"People who move into fundraising and commence the creation of resource mobilisation strategies come from many directions, and today the search is on for effective staff or volunteers to handle this all-important function. There is no pool of experienced fundraisers to draw on, no placement agencies specialising in this field and until recently no formal training programmes that would give the practical grounding in the knowledge, skills and techniques that are essential for professional development. Therefore, we need to examine the personal characteristics that are most likely to provide just the kind of fundraisers Non-profit organisations are seeking." - From the website of the Southern African Institute of Fundraising.

An old maxim in social movements (adapted from Schopenhauer's prickly take on the history of great ideas) states: “First they ignore you. Then they attack you. Then you win.” For years, campaigners for debt relief in the developing world and their international supporters were dismissed or derided. For 2005, however, a new question has emerged: Will they finally be able to claim victory? This article from Foreign Policy in Focus looks at how 100% debt cancellation for poor countries was transformed from an implausible demand into a winning issue, and what barriers lie ahead for the debt relief movement.

Zimbabwean security forces have detained a freelance journalist filming police as they cleared Harare's central business district of street vendors, according to a lawyer for the press freedom group MISA-Zimbabwe. The journalist, Frank Chikowore, was being held without charge. "It's outrageous that Zimbabwean authorities would lock up someone who was simply filming the activities of police in a public place," said Ann Cooper, executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists. "We demand the immediate and unconditional release of Frank Chikowore and an end to this kind of abuse."

"We are writing on behalf of the World Association of Newspapers and the World Editors Forum, which represent 18,000 publications in 100 countries, to express our serious concern at the sentencing of journalists Rolan Rasoamaharo and James Ramarosoana to one month in jail for defamation. According to reports, on 19 April Mr Rasoamaharo, director of La Gazette de la Grande Ile, and Mr Ramarosoana, author of the article, were sentenced to one month in prison after publishing an audit report on state-owned real estate company SEIMAD. Similar charges were brought but dropped against the director of the Madagascar Tribune. Mr Rasoamaharo and Mr Ramarosoana are to appeal their sentences."

CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation invites applications for the position of Fundraising Manager. The incumbent will be responsible for implementing a fundraising strategy to secure the resources needed for successful implementation of CIVICUS programmes. This position will involve extensive work in developing and writing grant proposals, based on CIVICUS' strategic and operating plans and current and new programming.

Mango’s training programme is being held in Cape Town, South Africa for the first time in August 2005 and will offer two of their most popular financial management training events:
FM1: Practical Financial Management for NGOs: Getting the Basics Right:
Monday 8 August to Friday 12 June 2005, GBP550
FM2: Strategic Financial Management for NGOs: Managing for Financial Sustainability:
Monday 15 August to Wednesday 17 August 2005, GBP400

A state of art Information Unit has been launched at Teso Women Peace Activists' (TEWPA) new office in Soroti town in Eastern Uganda by Isis-Women International Cross Cultural Exchange (Isis-WICCE), a non-governmental organisation that has been operating in Uganda since 1993. The new Soroti Information Unit is the fourth of the series of such units to be opened and supported by Isis-WICCE in the country with the aims of building skills and enabling the communicative mechanisms of women especially those in the rural areas.

A new 'child-friendly' court is making it easier for underaged plaintiffs in rape and abuse cases to deal with previously frightening legal proceedings. "Children need protection during the entire case, from the initial contact with doctors and police to the trial, where there is confrontation with the person the child is accusing. We have made an environment that is comfortable for children," said Superintendent Leckinah Magagula of the Royal Swaziland Police Department.

Lusaka High Court judge Christopher Mushabati has ordered the immediate trial of former President Frederick Chiluba and two others without delay. Judge Mushabati made the order when he dismissed a constitutional reference from Chiluba's lawyers Simeza Sangwa and Associates that had asked the High Court to determine whether they could be availed with the documents that the prosecution intends to use during trial in an effort to prepare their clients' defence.

