Charley betrayed the fate of his calling by rejecting blatant complicity with forces of oppression and placing his knowledge and skills at the disposal of Afrikans and suffering humanity.

Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria visited several communities in Kogi, Edo, Cross River, Benue and Delta States inundated by waters and have issued their findings in a special report available on their website. Excessive rains are believed to have caused the overflow of dams and the flooding thereof of communities along the banks of River Niger and Benue in Nigeria. The floods have led to destruction of farmlands across the affected states, complete inundation of hundreds of communities, loss of property in unquantifiable sums and about 104 deaths going by official statistics from the Nigerian government.

Teachers, the Ministry of Education and aid agencies are scrambling to provide catch-up classes to thousands of displaced children who fled northern Mali for southern towns to help them graduate this year, while those teachers and families who stayed in the north are doing the same - determined to keep their children learning despite the closure of dozens of public schools and severe changes to the curricula.

The faculty of Human and Social Sciences at the University of Tunis closed on Thursday last week and suspended classes for three days after violent confrontations broke out between Islamist and leftist students, causing considerable damage to classrooms and facilities – and promising a difficult academic year to come. The incident at the institution’s oldest faculty revived memories of a long history of clashes at the University of Tunis between leftists and Islamists.

We are looking for experienced trainers from East Africa region to join our trainers’ database to be consulted to lead our social justice capacity building initiatives in several key areas. Click for details.

The Board of Fahamu Trust Ltd, publisher of Pambazuka News, is delighted to announce two new appointments:

1. Zo Randriamaro, former Board member and Malagasy feminist sociologist, researcher and activist, has been appointed interim Executive Director of Fahamu Trust Ltd. Zo can be reached at [email][email protected]

2. Rebecca Williams has returned to the Trust as Acting Finance Director.

We look forward to working with them to ensure Fahamu's full transition to being a pan-African organization.

Maxwell Dlamini, president of the Swaziland National Union of Students (SNUS), has been denied his university scholarship by the government because of his political activity, he said. Dlamini was called to the scholarship selection board today (27 September 2012), where he hoped to be allowed to continue his law studies at the University of Swaziland, but he said he was denied for being a ‘progressive’. Writing on Facebook, Dlamini, said he was questioned about his activities in SNUS and ‘why I cause all the noise in the tertiary institutions [and] why I want to overthrow the government.’

The Independent Media Commission (IMC), the statutory media regulatory body on September 26, 2012 suspended for a month, three privately-owned newspapers for allegedly producing offensive publications. The newspapers namely Independent Observer, the Senator and Awareness Times will thus, not appear on newsstands from September 26 – October 26, 2012.

Sudanese Children 2011 report, published jointly by the National Council of Child Welfare NCCW and UNICEF Sudan, shows Sudan’s progress in childhood indicators between 2006 and 2010, and outlines specific actions for every state that need to be taken in order to meet remaining challenges. 'The report is a call to fulfill children’s rights and provide welfare, protection and other services for every child. The growing awareness of communities on the child rights will support our efforts to improve the life of our children. Strengthening the concerned institutions at national and state levels is crucial for a joint action to guarantee the child rights in coordination with national and international partners,' says Fathelrahman Mohamed Babiker, NCCW Secretary General, officer-in-charge.

On the evening of 12 September, a dispute between Eritrean and Nigerian detainees at the Khoms detention centre for 'irregular migrants' had escalated into violence, reports this Amnesty International blog post. During the chaos a group of Somalis chose their moment to escape. A 29-year-old man from the Eritrean capital Asmara, who has spent six months in various detention centres across Libya, told Amnesty International that one man in military uniform hit him on the head with a metal bar and deliberately stepped on his hand with his military boots.

The Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) which has been trying to broker an end to the political crisis in Mali will secretly deploy regional troops to deal with Islamist militants following request by authorities in Bamako. The regional force is expected to help flush out Islamists who have been holding northern Mali since April this year.

