A three-day United Nations Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) Task Force meeting ended in the city of New York recently with over 300 participants, including Internet Society (ISOC), calling for more active involvement of developing countries. The meeting was in response to the request of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Action Plan given last December in Geneva, which requested the UN Secretary General to set up a Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG).

An international consortium is set to launch the East and Southern Africa Centre for International Information and Communications Technology in Kampala, which will work to increase the capacity of the region to participate in international ICT policy-making. Officials of the consortium say there is widespread recognition of the role that ICT can play in poverty alleviation and socio-economic reform.

Kiswahili speakers can now spellcheck documents in their own language. A group of developers taking part in the Africa Source joined forces - and resources - to develop the first-ever Kiswahili dictionary. The project, led by Jason Githeko of Kenya and Translate.org.za's Dwayne Bailey produced the new dictionary in one of the training sessions during the conference.

Internet Voice, also known as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), is a technology that allows you to make telephone calls using a broadband Internet connection instead of a regular (or analog) phone line. Some services using VoIP may only allow you to call other people using the same service, but others may allow you to call anyone who has a telephone number - including local, long distance, mobile, and international numbers. This page contains all the information you need to know about VoIP.

This on-line tutorial has been compiled to provide individuals and community organisations concerned about race relations with the resources and tools to make their concerns known to a wider public. Each of the user-friendly sections below provides information ranging from how to analyse media representations to how to access the print media.

The official version of the Rwandan genocide is largely a fairytale, argues commentator George Monbiot in this article from The Guardian UK. Monbiot argues that the recent commemorations of the genocide masked the resource-plunder of the DRC by the Rwandan government. "The prosperity which has helped to secure peace in Rwanda derives in large part from the plunder which has helped to sustain war in the DRC," he writes.

Reporters sans frontières (RSF) has called for the immediate release of Islam Salih, the Qatar-based television news network Al-Jazeera's Khartoum bureau chief. On 10 April 2004, Salih was convicted of "disseminating false news" and sentenced to one month in prison and a one million Sudanese pound (approx.US$3,800; 3,200 euros at the official rate) fine. He faces another month in prison if he does not pay the fine. The organisation also urged the Sudanese authorities to lift their news blackout on the tragic situation in the Darfur region, which is the underlying reason for Salih's arrest and imprisonment.

A Tunis court has sentenced eight Internet users from the southern city of Zarzis to up to 26 years in prison. The convicted Internet users were accused of promoting terrorist attacks on the sole basis of files they downloaded from the Internet. Reporters sans frontières (RSF) has voiced shock and outrage over the sentences and called for the Internet users' release when their appeal is heard. "The trial of these young people demonstrates the Tunisian judicial system's outrageous contempt for the rights of the defence. Simply consulting Internet sites cannot be considered evidence of a terrorist plot. The Tunisian regime is trying to terrorise Internet users and silence dissent," the organisation said.

Winrock International (WI), a nonprofit organization that works with people around the world to increase economic opportunity, sustain natural resources, and protect the environment, is seeking proposals for its Urgent Action Contracts (UACs) from organizations working at the community level for innovative projects that provide access to quality education for children in areas of high and exploitative child labor. Projects will be funded for amounts of $1,000 - $3,000 for a short-term lasting from one month to three months in developing countries. There is no deadline for submission since Winrock will review the proposals on a rolling basis.

According to reports, on 2 April a federal court in Addis Ababa jailed Mr Merid Estifanos, former editor-in-chief of the private, Amharic-language weekly Satanaw, after he was unable to pay bail in a criminal defamation case. The defamation charge stemmed from a September 2001 opinion piece entitled "The Hidden Agenda of Prime Minister Meles", which accused Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi of supporting the government of Eritrea and alleging that Eritrea had defeated Ethiopia during the two-year border war ending in 2000.

According to reports, on 30 March the Luanda Provincial Tribunal sentenced Felisberto de Graça Campos, director and editor of the weekly magazine Semanario Angolense, to 45 days in prison or a fine of US$1,200 for a series of articles published in 2003 that detailed the fortunes of the 59 richest Angolans, including prominent government officials. Mr Campos's sentence follows defamation charges filed against him by the defence minister, General Kundy Payama, who was included in the list of reputed millionaires. The list included politicians, economists, senior military officials, ministers and members of parliament.

On 31 March 2004, Gaston Bony, publication director of the weekly "Le Venin" ("Venom"), was sentenced to six months in prison with no parole and jailed at the Agboville prison, in a suburb of Abidjan. Bony's imprisonment came despite assurances by the authorities, including President Laurent Gbagbo, that no journalist in the country would ever be jailed again.

The Zambian governments’ reluctance to pass the Freedom of Information (FOI) law is a sign that it is not committed to the concept of being probed by the public, says the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) in a statement. MISA Zambia says the government may not reap the full benefits made under the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative if it does not enact the FOI bill.

The Science and Developments Network (SciDev.Net)'s latest edition of their sub-Saharan newsletter is now available at http://www.scidev.net/africanewsletter/apr04.pdf. The newsletter includes news from SciDev.Net's network in Africa and a piece on NEPAD's efforts in central Africa ('Can science heal the scars of war?'). The newsletter also gives details of useful networking opportunities and lists events in the region. There is also the chance to win a Freeplay wind-up radio with our photography competition. For more information or to receive print copies of the newsletter, contact [email protected].

The Kenyan Government has decided to enforce the demolition of dozen of thousand of structures (shacks, schools, churches, community centres, clinics, shops, etc.) in few days time and with no proper notice, thus causing the forced eviction of over 354 000 people from Kibera, Korogocho, Kahawa Soweto, Kamae, Kware, Kamwanya, Kanguku, Kandutu, City Cotton, Mutumba, Kareru, Kirigu, Muria-Mbogo, Mutego, Njiku and others of the most populated among the 168 Nairobi slums. Other evictions are also expected to happen in the whole country. We remind all that doing so, the Kenya Government badly violates the legal obligations stated by the International Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (art. 2, 7, 11, 12, 13 e 15) signed by Kenya on 3rd January 1976, as well as the Habitat Agenda and the Agenda 21, which provide for the obligation to find alternative solutions when evictions are unavoidable. Click now on the link below to read an appeal.

'Community Informatics' is an e-newsletter packed with information for parties interested in community ICTs. Every month, we take you through ICT news, important ICT announcements and the latest information added to the CINSA portal (www.cinsa.info). This includes research, advocacy articles and resources.

The Shuttleworth Foundation is hosting its second Innovation Bazaar. The Bazaar was first held in Cape Town at the end of 2003, and is now coming to Gauteng. The event is an opportunity for innovative projects to market themselves to potential grantmakers. The Foundation invites applications from South African initiated education projects involving subject areas such as maths, science and technology for implementation in Gauteng and/or Western Cape in 2005.

As Malawi's general elections draw closer, deepening national poverty is haunting efforts by the ruling United Democratic Front to remain in power. In March, a United Nations Development Programme study on governance in Malawi revealed that poverty in the country had worsened during the past decade of multi-party politics - compared to the situation under former dictator Hastings Kamuzu Banda.

Internet search engine Google's plans for a free email service have come under fire from privacy campaigners. Google is devising Gmail as a rival to Microsoft's Hotmail and to Yahoo! Privacy campaigners have objected to plans to send users adverts linked to the content of messages, and to the permanent storage of email.

A cheap handheld computer designed by Indian scientists has been launched after a delay of nearly three years. The team first came up with the idea for the Simputer in 2001 to help India's poor join the internet age. But development of the computer was hampered by lack of investment and by little interest in the idea from computer manufacturers.