Zimbabwe CSOs (Sustainability Watch Network) has launched an e-newsletter aimed at sharing information and initiating discussions and creating debate on MDGs monitoring efforts by Civil Society in Zimbabwe. The monitoring is based on the Government's implementation of MDGs. The unique newsletter will be used as a tool for advocacy on MDGs by Zimbabwean CSOs interested in MDGs work.

The ongoing violence in Sudan's Darfur region has spawned many forms of activism. The goal is to increase public awareness of the conflict, in which hundreds of thousands have died and more than two million people have been displaced. Now, that activism is going online, in the form of a video game entitled Darfur is Dying.

The Campaign to End Fistula currently covers some 30 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and some Arab States. The Campaign works in three key areas: prevention, treatment and support to help women who have been repaired return to their communities. Fistula is most common in poor communities in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia where access to or use of obstetric care is limited.

Submissions are being accepted for the Seventh Annual Awards and Medals Competition, which carries prizes in cash and travel of over US $200,000! Submissions can be for a new research proposal or for a completed research paper. We welcome submissions from all branches of the social sciences. Multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary submissions are particularly encouraged.

A 23-year-old survivor of gun violence from West Pokot District set the tone for the UN small arms conference when he gave secretary-general Kofi Annan an international petition calling for an end to the illegal trade.

Thirteen people were killed in political violence as campaigning began for the Democratic Republic of Congo's first competitive elections in decades. Demonstrators in the western city of Matadi attacked and killed a soldier on Friday 30 June before troops retaliated, firing on the crowd and killing 12 civilians, said Christian Malidini, of DRC's Association of Human Rights Defenders.

Presidential aspirants in the Democratic Republic of Congo kicked off their nationwide campaigns on Friday 30 June for the country's first democratic elections in 45 years, due on 30 July. There are 33 presidential candidates, and 9,780 aspirants vying for 500 parliamentary seats. Presidential frontrunner and incumbent Joseph Kabila is contesting as an independent.

South Africa's commission for employment equity -- which monitors transformation in the South African workplace -- has come out with all guns firing against a Solidarity trade union employment-equity plan that proposes a code of good practice for affirmative action, which promotes the commitment of a non-designated group (whites).

Malawi's Information Minister Patricia Kaliati has disclosed that the government is advertising for the second fixed line operator to enhance competition with the country's only operator the Malawi Telecoms Limited (MTL), 'The Chronicle' has learnt. "If we can have a competitor in this area, then the quality of service would subsequently improve," said Minister Kaliati

Thousands of Namibians flocked to polio vaccination points on the second day of a mass immunisation campaign on Thursday 22 June, as the death toll from the virus outbreak rose to 15. Even large retail stores in the capital, Windhoek, were turned into mini-clinics as shop managers and assistants helped administer the polio vaccines.

Voices of Protest: Social Movements in Post-Apartheid South Africa,. Editors: Richard Ballard, Adam Habib, Imraan Valodia. Publisher: UKZN Press

The Niger health authorities on Thursday launched a week-long campaign against Guinea worm as part of their commitment to eradicate the debilitating parasite by 2009. The infection is caused by a parasite that can grow to a metre-long worm that painfully exits the body through blisters, usually on the lower leg.

London Mayor Ken Livingstone joined voices of dissent among black community groups who have slammed the Equalities Review- the government’s far reaching report into anti-discrimination, public policy and disadvantage.

A campaign to stop violence in mining has been launched by the National Coalition of Mining (NCOM), a grouping of communities affected by mining and civil society organisations. Reading from a prepared sheet on behalf of NCOM, Gifty Dzah, from ABANTU for Development, said the objective of the campaign was to stop violence by mining companies and state agencies against communities and citizens.

The Housing and Land Rights Network (HLRN), part of Habitat International Coalition (HIC), in cooperation with its member, the Development Initiatives Network (DIN), and with Women Environmental Programme, in Nigeria, have received disturbing news about mass evictions in the city of Abuja. Your urgent action is required in Nigeria.

We are seeking a dynamic and committed Advocacy Project Co-ordinator to play a vital and demanding role in co-ordinating all project partners to work together to achieve objectives.

Namibia is to launch a national polio vaccination campaign after the World Health Organisation (WHO) confirmed an outbreak of the highly contagious virus. So far seven deaths and 39 cases of the wild polio have been reported, Kalumbi Shangula, permanent secretary in the ministry of health, said on Thursday.

This course is designed to help people use the internet for advocacy. It will be of particular interest to non- governmental organisations and grassroots groups, trainers, activists, organisers and researchers working in the field of human rights and advocacy. The course is one of an integrated collection of courses developed by Fahamu in conjunction with the University of Oxford. The objective of the course is to promote the effective use of the internet for advocacy, through the development of online research skills and the creation of effective online resources. In addition, the course will help participants critique existing internet research and advocacy materials. The course includes practical exercises and assignments that help participants learn new skills and develop material they can use in their advocacy work. Applications are invited for a course beginning in July 2006. For further details, contact info at fahamu.org or see

Amnesty International has launched a new campaign in support of freedom of speech online and offline, called 'Irrepressible', a term that means"impossible to repress or control". Chat rooms monitored. Blogs deleted. Websites blocked. Search engines restricted. People imprisoned for simply posting and sharing information. This is what the campaign will act upon.

Catch them younger!" is the new mantra of the youth wing of Swaziland's banned political party, the People's United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO), as it tries to gather more support for its pro-democracy campaign. "We have to nurture students from primary schools so that they can become familiar with the struggle, rather than hoping to get them when they are at university," said Alex Langwenya, president of the Swaziland Youth Congress (SWAYOCO), PUDEMO's youth movement.