priorities. The organisation accomplishes its goals through four main programmes: Community Responses to HIV/Aids, Women and Property Program, Women's Leadership and Governance, and Community Resources and Livelihoods.

GROOTS Kenya has mainly used the mobile phone in advocating and addressing women and orphans rights to own and inherit property in four regions in Kenya which include: Kakamega in western province, Kendubay in Nyanza province, and Limuru and Gatundu in Central province of Kenya. In these communities, GROOTS Kenya facilitated the formation of community watchdog groups, which are led by women to safeguard against the grabbing of property from women and orphans, many of who are infected and affected with HIV/Aids.

The watchdog groups work with relevant NGOs, government institutions, opinion/traditional leaders, FBOs as well as the provincial administrators through the office of the chief and assistant chiefs. It is important to mention that chiefs and assistant chiefs are the lowest government administration unit at the community level and are very crucial in determining and safeguarding the rights of marginalized people in any community in Kenya. Unfortunately most of them have limited knowledge, information and capacity to handle and or support property disinheritance cases of women or orphans brought to their attention.

In the four regions only one assistant chief Mr Peter Mutheru; who is sub-chief in Kiamoria sub-location in Gatundu, had ample knowledge and skills. This necessitated a lot of interaction among the chiefs from the four regions to benefit from his significant understanding of the procedures of courts of law in order to support cases of women and orphans right to property inheritance which were being presented to them by the watchdog groups.

The use of mobile phone became a special tool in facilitating electronic mentoring among the chiefs across the region mainly through communicating via messages and making direct call to each other while seeking guidance and or information on succession law and procedures. In addition, this was complemented by the use of community radio listening strategies which created awareness on the right to property of women and orphans. On the other hand, grassroots women and members of watchdog groups also use mobile phone to report cases of property grabbing to the chiefs, and thereby enhance the communication and follow up of cases as well as provide support to victims of the vice.

Increase in knowledge among the chiefs led to the transformation of both their attitude towards women and orphans property rights and influenced their mode of working which in turn facilitated efficiency at administrative and community levels. The use of regional electronic exchange mentoring strategy by GROOTS Kenya, using the mobile phones have led to the following achievements:

* enhanced knowledge and skills in addressing women and orphans property rights among the chiefs across the four regions through mentoring and networking
* increase in resolved cases of women and orphans who had lost property to relatives
* strengthened the relationship between the provincial administrators and grassroots women in the community through partnership
* enhanced follow up and support of pending cases in the office of the chief and law courts
* facilitated a significant reduction in costs for instance on travelling, accommodation and other logistics since the regions were distance away from each other.

Although the above achievements were realised, the following challenges including high poverty levels which hinders communities and chiefs to purchase airtime; illiteracy mainly among grassroots women hence unable to read messages; a limited number of cell phones in the communities thus rely on those who have cell phones to access information; and a lack of formality in communication which makes it difficult to hold any party accountable.

Most groups tried to have parallel meetings in their own different regions and converse in a form of tele-conferencing through mobiles. Unfortunately the telephone sets used by many communities have no features such as speaker phones which would have enabled more than one person to listen to a call and then pass the information on to the rest of the community.

GROOTS Kenya’s experience coupled up with experiences from other countries in Africa shared during the mobile activism workshop in Nairobi Kenya highlighted a number of factors. It is evident that the use of cell phones facilitate achievement of tremendous results which are cost effective and efficient.

Thanks to Fahamu and Tactical Tech for providing us an opportunity to share and learn from other partners experiences on the use of cell phones in addressing social and development needs. For more information please contact GROOTS Kenya on the address given below.

* Everlyne Nairesiae is Program Coordinator of GROOTS Kenya P.O.Box, 10320-GPO, Nairobi, Kenya. E.mail:[email protected]

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

In yet another twist to the unfolding scenario in the Niger Delta, Kedere youths in Ogoniland have shut the valve on the Bomu manifold located on the Trans-Niger pipeline, effectively shutting-in 150,000 barrels per day of crude oil output from the Shell Petroleum Development Company operated joint venture. This caused oil prices to rebound slightly after falling sharply the previous day. Shell announced Wednesday that 150,000 bpd of crude oil production has been locked in at its Bonny Light terminal in Nigeria after pipelines were sabotaged.

The African HIV Policy Network (AHPN) has launched a campaign calling on the UK government to stop the deportation of people living with HIV to countries where access to HIV treatment is not readily available or affordable.

There are over 80 million children globally who are missing out on school. Two thirds of them are girls. 46 million of them are in Sub-Saharan Africa. The Global Campaign for Education is working to change this. The campaign aims to put pressure on G8 world leaders to keep the promise they made in 2000 of basic primary education for all children. The Global Campaign for Education is asking people to Join Up and add their voice by signing an online petition in the form of a human chain - over 100,000 people from around the world have joined this already.