At the outbreak of the Libyan conflict, it was estimated that over 900 Sahrawi children and youth, 100 Palestinian students, and up to 70,000 Palestinian migrant workers were based in Libya. Their presence in Libya, and both the challenges they have faced since February 2011 and the nature of international
responses to these challenges, highlight a range of issues, which this paper, produced by the UN Refugee Agency, explores.

In light of 2012 elections, Kenya’s decision to defend its borders may be seen as a bold statement on security to win popularity, writes Abena Afia. But at this time of extreme famine and internal turmoil, Somalia needs the support of the international community, not another war.

Reflecting on the fact that significant segments of the population are fundamentally excluded from society due to poverty and inequality, the 2010 Ibrahim Index of African Governance recently handed Malawi an abysmal score of two out of 10. There is legislation aimed at protecting families from falling on hard times, such as the Employment Act and the recently amended Pension Bill. However, according to a 2010 report by the International Labour Office in Geneva, 90 per cent of Malawians - more than 13 million people – work outside the formal economy.

Writing about the decision by US President Barack Obama to send 100 troops to Uganda in order to combat the Lord's Resistance Army, Steve Horn, a researcher and writer for DeSmogBlog, concludes: 'Do not be surprised if, months from now, ExxonMobil or another US oil industry superpower walks away with drilling rights in the Lake Albert region and CNOOC, the current main possessor of Uganda's Lake Albert oil resources, is sent packing.' These are not only likely scenarios, but probable ones, he states. 'Joseph Kony and his LRA allies might be taken down, but the people of Uganda, on the whole, will not benefit...'

A global human rights body, ‘Front Line’, has urged the Gambian authorities to 'immediately drop all charges' against Dr Isatou Touray and Amie Bojang, two leading rights activists. Dr. Touray and Bojang, Director and Programme Coordinator respectively of The Gambia Committee on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children (GAMCOTRAP), are facing charges of 'theft' which they continue to deny. In a statement obtained by PANA, Front Line said the duo’s 'continued prosecution is solely motivated by their legitimate and peaceful work in defence of human rights'.

While the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Australia included no commitment to oppose homophobic persecution and to protect the human rights of LGBTI persons, Commonwealth of Nations Secretary General Kamalesh Sharma did speak out against homophobic persecution. In addition, the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) will be empowered to deal with serious or persistent human rights violations by member states, which could include action against countries that perpetrate homophobic persecution.

Liberian opposition radio and TV stations were shut down by the authorities on 8 November 2011 on the orders of a criminal court in Monrovia. The stations are being accused of spreading messages that the authorities said could incite violence. The stations, Kings FM belonging to the Congress for Democratic Change’s (CDC) Vice Presidential Candidate, George Weah; Love FM and TV owned by Benoni Urey, a known sympathiser of the National Patriotic Party (NPP) which has entered into an alliance with the CDC and Power FM and TV. The Media Foundation for West Africa’s (MFWA) correspondent reported that the affected stations would remain closed until their representatives appeared before the court on 10 November.

'The challenge to end economic, geographic, gendered Apartheid is huge. Much of this challenge exists at a local level. But, as this guide shows, the Constitution empowers communities to claim their rights. Activists must connect the dots and ensure that Government prioritises the rights of people. We encourage you to use this guide to do that!' - Pregs Govender, deputy chairperson, South African Human Rights Commission, in the Forward to 'Making local government work: an activist guide.'

Cash-strapped Swaziland will struggle to pay civil servants' salaries this month, Finance Minister Majozi Sithole told AFP, as the tiny kingdom slips deeper into crisis. 'We will do our best to pay at the end of November but it is difficult. We have serious fiscal challenges right now,' Sithole said. Swaziland fell into crisis after losing 60 per cent of its revenue from a regional customs union last year.

A Ugandan court on Thursday 10 November sentenced the man suspected to have murdered a gay rights activist in January this year, to 30 years in prison. The 30 year sentence was passed by Justice Joseph Mulangira after the man admitted to have murdered David Kato 46, on 26 January 2011. This verdict was passed based on the evidence produced in court by the lead state prosecutor, Ms. Loe Karungi.

