The second World Forum on Human Rights will be held in the Nantes Métropole International Convention Centre from July 10th to 13th, 2006 (2006 will be marked by the 40th anniversary of the adoption of the International Covenants on Civil and Political Rights, and Economic, Social and Cultural Rights by the General Assembly of the United Nations). As in 2004, topical issues relating to Human Rights will be debated by policy makers (representatives of States, towns and local governments, members of parliaments) from all over the world, members of international organisations, of academia and representatives of civil society.

There is much I agree with in the paper on China. However, what is lacking is a balanced view of who created the conditions that make Africa ripe for exploitation, not just by the Chinese, but by any other country with money, skills and entrepeneurship to stake a claim.

The erosion of productive capacity in Africa, the devastating impact of subsidies on African agriculture, the opportunistic use of conditionalities by IMF, WB and Western governments all have contributed to the systemic decay in Africa.

Without undermining the necessity for Africans and African Civil Society to insist on equity, justice and the right to benefit from national wealth and opportunities, the analysis of China must also take into account their ability and willingness to take risks in the continent and harness some of the latent productive capacity.

Conditions that are exploited by China such as lax labour, environmental and developmental laws have been actively created by the Northern countries who insisted on these conditionalities and proceeded to not invest, not to provide meaningful aid, etc. It was the North that insisted that South Africa reduce its textiles tariffs (well before the expiration of the MFA), yet Chinese imports get the blame. What role does a country like South Africa play in this? If you live in a National Game Park and are forced by external forces to remove the fence around your house, do you then blame the lion for attacking your family?

The Associated Press has examined US HIV/AIDS funding in Uganda and the view of some advocates and officials that the country's emphasis on prevention has shifted from condom use to fidelity and abstinence. While US officials acknowledge condoms "are a key weapon" to contain the HIV/AIDS pandemic, they believe "prevention information is more effective when targeted at the appropriate audience," the Associated Press reports.

iLoveLanguages presents an impressive array of language resources, from the obscure to the commonplace. iLoveLanguages purpose is to list, categorize, and promote Internet resources related to language learning, education, and use. Aside from the obvious online dictionaries, grammar references, and culture sites, iLoveLanguages contains links to language schools, translations services, and software as well.

Even before the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol's first period can begin, a dialogue has been launched on limiting climate change after the current agreement ends in six years. And it is not too early. Questions enough have been raised about the Kyoto deal to question its continuation in its present form after the first implementation period 2008-2012. The Protocol, signed in Kyoto, Japan in December 1997, is an agreement by industrialised countries to reduce emissions of so-called greenhouse gases by at least 5.2 percent from 1990 levels over the first implementation period.

The making of a plan and sticking to it is the key to eradicating slums worldwide, the United Nations said Wednesday. "We must incorporate the culture of planning in our towns and cities," said Anna Tibaijuka, executive director of UN-HABITAT, during a keynote speech at a one-day seminar on the Urbanization Crisis in Tanzania in Moshi, a town near Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. Many urban centers have taken passive attitudes when it comes to planning but Tibaijuka insists slum-free urbanization can be a reality but only if the master plans are managed well, reports United Press International.

Southern African nations are to increase their scientific collaboration with Japan through an organisation called the Southern Africa Science and Technology Community (SASTeC), which launched last month (31 January). The group is made up of staff at the embassies in Japan of member nations of the Southern Africa Development Community, reports SciDev.

The European Commission (EC) is providing 20 million euros (US$24 million) to allow scientists in developing countries to join existing European projects. The EC announced the 'top-up' funds last month (15 February). It is intended to address poor participation by 'third countries' in projects funded by the EU's Sixth Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development. Eligible nations include those in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Mediterranean and island states in the Caribbean and Pacific.

DOTank is a Dutch network for improving public sector performance. It recently started a project to work with regional governments on models for a covenant society with the aim to go beyond governance towards learning to name the highest aspirations without trying to solve every issue through traditional instruments such as regulations and the markets. DOTank is in particular focusing on the issue of integration of minorities and the drop out rate of young people. A network of people and communities, DOTank provides an opportunity to share experiences in the field of systems innovation and organisational learning.

