Human rights defenders are increasingly using computers and the Internet in their work. Although access to technology is still a huge issue around the world, electronic means of storing and communicating information are getting more and more common in human rights organisations. These issues are dealt with in a new manual published by Front Line.

This article explores SMS technology and the potential use of mobile banking systems for farmers in rural Africa.

"At the time of his death Chima was the Executive Director of the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO) where he worked for 15 years. A committed human rights activist, Chima was remarkable for his unwavering dedication to social justice for ordinary Nigerians. Since his university days, Chima had been actively involved in shaping political events in Nigeria."

Girls from around the world – including a former child soldier from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), an HIV-positive rape victim from Zambia, and a child-labourer from Nepal – have come together to share the experiences that made them activists at an event at United Nations Headquarters.

The Sudanese government is "paralysing" the aid operation in its conflict-torn western region of Darfur, the US special envoy to Sudan has said. Andrew Natsios said there had recently been a big increase in red tape and the harassment of aid workers.

There was outrage among European oil exploration companies interested in Kenya when it emerged last week that the state-owned National Oil Corporation of China — CNOOC — has quietly put out notices offering to farm out to third parties some of the oil exploration blocks granted to it by President Mwai Kibaki in April last year.

Yaba Badoe and Wangui wa Goro are joined by publisher Becky Clarke and Elleke Boehmer (chair), a specialist in postcolonial writing, to discuss the African Love Stories Anthology, a radical collection of short stories, spanning the continent and featuring challenging themes hitherto considered a taboo.

The University of Oxford Department for Continuing Education is now accepting applications for its part-time Master's degree in International Human Rights Law for 2007/8 admission. If you have any queries or would like to request a printed brochure, please email [email][email protected] Application deadline is 16 March 2007.

Bringing down the costs of Internet access could set off the same wave of connectivity that has made mobile phone usage commonplace in developing countries, said innovators and corporate leaders from some of the world’s leading technology firms meeting in northern California with government leaders, activists and United Nations officials.

A federal jury in Miami has found Colonel Carl Dorélien, a former member of the Haitian Military's High Command, liable for torture, extrajudicial killing, arbitrary detention and crimes against humanity suffered by plaintiffs Lexiuste Cajuste, Marie Jeanne Jean and her two young children.

An open letter demanding "an immediate halt to the deforestation of the Amazon jungle" has been released by Brazilian television stars taking part in the Globo Network series " Amazonia, de Galvez a Chico Mendes" (Amazonia, from Galvez to Chico Mendes).

In a newly published report, ‘Youth in Crisis’ In-Depth, IRIN traces the impact of the events shaping the lives of a generation of youth rapidly reaching adulthood bearing the tragic consequences of their nations’ worst problems - from the illegal forced marriage of teenage girls in Afghanistan and Ethiopia, to the tripling of school fees and the deteriorating education system in Zimbabwe.

A study by international anti-debt campaigners argues that some debts owed by developing countries should not be paid at all. The report says that the Group of Seven (G7) most industrialised nations – Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Italy, Britain and the United States – lent money to regimes they knew to be corrupt or repressive in order to buy political allegiance.

Of the one million people who become new mobile phone subscribers everyday, about 85% live in emerging markets, according to the mobile phone industry body, the GSMA. As the BBC reports, there is growing evidence that mobile phones are more than a fashion accessory and can transform the lives of the people who are able to access them.

Friends of Africa International in collaboration with International League for Human Rights and the Mission of Nigeria to the United Nations will hold a major panel discussion at the Mission of Nigeria on “Legislative Advocacy on the Elimination of Violence and Discrimination Against the Girl Child.” This will be a side event to the 51st Session of the Commission on the Status of Women.

With your experience of working on development programmes in developing countries, we hope you'll have seen Comic Relief funded projects in action. Now's your chance to play a lead role in developing, managing and evaluating one or more of our grants programmes and driving forward our international grant making strategy

The first International Conference on Sexual Abuse of the African Child will be held in Nairobi, Kenya from 24 – 26 September, 2007. The conference is opening a Call for Papers for workshops and poster presentations. The aim of the conference is to advance knowledge regarding the various types of sexual abuse and their complexity in the cultural settings of Africa. Papers that address innovative prevention, intervention, and treatment of this problem; networking or collaborative efforts, as well as, research studies on the topic, are being invited. For further information: [email][email protected]

The APC Chris Nicol FOSS Prize recognizes initiatives that are making it easy for people to start using free and open source software (FOSS). The prize is awarded to a person or group doing extraordinary work to make FOSS accessible to ordinary computer users. The deadline for prize nominations is March 30.

China's foray into Africa in search of much needed raw materials, natural resources and new markets for its booming economy has elicited controversy and disquiet amongst African political leaders and policy analysts. Granted that much of the expansion in trade between Africa and China has been in the latter's favour, China's domination of African markets is now being viewed in some circles as some form of " latter day economic imperalism" under which Africa serves as a source of raw materials and provides a market for Chinese end products. But now, South African firms are taking on the dragon in its own turf as this article published recently in the Washington Post shows.

INASP IS looking for a talented individual to contribute to the management INASP and to lead our support in local publication and information exchange activities. The successful candidate will work with partners worldwide to enable access to the research and knowledge produced in developing and transitional countries, ensuring that it reaches its target audiences in the most appropriate and effective way. A description of the position is attached and further information about our organisation and activities can be found at