'People feel this is like the return of colonialism,' says Athumani Mkambala, chairman of Mhaga village in rural Tanzania. 'Colonialism in the form of investment.' A quarter of the village's land in Kisarawe district was acquired by a British biofuels company in 2008, with the promise of financial compensation, 700 jobs, water wells, improved schools, health clinics and roads. But the company has gone bust, leaving villagers not just jobless but landless as well. The same story is playing out across Africa, as foreign investors buy up land but leave some of the poorest people on Earth worse off when their plans fail.

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has told journalists that the national executives of all three political parties in the inclusive government will meet to discuss the worsening political violence in the country. ZANU PF Central Committee members and their counterparts from the national executive councils of the MDC-T and MDC-N are expected to attend. The meeting follows the violent disturbances witnessed when members of the notorious ZANU PF Chipangano gang attacked MDC-T supporters preparing for a rally at Chibuku Stadium in Chitungwiza.

South African scientists are at the coalface of understanding whether HIV can be eradicated from an HIV-positive individual, essentially curing the person. A complex field of study, Professor Caroline Tiemessen is attempting to understand why some individuals – referred to as elite controllers – are able to be HIV infected, but successfully suppress virus replication to undetectable levels. This is achieved in the absence of antiretroviral treatment and the immune system response is maintained at an optimal level for many years.

Nigeria records 10 extra-judicial killings per week, and 95 per cent of such killings are unresolved, the local media quoted the non-governmental organisation Legal Defence and Assistance Project (LEDAP) as saying. LEDAP also said about 2,800 unlawful killings are recorded annually in Nigeria, with most of the killings carried out by criminal gangs. 'About 16 per cent are done by state agents and most of them are not resolved and perpetrators punished,' LEDAP National Coordinator Chino Obiagwu was quoted as saying.

The report tracks Mozambique’s progress since it acceded to the APRM process in March 2003 up to when it was eventually peer reviewed in June 2009. The authors urge the government of Mozambique to show political will and act upon the pronouncements made in their National Programme of Action document to ensure that governance is strengthened and democracy is deepened, by addressing corruption, and promoting plural participation in public institutions and processes as well as reducing over dependency on foreign aid.

With reference to the fuel subsidy debate in Nigeria, where government plans to scrap fuel subsidies, resulting in a substantial increase in the price of fuel, Nnimmo Bassey argues in The Guardian of Nigeria that the real debate should be on the true cost of crude oil. 'And this is not just about how much is currently spent in refining a litre of petrol in a Nigerian refinery or whether we can justify any plan to raise the pump price of a litre of petrol to N144 or more. The true cost of oil must include the environmental costs that have been externalised and dumped on the poor communities of the Niger Delta.'

According to the US Census Bureau, a higher percentage of Americans is living in extreme poverty than they have ever measured before. In 2010, we were told that the economy was recovering, but the truth is that the number of the 'very poor' soared to heights never seen previously. Back in 1993 and back in 2009, the rate of extreme poverty was just over six per cent, and that represented the worst numbers on record. But in 2010, the rate of extreme poverty hit a whopping 6.7 per cent. That means that one out of every 15 Americans is now considered to be 'very poor'.

A Tanzanian opposition leader surrendered to police Wednesday (09 November) after leading a protest calling for the release of one its members and the resignation of President Jakaya Kikwete. Freeman Mbowe, who heads the CHADEMA party, and scores of supporters staged a demonstration Monday in the country's northern town of Arusha demanding the release of one of its officials and that Kikwete steps down. The party accuses the president of using security forces to disrupt its activities.

Pretrial holding facilities in countries with developing and transitional economies often force detainees to live in filthy, over-crowded conditions, where they lack adequate health services. In the worst cases, detainees die; some centres are so bad that innocent people plead guilty just to be transferred to prisons where the conditions might be better. For many pretrial detainees, being locked away in detention centers where tuberculosis, hepatitis C, and HIV are easily contracted can be a death sentence. This paper, aimed at health professionals, presents a review of literature on health conditions and health services in pretrial detention in developing and transitional countries.

'Debtocracy' is a 2011 documentary film by Katerina Kitidi and Aris Hatzistefanou. The documentary mainly focuses on two points: the causes of the Greek debt crisis in 2010 and possible future solutions that could be given to the problem that are not currently being considered by the government of the country. The makers resorted to crowd-funding and collected 8,000 euros in just 10 days.