An initiative by the child welfare NGO, Save The Children, is managing to overcome the timidity of urban dwellers in Swaziland about "getting involved" in neighbours' domestic disputes. "Looking the other way, and turning a deaf ear to screams and cries for help next door have led to tragedies. We are giving people a way to get involved while allowing them to remain anonymous," said Elizabeth Kgalolo, programme director at Save the Children.

The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) is looking for a Deputy Director to be based at the Headquarters in New Delhi, India. CHRI is an independent, non-partisan, international non-governmental organisation working for the practical realization of human rights in the countries of the Commonwealth. CHRI is an advocacy organisation, focusing on systemic human rights issues related to Access to Information and Access to Justice.

“We call upon civil society organizations and social movements from around the world to join with us in showing their strong, united and unequivocal opposition to the completion of the World Trade Organization’s trade ‘round’, and other bilateral and regional Free Trade Agreements being forced on people by governments. We are committed to campaigning together to stop these negotiations, which ignore the needs of developing countries, the peoples of the world and the environment, and promote corporate globalization. We agree to mobilize, nationally and internationally, in late April, mid May and late July, to ensure our voices are heard as governments meet for the WTO’s scheduled General Council meetings.”

The World Conservation Union’s (ICUN) recently released 2006 Red List of Threatened Species reveals ongoing decline of the status of plants and animals. The number of known threatened species increased to 16,119, while the ranks of those facing extinction are joined by familiar species like the polar bear, hippopotamus and desert gazelles as well as ocean sharks, freshwater fish and Mediterranean flowers. However, the report also notes that positive action has helped the white-tailed eagle and offered a glimmer of hope to Indian vultures.

As Russia assumed the Presidency of the G8, New Era's Max Hamata approached the Russian Ambassador, Nikolay Gribkov on the essence of Russia's G-8 Presidency to Africa and the Southern African Development Community (SADC). He spoke on the need for African permanent representation on the United Nations Security Council and Russia's role in the stabilization of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and how Russia's G-8 Presidency will affect relations with SADC.

The informal sector (IS) plays a significant role in developing countries, through the provision of employment, income and supplying neglected markets. However, working conditions and income levels in the IS remain low and thus create a poverty trap. Various approaches have been adopted by stakeholders in order to overcome the obstacles to formalisation and this paper aims to assess these approaches.

Racial hatred and violence is growing in Russia, analysts say. “Ethnic hatred, xenophobia and violence are on the rise in Russia - so is the activity of skinheads towards non-Russians, those who do not look Slavic. Most sociological surveys confirm that,” Galina Kozhevnikova, deputy head of the Moscow-based Sova think tank, said from the Russian capital on Monday. According to Kozhevnikova, skinheads beat up 124 people who came from 23 different countries in 2005.

YouthNet, a program of Family Health International (FHI), has announced Youth InfoNet No. 24. This issue of the electronic newsletter features 15 recent program resources focusing on youth reproductive health and HIV prevention.

Deep links exist between NGOs and trade unions. Many NGOs were established by unions and the two groups still work together in powerful coalitions and joint campaigns. But while the NGO sector has expanded rapidly in recent decades, the union movement has declined. The diversity between NGOs makes the movement impossible to pigeon hole, except that "it represents civil society's most visible response to globalization." The author states that unions must draw from NGOs' example and become the new civil society alternative.

‘Global Action Week' saw international attention turn towards the global education crisis. 18 million more teachers are needed if every child is to receive a quality education. 100 million children are still being denied the opportunity of going to school. Millions more are sitting in over-crowded classrooms for only a few hours a day. Without urgent action these children will remain in poverty and at far greater risk of HIV infection. The Campaign for Education reports on actions taken across Africa to promote education.

Podcasters share similar concerns to bloggers in relation to defamation, privacy, reporter's privilege, media access, election and labor laws and adult materials. This guide has been developed to help podcasters steer through this minefield.

It may be simpler to fight and even end extreme poverty over the next decade than is commonly understood by powerful global policymakers like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Take the accomplishments of the "Millennium Villages", an initiative of the UN Millennium Project, which over the last five years has demonstrated how relatively small amounts of money spent on health, education, fertiliser and other essential services can dramatically accelerate progress towards the faltering Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

This document is a guideline for replicating the Village Phone programme in a new country. It draws on experience in both Bangladesh and Uganda and establishes a template for creating sustainable initiatives that simultaneously bring telecommunications to the rural poor, create viable new businesses for microentrepreneurs, and expand the customer base of telecommunications companies.

Sphere is a blog search tool that helps you find high-quality, relevant, and timely blog posts that match what you're looking for.

Southscan predicts that Russia, as chair of the G8 this year, will not continue the Africa emphasis of G8 meetings since 2002 at Kananaskis in Canada. Russia is not much into the aid and investment activities that interest the West (and China). Russia has interest in exporting arms, and will consider arms for oil on the model it established with Angola.

The newly inaugurated Antonio Pizzigati Prize for Software in the Public Interest offers a $10,000 award to a software developer who has made, in the spirit of open source computing, an outstanding contribution to the nonprofit world and the ongoing work of social change. The Tides Foundation, the host of the prize process, will name the first annual Pizzigati Prize winner on June 19, 2006.

NGOs can nominate one person to represent them at the civil society meetings. The application form is due on May 5 and can only be submitted online.

The Vatican is quietly debating relaxing its ban on condoms as a way to help stem the spread of HIV/AIDS, The New York Times reports. But the church still is only considering condoning condoms in those narrow circumstances when one partner in a Catholic marriage is HIV positive or sick with AIDS.

“Much as these aid gestures look great, I am strongly against them, given the overall impact of aid on the continent. One question that both the receiving government and the donors need to answer is – has aid really helped Africa? Quite frankly, I don’t think it has. In terms of impact, it is my conviction that there is no difference between aid and AIDS in Africa. Both have over the years proved to be very destructive to the continent’s development.” – Commentary on

This publication brings together the outputs of a recent ODI meeting series which facilitated interdisciplinary debate about the conceptual and practical issues involved in using human rights to improve development outcomes.