The Economic Justice Network (EJN), a national coalition of civil society organisations working for socio-economic justice and equitable national development, was recently re-launched to deal with new policy threats affecting Ghanaian livelihoods. Speaking at the launch, Mr Tetteh Hormeku of Third World Network, said governments over the years had sought to deal with economic challenges confronting the country through reliance on foreign investors instead of building local capacities. He said this common policy of successive governments to provide incentives to foreign investors had led to the abuse of the rights of Ghanaians and denial of their livelihoods.

‘As an environmentalist, Hastings was a walking library of knowledge about Mulanje Mountain and the environment in Malawi.’

The Open Society Foundation for South Africa is pleased to announce the third and final call for grant proposals for 2012. Applications can be made online or application forms downloaded. The deadline for applications is 5 October 2012. For more information, please refer to the application guidelines or email [email][email protected]

The University Council that oversees the affairs of public universities in Malawi has announced a 25 per cent increase in salaries of university teachers. But the Polytechnic, the constituent college of the University of Malawi in Blantyre, which is already on a month-long industrial strike, refused to immediately accept the offer, while Chancellor College in the eastern city of Zomba said the offer was a fair deal. Both constituent colleges were demanding a 113 per cent salary hike, citing the recent 49 per cent devaluation of the Malawi currency, the kwacha.

Some 1,000 Chadian migrants - most of them children separated from their families - are waiting for aid in the village of N’Gbouboua in the Lac region of western Chad having fled Boko Haram-related violence in Nigeria, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). With more arriving each day - some 100 have arrived in the last 48 hours according to the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) - the food situation is getting desperate, say aid workers.

Israel ended a stalemate with about 20 African migrants stranded along its border with Egypt for more than a week, allowing two women and a child to enter but turning the rest of the group away. A statement from Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said that although Israel granted entry to two women and a child, the country was 'determined to stop the flood' of migrants. A group of around 20 Eritreans had been stuck outside a nearly-completed border fence, where the Israeli military was providing them with food and water.

The Nigeria Evidence-based Health System Initiative (NEHSI) is a collaborative project between the Government of Nigeria, the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) with the mandate of contributing to the strengthening of the health care system to deliver effective, efficient and equitable primary health care in two states of Nigeria.

Section 27 has filed papers at the North Gauteng High Court after it emerged that hundreds of Limpopo pupils are still without textbooks. Rights organisation Section 27 filed papers at the North Gauteng High Court on Monday after it emerged that hundreds of Limpopo pupils are still without textbooks and are facing an inadequate departmental catch-up plan.

Fixed-term contract of one year in duration
Location: London
Salary: £42,156 per annum

The Middle East and North Africa Programme at the International Secretariat of Amnesty International is seeking to appoint two dynamic, team oriented people to the role of Researcher in the North Africa team with a focus on Egypt and/or Libya.

About the job

As a research-based campaigning organization, investigating and documenting human rights issues is fundamental to our advocacy and lobbying work. Our North Africa team requires two Researchers to take the lead in initiating human rights research and action by providing regional and thematic expertise, excellent research skills and sound political judgement. A campaign oriented approach to your work is essential. You will be required to conduct and co-ordinate research activities, monitor, investigate and analyse political, legal and social developments and human rights conditions, give authoritative advice on these areas and prepare human rights action materials.

About you

With experience of working on human rights issues, you must have first-hand in-depth knowledge and experience of Egypt and Libya and an understanding and awareness of the cultures of North Africa. You’ll have a background in activism, academia, law or journalism with the ability to identify and thoroughly investigate those issues and ensure our voice has authority. You will need proven research and communication skills, impartial political judgement, coupled with strong strategic thought. Fluency in English, including excellent writing skills, is essential, as is the ability to speak and read Arabic fluently.

About us

Our aim is simple: an end to human rights abuses. Independent, international and influential, we campaign for justice, freedom and truth wherever they’re denied. Already our network of over three million members and supporters is making a difference in 150 countries. And whether we’re applying pressure through powerful research or direct lobbying, mass demonstrations or online campaigning, we’re all inspired by hope for a better world. One where human rights are respected and protected by everyone, everywhere.

For more information and to apply, please visit and search for requisition ID 814BR.

Closing date: 12th September 2012.