The head of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has made an impassioned appeal to the world to save an estimated 390,000 starving children in famine-ravaged regions of Somalia, saying the international community must not let the so-called 'disaster fatigue' numb compassion and generosity. Anthony Lake, the UNICEF Executive Director, said at a news conference at UN Headquarters to mark World Humanitarian Day: 'The statistics can be mind-numbing, but remember that the data is sons and daughters. The statistics are little boys and little girls, every one of them.' In addition to the tens of thousands of Somalis who have already died as a result of the drought-induced famine, which has been exacerbated by conflict and poverty, an estimated 390,000 children are suffering from malnutrition. Four fifths of them are in the worst affected areas of the country’s south-central zone.

Gus John urges UK Prime Minister David Cameron to ‘lead’ one nation and not demonise and expose the African heritage community to racists and fascists in the wake of the recent violent civil unrest.

'If a government based on devolution and the dispersal of power is to be given a chance, the IMF’s role in political horse-trading in Kenya should be curtailed,' argues Charles Abugre.

The illicit extraction, concealment and channelling of capital from poor countries abroad destroys societies and must be curtailed. So how do we do this, asks Charles Abugre in the final article in a four-part series on the flow of ‘dirty money’.

How do multinationals and unethical companies conceal and move capital abroad? Mostly through manipulating import and export prices, writes Charles Abugre in Part 3 of a four-part series on the flow of ‘dirty money’.

In their highly misguided and at times absurd responses to the UK’s recent rioting, we may well ask if Britain’s elites ‘are living in a time warp’, writes Lara Pawson.

The attack on civil society across Africa ‘is now increasingly becoming bolder, broader and more dangerous. And it is going beyond governments to include regional bodies such as SADC,’ warns Paul Okumu, in a call for all CSOs both in the North and South to ‘strengthen and support the solidarity effort as a matter of urgency’.

Despite accompanying debates about supposed non-white mediocrity, resistance to affirmative action is not about maintaining standards but rather about maintaining ‘white mediocrity’, argues Lewis R. Gordon.

Young working class Britons' failure to act collectively will inadvertently punish them, since this renders them unable to articulate their concerns publicly and fight against the root causes of their dispossession, argues Nimi Hoffmann. They should look to the global South, which offers lessons in how to build sustained, focused collective action.

The media’s response to Norway’s recent terrorist atrocity have revealed anti-immigrant, racist and xenophobic attitudes among ‘conservative sections the world over’, writes Norah Owaraga.

A recent report on the pollution of Ogoniland prepared by United Nations Environment Programme marks ‘the first official confirmation’ that there is ‘a major tragedy on our hands’, writes Nnimmo Bassey.

Is the UK making ‘the same blunder’ in Algeria that France did in Tunisia, asks Lakhdar Ghettas. The British government should strengthen its relationship with the Algerian people, rather than doing business with a regime engaged in ‘fake reform measures’, Ghettas argues.

One of ‘the most important aspects of Frantz Fanon’s legacy for the youth of South Africa is to take seriously his call for real engagement, at the point where thought meets action’, observe Chantelle Malan and Danielle Bowler, following a Rhodes University colloquium to mark the 50th anniversary of Fanon’s death.

In this article from MRZine Hassane Zerrouky interviews Egyptian scholar and researcher Samir Amin. The way Amin sees it, nothing will be the same as before in the Arab world: protest movements will challenge both the internal social order of Arab countries and their places in the regional and global political chessboard.

As several African governments examine the possibility of setting up their own 'offshore' financial centres, the trade name for tax havens, campaigners are calling for transparency and fair tax regimes. 'We need pan-African action,' says Alvin Mosioma, coordinator of the Tax Justice Network Africa, an organisation that advocates fair tax regimes to promote economic and social development. 'The African Union has established a special panel on illicit financial flows, in which Thabo Mbeki participates, and the African Tax Administrators Forum meeting held in 2008 was also a promising start, but Africans have been too silent too long on the issue of financial transparency.'

Eritrea and Rwanda are among Africa’s smallest and poorest states, states this Africa Research Institute briefing. 'Substantial military resources, and expertise, have enabled both countries to exert disproportionate influence over regional security. Aggression and authoritarianism have not prompted matching responses from donor nations. While President Paul Kagame’s leadership of Rwanda has been championed as “visionary”, President Isaias Afwerki is accused of transforming Eritrea into a rogue, pariah state.' The document argues that popular perceptions of these comparable, though seldom compared, countries have been simplistic – and polarised.

Ugandan police have fired tear gas and water cannon filled with a pink dye to break up an opposition vigil near the capital, Kampala. Several hundred opposition supporters gathered for a 'light a candle' ceremony to mourn at least nine people killed during protests in April. Police said the meeting was illegal and could cause violence. The opposition has vowed to step up protests against President Yoweri Museveni's government.

General Solomon Mujuru, a former Zimbabwean military chief and guerrilla leader in the country's independence war, has died in a fire at one of his homes, Zimbabwe's army commander said. The cause of the fire was unclear, but police said Mujuru's body was 'burned beyond recognition'. His widow, Joice Mujuru, is the country's vice president. Her supporters are vying for supremacy within their party should Mugabe die or retire.

The price of maize in the Horn of Africa has doubled over the last year, the World Bank has said. In Kenya, it has increased by 89 per cent, according to the bank’s Food Price Watch report. This is the fourth highest increase in the price of maize in the world behind Uganda (122 per cent), Somalia (107 per cent) and Rwanda (104 per cent). Overall, the Food Price Watch says global food prices in July 2011 remain 33 per cent higher than a year ago.

This Unicef paper reports on a study to provide insights into the magnitude of the shocks associated with the crisis in macroeconomic terms in South Africa, the country’s capacity to withstand or cushion these shocks, and the extent of fragility in terms of poverty levels and child well-being.