Foreign Direct Investment inflows and outflows of poor countries are unequally concentrated in a few geographical areas. With Africa hardly participating in FDI flows and Latin America recovering from its economic crises, Asia receives and provides the biggest stake of FDI flows among poor countries.

The Economics Education and Research Consortium (EERC) is now accepting applications for the Spring 2006 round of the economics research grant competition. Grants will be awarded for policy-relevant economics research projects in five priority areas.

From oil fields in Sudan to farms in Zimbabwe, China’s presence in Africa can be seen and felt everywhere. In recent times, writes Stephen Marks, China’s relationship with Africa has shifted from Cold War ideology to a more classical pursuit of economic self-interest. But its not all negative – as the global economic giant bulges, opportunities also arise for Africa.

Small-scale poultry farming and wild birds are being unfairly blamed for the bird flu crisis now affecting large parts of the world. A new report from GRAIN shows how the transnational poultry industry is the root of the problem and must be the focus of efforts to control the virus.

The past year has shown increasing recognition by funding bodies that higher education has an important role to play in fulfilling the international development agenda. Examples of these new initiatives and funding schemes will be covered at this one-day conference put on by the Association of Commonwealth Universities and the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission in the UK, which aims to provide a concise, yet comprehensive, briefing of current opportunities. Bringing together funding bodies, UK universities, potential overseas partners and academics, there will be an emphasis on creating collaboration with developing country institutions. 24 March 2006, London, UK Application Deadline: 15 March 2006. For further information on registering for this event, contact [email protected].

Google launched on Thursday a service that lets people create their own Web pages hosted by the Internet giant. Google Page Creator, which is in beta, has sample layouts and lets people type in content, upload images and publish their pages, without knowing HTML. People can create multiple linked pages and are allowed 100MB of storage on the service.

One hundred and fifteen million primary school-age children are out of school according to a joint UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS)/ UNICEF global estimate. This number equals 18% - or almost one in five - of the children worldwide in this age group. And many of the children who are in school may never complete their primary education or finish it without attaining even basic literacy skills.

Last year, the Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP) established four key policy demands: debt cancellation, trade justice, a major increase in the quantity and quality of aid and national accountability - focusing mainly on accountability of national governments with regard to realising the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs). In this context, several civil society coalitions have produced MDG shadow reports alongside those of National Governments which were prepared for the United Nations World Summit in September 2005. The civil society reports, which were produced in an exemplary consultative manner, have observed amongst others things that many National MDG Reports had failed to consult with civil society organisations which deal directly with communities.

Plans by the Kenya government to engage private-sector lawyers to prosecute cases arising from the Goldenberg and Anglo Leasing financial scandals have turned the spotlight on the Attorney-General's procurement procedures, after it turned out six lawyers were paid Ksh72 million ($1 million) to handle a five-day case arising from the constitutional review crisis. The advance payment of Ksh72 million by the Office of the Attorney General last year to a group of six private lawyers has sparked a controversy within the legal fraternity, with questions raised about the manner in which the lucrative contract was shared out and how it was procured.

Kenya has signed an agreement with the Venezuela government to enhance bilateral co-operation between the two countries. The bilateral agreement would also include technical assistance in oil exploration. The deal could also allow Kenya to buy crude oil at lower prices from the South American country, the world’s fifth largest oil exporter. Foreign Affairs minister, Rafael Tuju and Venezuela’s Deputy minister for Foreign Affairs for Africa, Reinaldo Bolivar, signed the agreement in Nairobi.

Amnesty International has called on all governments to adopt without delay the draft resolution on the Human Rights Council presented today (February 23) by the President of the General Assembly as the first concrete step in meeting the 2005 World Summit’s commitment to strengthen the United Nations' Human Rights machinery. "This is an historic opportunity that governments must not squander for selfish political interests. It is time for those that have imposed so many tawdry compromises to allow the General Assembly to establish the Human Rights Council", said Yvonne Terlingen. "Still, this is only a first step. Governments must now show the political will to make the Council an effective human rights body," said Yvonne Terlingen, Amnesty International's UN representative.