Tens of thousands of uprooted people have welcomed plans for the creation of a UN-mandated multi-dimensional mission to protect civilians and facilitate humanitarian aid in volatile parts of Chad and Central African Republic. But many fear it will come too late to prevent more attacks on refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs).

Dissident Congolese general Laurent Nkunda has called for a fresh ceasefire, claiming that the army's artillery fire in North Kivu province was hitting civilians. Government forces have retaken several villages from troops loyal to Nkunda, according to the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), MONUC.

In Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, first published in 1899 and years later subject to a polemical but much-needed critique by one of Africa’s most prolific writers, King Leopold’s colonial project in the Congo is described as “the vilest scramble for loot that ever disfigured the history of human conscience.” More than a century later, writes Zahra Moloo, after a protracted war in which an estimated 4.2 million citizens perished and the nation’s stability was invested in the UN’s largest peacekeeping force to date, Conrad’s oft-repeated phrase is, tragically, just as pertinent.

The United Nations refugee agency today announced the end of an organized repatriation programme which over the past three years has brought nearly 5,000 Congolese refugees home from the Central African Republic (CAR). The last convoy traveled to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) this weekend carrying just over 130 returnees leaving the CAR capital Bangui. In total, 4,994 Congolese refugees have returned home from CAR.

Voicing his concern at escalating tensions between Ethiopia and Eritrea, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called on the two East African neighbours to show maximum restraint and abide by the accords that ended their border war seven years ago. Of particular concern are “recent shooting incidents, as well as the building up of military forces in the border area,” according to a statement issued by Mr. Ban’s spokesperson.

At a time when the world is largely embroiled in conflicts, triggering human catastrophes of alarming proportions, a myriad of lights-of-hope are flickering in various corners of the planet in search for peace and stability. One such light is currently flickering in Harare through a child-oriented project titled “Peace In Our Communities”, 22 September to 14 October 2007, at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe.

We are pleased to announce a Call for Abstracts for the Reproductive Health in Emergencies Conference 2008 being organised by the RAISE Initiative in collaboration with the RHRC Consortium. The Conference is being held on 18-20 June 2008. Reproductive Health (RH) in Emergencies Conference 2008 will bring together a wide range of actors from the fields of RH in emergencies, reproductive health, humanitarian assistance and development to contribute to the expansion of comprehensive RH services in crisis settings. Abstracts are now being accepted. The due date for submission is January 31, 2008.

Amnesty International and ACAT -- Burundi (Action des Chrétiens pour l’Abolition de la Torture) have called on the Burundian government to take immediate action to protect women and girls from rape and other sexual violence in Burundi. Despite the fact that the rape of women and girls is widespread throughout the country, the Burundian authorities have systematically failed to take concrete steps to prevent, investigate and punish these crimes. As a result, perpetrators regularly escape prosecution and punishment by the state and victims are left without protection.

SaferAfrica is proud to partner with the International Quality and Productivity Centre (IQPC) on the presentation of the Practical Solutions To Small Arms Control In Africa 2007 Conference. It will take place from 14 to 16 November 2007 at the Holiday Inn, Pretoria, South Africa. The theme of the conference is how to practically tackle the scourge of small arms and light weapons in Africa.

Since 3rd October 2007, the government of Sudan, supported by the Janjaweed militiamen, are conducting massive military operations in Darfur. Deployment of large numbers of government troops was observed all over Darfur. Heavy military equipment and aerial bombardments were used against civilian targets in Haskanita and Muhajariya localities, South Darfur State.

Two former leaders of Sierra Leone’s Civil Defence Forces (CDF) militia have received prison sentences following their convictions in August for war crimes committed during the country’s decade-long civil conflict. Justice Itoe said that while both Prosecution and Defence had recommended single, “global” sentences, the Court had decided to hand down separate sentences on each count for which the two accused had been found guilty.

Conflicts in Africa since the end of the Cold War have cost the continent $306-billion, equivalent to all the foreign aid it has received over the same period, according to a report released by The research released on Thursday by Oxfam, Saferworld and the International Action Network on Small Arms, estimates that conflict shrinks economies by 15% on average. The study, Africa's Missing Billions, says that almost half of the countries on the continent have been involved in some form of conflict since 1990.

The primary purpose of these guidelines is to enable communities, governments and humanitarian organizations, including UN agencies, NGOs, and CBOs, to establish and coordinate a set of minimum multi-sectoral interventions to prevent and respond to sexual violence during the early phase of an emergency Twenty-five action sheets have been developed in 10 functional/sectoral areas.

SaferAfrica is proud to partner with the International Quality and Productivity Centre (IQPC) on the presentation of the Practical Solutions To Small Arms Control In Africa 2007 Conference. It will take place from 14 to 16 November 2007 at the Holiday Inn, Pretoria, South Africa. The theme of the conference is how to practically tackle the scourge of small arms and light weapons in Africa.

At least 43,000 refugees returned to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) between January and October, with another 310,000 still in neighbouring countries, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Most of the returnees went to the provinces of South Kivu in the east, Equateur in the northeast and Katanga in the south, UNHCR stated in a report detailing figures of returns to and from the DRC.

The 29 September attack on an African peacekeeping base in Darfur has raised fresh questions about the planned transformation of the AU Mission in Sudan (AMIS) into a hybrid AU-UN force that includes personnel from non-African countries. Ten AU peacekeepers were killed in Haskanita, North Darfur, and 50 others are still missing.

Rescue teams working to save 3 200 miners trapped deep underground in a South African gold mine brought 1 700 to the surface on Thursday morning, mine and union officials said. Harmony said the rescue operation was going smoothly and that a secondary lift was bringing up batches of miners stranded underground when the electricity cable of the main lift was cut in an accident.

Australia has slashed the number of African refugees admitted into the country partly because many have problems settling into the community, the government said on Tuesday. Over the past two years the intake of Africans has been cut from 70 percent of the total of 13 000 refugees to just 30 percent, Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews told reporters.

Rwanda has joined other countries in appealing for a global moratorium on executions, saying that if its government could abolish the death penalty while perpetrators of the 1994 genocide still await sentences, no country should use it. Diplomats and human right organisations met at the United Nations to push for a global moratorium on executions with the goal of ending the death penalty altogether.

Sudan's president has promised to pay $300-million in compensation to the country's war-torn Darfur region, tripling a previous pledge, former United States president Jimmy Carter said on Wednesday. Carter spoke during a tour of Darfur which was marred by a heated exchange between the former president and Sudanese security who prevented him visiting a Darfur tribal leader.