Sending troops to Somalia will be seen as furthering the agenda of imperialists. The idea of Africans fighting Africans is abhorrent.

This global overview from the Norwegian Refugee Council’s Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre looks at internal displacement resulting from conflict and violence during 2011. 'In 2011, the number of people internally displaced by these causes stood at 26.4 million. The world in 2011 was an unsafe place for millions of people. From criminal violence including attacks by armed groups in sub-Saharan Africa or by drug cartels in Latin America, to armed clashes such as those associated with the conflict in Côte d’Ivoire or the uprisings across the Arab world: such events caused hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes. Many risked their lives as they sought refuge in unfamiliar environments while facing a constant struggle to meet their basic needs.'

An independent United Nations expert has urged the Tunisian Government to ensure that human rights, especially the right to education, are kept at the heart of the historic reforms taking place in the North African nation. 'Tunisia is at a turning point in its history,' the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to education, Kishore Singh, stressed at the end of his first fact-finding mission to the country. 'If it fails to secure in its new Constitution and its new laws the highest standards of protection of human rights, particularly the right to education, Tunisia will miss a historic opportunity,' he added.

Ethiopia has made more than 4 million hectares (9.9 million acres) of 'fertile and unutilized' land available for agriculture companies that meet government requirements, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said. About 300,000 hectares has been leased for commercial farming so far, he said at an Ethiopian investment forum in the capital, Addis Ababa.

Zambia's President Michael Sata has warned Western diplomats against meeting his country's opposition leaders, saying such acts amounted to meddling. 'We do not do it in Europe, and why should they do it here? I am therefore directing the minister of foreign affairs to address the issue of diplomats meddling in internal affairs of the country,' Sata said on state radio.

At the recent Association for Women's Rights in Development (AWID) international forum on economic rights, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights advocates from around the world highlighted the urgent need to link economic justice and LGBT rights. As one representative of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission noted, the United States LGBT rights movement has focused largely on civil and political issues, including hate crime legislation, partnership benefits, gay marriage, and repeal of the shameful military policy 'Don't Ask/Don't Tell'. The link between economic justice and LGBT rights, however, in both the United States and abroad, has received considerably less attention.

These simple exchanges between two citizens of Africa show their dreams, pain, hope and civic action to ensure that the continent becomes the promised land where everyone can live in peace and justice, solidarity and prosperity.

An exhibition to be held in Nairobi aims to allow present and future generations of Somalis to learn about their rich heritage so that they can work towards restoring and preserving it.

The Refugee Law Project, under its video advocacy programme, has produced documentaries to show the work being done at RLP, as well as highlight the plight of forced migrants in Uganda. The latest video on a page featuring their productions involves land evictions in Apaa.

A report launched in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, has warned that high levels of vulnerability, combined with more severe and frequent weather and climate extremes, may make some places such as African coastal cities increasingly difficult places in which to live and work. The report also said any delay in greenhouse gas mitigation is likely to lead to more severe and frequent climate extremes in the future, and will likely further contribute to disaster losses.

The large amount of donor funding that has gone into Rwanda's fight against HIV has not affected efforts to prevent and treat unrelated diseases, such as malaria and measles, and may in fact have improved overall healthcare, a six-year study has found. Researchers at Brandeis University in the US compared the performance of health clinics providing HIV services with those that did not by collecting data on the number of vaccines administered, visits to register child growth, and non-HIV/AIDS hospitalizations to monitor the attention given to non-HIV health issues.

Ghanaians have started a national debate as to whether the involvement of the private sector in the establishment of universities has lowered academic standards and thus affected the quality of their graduates for the job market. Growing demand for university education amidst a squeeze on the public budget has resulted in private entrepreneurs establishing universities all over the country. But instead of contributing to national development, the trend is creating a teeming mass of unemployed youth, opening a debate on whether these institutions are playing a useful role.

Abuzar Al Amin, former deputy editor-in-chief of Rai Al Shaab, a Sudanese newspaper affiliated with the opposition Popular Congress Party, was arrested in May 2010. He was convicted and sentenced to five year’s imprisonment. Abuzar Al Amin was finally released on bail on 22 August 2011. However, the charges against him have not been dropped and he has not been brought before a court. As a result, he is currently limited in his capacity to work due to the risk of re-arrest.

NOTE DE L'ÉDITEUR:

Les lettres qui suivent font partie d'un échange émouvant et d’une rare perspicacité entre deux femmes qui ont été, pendant des décennies, des leaders respectés de mouvements citoyens en Afrique de l'Ouest. Deux femmes connues pour leur sagesse, leur courage, leur créativité et leur engagement sans faille pour la justice, la paix et le bien-être de leurs pays respectifs, la Guinée-Bissau et le Mali. Cette semaine, Pambazuka est heureux de partager une partie de ces correspondances personnelles, échangées à la suite des coups d'Etat survenus d’abord au Mali en mars, puis en Guinée-Bissau en avril. Les lettres ont été traduites du français et sont signés avec des noms d’emprunt pour la sécurité de ces femmes, de leurs camarades et de leurs familles en ces moments difficiles qu’ils sont en train de vivre. (La version en anglais des lettres peuvent être lues à http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/82019]

Statement of a group of National and International NGOs in Guinea Bissau concerning the Coup d'e tat of April 12, 2012.

In this audio recording from Chatham House, Pa'gan Amum, Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) Secretary General and Chief Negotiator of the Republic of South Sudan discusses the increased tensions between Sudan and South Sudan and gives his thoughts about how to solve the pressing issues of security, oil revenue sharing and border demarcation in order to prevent further deterioration in relations.

Ghana-based sub-regional press freedom body Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) has said that some students in Mali ransacked a private radio station, 'Radio Kayira', destroyed broadcasting equipment worth about FCFA 18 million approximately (US$3,571,950), and stole more than FCFA 2 million (about US$398,556) in cash.

The spy chief for South African police, Richard Mdluli, has been moved from his powerful post pending the outcome of an investigation against him, the police minister said Wednesday. Mdluli has been embroiled in controversy since he was charged with murder and corruption in 2011. The charges were provisionally withdrawn earlier this year and a court inquest opened. Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa told lawmakers that the inspector general of intelligence would further look into claims that Mdluli was spared a trial due to political meddling.

Tanzania will campaign for South African Home Affairs minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, who is seeking to become the next chairperson of the African Union Commission. But neighbouring Kenya has turned down a request from South Africa to support its candidate. When meeting with a South African delegation, President Mwai Kibaki said South Africa's ambition for the AU top job clashes with Kenya's own interest to have Erastus Mwencha, a Kenyan, for the post of deputy chairperson.

Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan’s office rejected accusations Okah made in Monday’s request for bail in South Africa, where he was arrested and will stand trial for bombings in Nigeria’s capital that killed 12 people during 2010 independence celebrations. In the bail request made available on Monday, Okah said Jonathan’s government orchestrated the bombing to eliminate a rival and to fan ethnic tensions for political gain. Okah has been jailed in South Africa since being arrested here shortly after the October, 2010 bombings.