As part of the World Social Forum the International People’s Tribunal on Debt convened between February 1 and 2 in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande del Sul, Brazil. Jubilee South, the Jubilee South Brazil Campaign joined with the American Association of Jurists, the Committee for Third World Debt Cancellation, the Ecological Debt Creditor’s Alliance, Ustawi and the World March of women, among many others, joined together to organize this international tribunal. Social movements, churches, unions, professional organizations, NGOs, political parties and renown personalities are brought together in the Jubilee South network extending to 45 countries of the South and enjoying the support of diverse entities in the North. The International People’s Tribunal convened in order to determine and rule upon the responsibility of Banks and Transnational Corporations, Governments in the North, the IMF, the World Bank and other international financial institutions for the crime of illegitimately indebting the countries and peoples of the South. This has generated a high cost in human lives, the destruction of our productive capacity, the quality of life of our peoples, with increases in poverty, infant mortality, social exclusion and grave economic and environmental damages. This Tribunal in addition to ruling on evidence as regards the illegitimacy of the debt, identifying the principal responsible culprits and their respective roles, also assumed the task of proposing alternative paths to secure debt repudiation and cancellation.

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An exciting grassroots initiative through Idealist.org using the Internet to get people and organizations that act locally and think globally.

Trade :
Climate Change:
http://www.oneworld.net/campaigns/climatechange
Digital Divide:
http://www.oneworld.net/campaigns/digitaldivide/

Write to the Sudanese authorities urging them to guarantee a fair and prompt appeal for Abok Alfau Akok. Abok Alfau Akok, 18, has been sentenced to death by stoning for the crime of adultery.

A "system of semi-military command centers" has been set up at both national and provincial levels in Zimbabwe in order to ensure victory for President Robert Mugabe in forthcoming presidential elections next month, according to Mark Chavunduka, editor of the independent Zimbabwe Standard newspaper.

As activists gather here for marches and rallies protesting the meeting of the World Economic Forum, Internet provocateurs are planning a series of demonstrations of their own online. Groups including the Electronic Disturbance Theater, RTMark, and Federation of Random Action are counting on as many as 100,000 people to stage "virtual sit-ins" at the websites of the World Economic Forum (WEF) and its corporate members. The idea is to "annoy" the conglomerates into a dialogue and draw media attention to concerns about globalization.

A 12 year-old girl has become the new face of a campaign to improve the lives of children in Ethiopia. Leah Abebe, who is in grade five at her primary school, told a conference in Addis Ababa last week that children are the future of the country.

The Charter of Rights was developed by Migrant Domestic Workers in a series of workshops organised by RESPECT in Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Spain and the UK. Besides reflecting the experiences of migrant domestic workers including the violations of their rights in Europe, the Charter also reflects the demand for recognition of "domestic" work as "proper" work. More information about the Charter and to endorse it online on the website.

ZANU PF hooligans have intensified the ban on the sale of The Standard in a number of areas around the country, as the terror campaign to boost President Mugabe's waning image ahead of the presidential poll in March mounts.

Six representatives of media organisations in Zimbabwe including, MISA-Zimbabwe Director, Sarah Chiumbu, The Zimbabwe Union of Journalists, Secretary General, Basildon Peta, Eunice Mafundikwa, Chairperson, Federation of African Media Women of Zimbabwe, Abel Mutsakani, President, Independent Journalists Association of Zimbabwe, Andrew Meldrum, Foreign Correspondents Association of Zimbabwe, and the Chairperson of the Harare Journalists Press Club, Luke Tamborinyoka presented a fresh petition to the parliament of Zimbabwe on the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Bill. The Bill was set to be passed on Tuesday, January 15. For more on the story and the full petition, read on..

Journalists Against AID (JAAIDS) Nigeria has commenced an advocacy campaign to support access to affordable treatment and care for Nigerians living with HIV/AIDS. The two-year campaign aims to secure access to HIV-related care and treatment by empowering a wide body of stakeholders with the appropriate information and skills to act on these issues.

Visions In Action and the Georgetown University African Studies Program are co-sponsoring the 6th national conference on Working for Global Justice: Careers, Issues, and Activism in International Development. This year’s conference theme is Resources and Conflict in Africa, and will be highlighted by keynote speaker addresses, panels and an activism opportunity.

Two child workers from Mali are honoured by the country's President, Alpha Oumar Konare, as he kicks off a campaign on behalf of the International Labour Organisation at the start of Africa's biggest football competition.

At the beginning of the 21st Century, the total number of persons living outside of their countries of origin worldwide was estimated at over 150 million, of which the ILO counts some 100 million as migrant workers and their families. According to ILO estimates, Africa has among the largest numbers of migrant workers, 20 million, one-fifth of the global total. There are some 30 across Europe -East and West--, 18 million in North America, 12 million in Central and South America, 9 million in the Middle East, and 7 million in South and East Asia.

Fishmongers operating at Kenya's lake Turkana, part of the great Rift Valley lakes, are luring school children to drop out and engage in childlabour, local officials have confirmed.

The anti-terror campaign led by the United States is inspiring opportunistic attacks on civil liberties around the world, Human Rights Watch warned in its new annual global survey.

Two days of workshops, trainings and speakers, followed by two days of action in solidarity with Another World Is Possible! and the Anti-Capitalist Convergence New York. Workshops will be presented by local organizations.

As I sit here, reflecting upon history, remembering the contextual conditions under which we have operated and the 10 years worth of weekly voluntary labour hours, I am convinced that without some madness and a lot of love it would not have been possible to give women a forum, voice and skills... towards transforming unequal gender relations in South Africa. Ten years is a long time to condense into a few pages. Here I shall outline some of the key strategies, practices and processes that have enabled the only feminist journal in the country to survive, and contribute towards an extremely difficult yet challenging period of our history.