Zimbabwe's High Court has dismissed a request to accredit journalists of the banned Daily News, according to news reports and Committee to Protect Journalist sources. The ruling came more than a year after the newspaper's owners, Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe (ANZ), filed the application. The judge said the newspaper's journalists could not be accredited until the newspaper had been granted registration by the government's Media and Information Commission (MIC). The MIC has thus far denied such registration.

In the first week of May, provincial government officials barred South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) television journalists and a camera crew from entering the Limpopo provincial legislature to report on the Lebowakgomo government's budget vote. They were allegedly thrown out after refusing to leave their cameras at the door. Two weeks earlier, Premier Sello Moloto's political adviser Jack Mokobi reportedly stormed into the SABC offices in Polokwane to complain about the "harsh" manner in which politicians were interviewed and to demand that Thobela FM's Willie Mosoma be removed from his post as current affairs presenter. Mokobi allegedly accused Mosoma of being biased against politicians from the ruling African National Congress (ANC).

A pioneering community radio station in Zimbabwe has been refused a licence by the country's broadcasting authority, but Bulawayo-based Radio Dialogue has vowed to continue its work. The station was established in Zimbabwe's second city in 2001 but, without a licence, Radio Dialogue has been unable to transmit its programming.

The course will endeavour to bring pertinent civil and political rights issues to the fore. It will be an opportunity for participants from the different backgrounds and countries of southern Africa to share information and experiences. At the same time study visits will be carried out and presentations and panel discussions by different regional and international experts will be conducted.

Kenyatta University will soon have all its eight open learning centres connected via the Internet. This will enable KU's lecturers to interact with students registered in various courses without necessarily travelling to the centres on a regular basis.

In a continent where at best 20% of the continent has access to electricity, new forms of technology that require this kind of power can seem largely irrelevant. Battery technology has not advanced as fast as other areas of technology. Then along comes a cheap, hand-held device from Freeplay (the people who made the self-winding radios) that can be used to charge a mobile. Not only is it useful for those areas where there's little coverage but it also offers Africa's many street vendors another stream of income. Read the full story at Balancing Act.

Visit http://www.survivorsrightsinternational.org/newsletters/SRI_May05_news… for the May edition of Survivors' Rights International, which examines the role of the Coltan trade in fueling the conflict in the DRC.

The Central Regional Director of the National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE), Mr Frank Adoba last Thursday urged the media to do more to eradicate corruption, by exposing corrupt public officials. He observed that corruption was widespread and shrouded in various forms, from misappropriation, misapplication and embezzlement of funds.

The International Freedom of Expression eXchange (IFEX), in partnership with the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (HRInfo), is pleased to announce the launch of the Arabic version of the "IFEX Communiqué" newsletter. Starting this week, the weekly newsletter will be published in Arabic covering free expression news and events worldwide.

To commemorate World Press Freedom Day, the Gambia Press Union (GPU) on May 3rd, 2005 launched a "Deyda Hydara Foundation for Freedom of Expression" in memory of Gambian journalist Deyda Hydara who was shot dead by unidentified gunmen on December 16, 2004. According to Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) - Conakry source, the newly elected GPU President, Madi Ceesay explained that the Foundation's main objectives would be to support freedom of expression and media rights in the Gambia and ensure the protection of the lives and properties of journalists who are threatened because of their views.

On 24 April 2005, Interior Minister Kiridi Bangoura ordered the temporary seizure of issue 2311 of the weekly magazine "JA L'Intelligent", which carried a story and commentary on the health of the president, General Lansana Conte. According to Media Foundation for West Africa-Conakry sources, the magazine's 24 to 30 April edition carried a front page article entitled, "Guinea: the End", and a commentary entitled, "Eaten up with sickness, President Conte still hangs on to power and the country is dying". The magazine was only allowed to reappear on newsstands on 27 April, when the temporary ban was lifted.