The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) has urged the Liberian government to stop “the unending spate of physical assault, cruel torture and sheer impunity being perpetrated” against journalists and human rights activists.

Media watchdogs and other human rights groups observing Africa's political landscape have this year continued past calls for an end to the harassment of a number of journalists in African countries and the release of others they say are imprisoned there.

The controversial South African student website "Get A Life" (www.gal.co.za) launches an online game on the 25th of February that ridicules President George W. Bush's stance on war with Iraq.

A group of NGOs have expressed concern over preparations for the World Summit on the Information Society. In a letter to WSIS Preparatory Committee President Adama Samassekou, the NGOs urged strong leadership to restore a focus on human development objectives within the WSIS process.

Africa took centre stage in Geneva last week with the planned launch of an organisation aimed at promoting the use of open source software throughout the continent. The launch was part of the World Summit on the Information Society's Prepcom 2 meeting in Geneva.

An American who went to Ghana to study percussion eventually came back drumming up support for a different cause - to give people around the world access to the Internet and the economic opportunities it provides. So far, Ethan Zuckerman, founder of the Geekcorps, has done rather well. His Massachusetts-based NGO has established four country offices in the developing world that match high-tech volunteers with businesses requiring information and communication technology (ICT). Even if he is not quite the pied piper, Zuckerman has managed to gather a large following of geeks behind him -- at the moment there are 1,300 techies on Geekcorps' waiting list wanting to volunteer.

The fourth edition of the "Guide to European Population Assistance" has recently been published, giving you access to funding from all major European budget lines in the field of sustainable development. The Guide is a reference work for development organisations and provides an overview of available public funding from 15 European countries and the European Community.

Artists for Zimbabwe invite you to a charities fund-raising exhibition of paintings, photography and sculpture by nine outstanding young Zimbabwean artists. Various charities will be supported and the funds will be administered by the Zimbabwe Appeal Fund.

The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has warned that it would not hesitate to close down any electronic medium which violates the establishment's guidelines on broadcasting. The Director-General of NBC, Dr. Silas Yisa said: "NBC is not particularly happy that some electronic media organisations in the country have been operating as if they are lords unto themselves."

The Centre for African Family Studies (CAFS) is an African institution dedicated to strengthening the capacities of organisations and individuals working in the field of reproductive health, population and development in order to contribute to improving the quality of life of families in sub-Saharan Africa. CAFS conducts regional and in-country courses that enable health care providers, administrators, researchers and programme managers to meet Africa's health challenges.

The hammer came down at exactly 19.00hrs on Friday the 21st February 2003 when the Free Software and Open Source Foundation for Africa came into being. This was at a gathering of about fifty (50) WSIS participants including government delegations, Civil Society actors, UN Agencies, the media among others.

There have been a number of world conferences organized around UN-related themes. At the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) information and communication are on the agenda for the first time. From 17 to 28 February, the second preparatory committee meeting - PrepCom 2 - is taking place in Geneva. In an extensive conference, which stretches over two weeks, delegates from all over the world are attempting to clarify organizational issues and common ideas. According to the WSIS secretariat, this conference shall produce drafts of the action plan and the final summit declaration.

"Max", a South African Anti-Eviction activist, was kidnapped by four men and a woman who had earlier been seen at an Anti-Eviction Campaign meeting. They are suspected of being NIA agents, writes Anna Weekes.

Hundreds of villagers in the Eastern Cape have been struck by waterborne disease for the first time, with 14 people having died from Cholera and more than 800 people having been treated in hospital.

Soldiers manning queues at Batanai Supermarket in Harare assaulted Daily News photographer Philimon Bulawayo after he took pictures of the long, winding queues that have become prevalent at most shops selling basic commodities. Bulawayo, 29, said he was approached by two soldiers while he was standing opposite Batanai Supermarket and they started assaulting him.

Representatives from a group of major African countries have adopted what one participant described as a “roadmap” for the development of science and technology on the continent, as well as a strategy for pushing science and technology higher up the agenda of national governments.

The New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), the African Union's latest effort to promote the economic and social development of the continent, has chosen to include science and technology within its sphere of concern. We invite you to comment on the Statement of Commitments that was agreed at the end of a three-day workshop on developing a science and technology framework for NEPAD, held in Johannesburg from 17 to 19 February 2003.

The second Preparatory Committee meeting for the World Summit on the Information Society, scheduled for Geneva from 10 to 12 December 2003, and Tunisia in 2005, opened with an appeal for all of the stakeholders to work quickly and constructively to develop the declaration of principles and first draft of the plan of action that will ensure the benefits and rights of the information society are extended to all of humanity.

Aids-Africa brings together a multisectoral community of Africans and other countries to raise and jointly address health-related issues, particularly HIV/AIDS in Africa. Through discussion forums, Aids-Africa fosters independent, informed and constructive debate guided by principles of tolerance and respect.

Do the media report human rights well? If not, what would constitute "good" reporting of human rights issues? How should journalists and editors themselves judge the quality of their reporting in this area? What pressures and constraints do they face and how might they be managed better? In an effort to explore these questions, the International Council on Human Rights Policy (ICHRP) conducted a two-year research project involving interviews with over 70 editors, journalists, and broadcasters working in major international media centres and extensive consultation with national and local media professionals in several countries.