The biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meet is a major target for CHRI’s advocacy. CHRI will be distributing hard copies of its report during the proceedings of the human rights assembly organised by the Commonwealth Foundation and Commonwealth Human rights Initiative. The report titled ‘Silencing the Defenders: Human Rights Defenders in the Commonwealth’ looks into an issue of human rights concern in the Commonwealth, which includes recommendations to further protect and promote human rights.

Somali nationals claiming asylum in India form a small but significant community of refugees who are seeking asylum in a region far from their roots. But the Government of India does not recognize Somali refugees, who are part of the approximately 11,257 refugees (also including Burmese, Iranians, Iraqis, Palestinians and Sudanese, among others) who can only rely on the ‘protection’ of the Indian office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

The Municipal Service Project (MSP) systematically explores alternatives to the privatization and commercialization of service provision in the health, water, sanitation and electricity sectors. We evaluate service delivery models deemed to be successful alternatives to commercialization in an effort to understand the conditions required for their sustainability and reproducibility.Our focus is on the water, electricity and primary health care sectors in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

On the heels of a federal appeals court ruling that only the U.S. Congress and the executive branch of government - not the courts - can interfere with government-sponsored "extraordinary rendition", a U.S. citizen from New Jersey is asking another court to tell the government it wasn't okay to secretly imprison and abuse him in three different African countries over a period of four months.

This week's emerging powers news roundup focuses on the the FOCAC Sharm El Sheikh meeting, reports by the World Bank and OECD on Africa's infrastructural needs, the African land grab by rich nations, and growing Chinese investment on the continent.

On the 8 October, seven prominent Sahrawi human rights advocates were arrested at Mohamed V airport in Casablanca, Morocco. They were driven away by Moroccan security forces immediately after disembarking from a flight returning from Algeria where they had been visiting the Sahrawi refugee camps between 26 September and 8 October.

It is the ninth time the Global Fund Board approved new proposals to support programs fighting the three diseases. The total two-year value of the programs recommended for funding was US$2.4 billion; the second largest ever approved by the Global Fund, following a US$2.75 billion round in 2008. The Global Fund has now approved a total funding of US$18.4 billion for 144 countries since it was created in 2002.

On November 5, 2009, Christian Aid partners OMUNGA and SOS Habitat were awarded the Civil Society Human Rights National Award, organized by the Human Rights Coordination Committee and Open Society Foundation –Angola. The award was implemented for the first time this year and is granted to organisations and individuals that have contributed to the defence, respect, protection and guarantee of human rights in Angola. This is a fantastic recognition of our partner’s human rights work in the country.

The Chinese government defended its decision not to block a UN Security Council resolution in 2005 referring the situation in Darfur to the International Criminal Court (ICC).Beijing, despite being a strong ally of Khartoum, abstained from voting on the resolution outraging Sudanese officials who accused China of failing to “protect its friends”.

With cheap labour, investment incentives and unrestricted exports, one Chinese textile group has turned to Egypt as an ideal location to produce its ready-made garments, beating stiff competition at home. The Chinese-owned Nile Textile Group has set up shop in the Port Said free zone, overlooking the north entrance of the Suez Canal, and developed an industrial estate now hiring 600 workers, 20 percent of which are Chinese and the rest Egyptian.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao delivered a speech entitled "Building the New Type of China-Africa Strategic Partnership" at the opening ceremony of the 4th Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on November 6, 2009. The following is the full text of the speech.

Media professionals in South Africa say a possible new bill is in reality a form of censorship, obstructing journalists from doing their jobs, reports the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA). Meanwhile, the Freedom of Expression Institute (FXI) is concerned about another bill already signed into law that has introduced a system of pre-publication censorship.

Despite strong efforts by the toppled democratic government of Mauritania, slavery has yet to be rooted out in the country, a UN report documents. Under the new government, little progress is made to fight slavery.

As a key United Nations meeting approaches involving 141 countries, governments are deadlocked about meaningful monitoring of their compliance with the United Nations Anti-Corruption Convention. The meeting will be held in Doha, Qatar on 9-13 November. Decisions made or avoided there could mark a turning point – for better or worse – in global efforts to curb corruption and its destructive impact on millions of people.

The International Lutheran Council (ILC) a world wide association of Lutheran churches has unanimously adopted a statement against homosexuality at the recent international gathering held in Seoul, Japan 26-31 August. Themed “In Christ: Living Life to the full” and held in Seoul, Japan, 26-31 August, the conference was organised with the aim to confront the homosexual debate which according to the council has divided and brought bewilderment within various congregations including the Lutheran Church.

On October 30, the internet opened a new chapter in its long march towards internationalization. It entered a new era of multilingual globalization. Up to now, web addresses could only be displayed using Latin characters. This increasingly makes little sense as more than half of the world's 1.6 billion internet users employ non-Latin scripts including Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Korean, and Russian.

In this week's emerging powers news roundup, Chinese investment outstrips the ability of state-run banks to provide low-interest finance, Africa leads the way on climate change, and China faces allegations of hoarding rare earths and precious metals.

While in the 1980s, the IMF and the World Bank appeared to be the only major source of funding for African development, Chinese and Indian interest in the continent’s more recently discovered mineral and oil resources have opened up alternative offers of investment. In this week’s Pambazuka News, Renu Modi and Seema consider the benefits new players China and India bring to Africa.

The spotlight will fall on Sharm El’ Shaik, Egypt in November 2009 as the next chapter in Sino-African relations is forged at the occasion of the fourth Forum for China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC). It will see representatives from African and Chinese governments converge at an ominous time as the world continues to grapple with a financial crisis. Hayley Herman previews the key issues under discussion.

China is leading the pack in the 21st century ’scramble for Africa’ but anybody who thinks Beijing has the continent sewn up need only glance at the passport of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, writes Ed Cropley.