It was a small step towards a lasting peace. But as members of the UN Security Council team walked for the first time across the symbolic Mereb River Bridge linking Ethiopia to Eritrea, they realised the enormous gulf that still exists.

Uganda has an estimated 1.7 million orphans, the highest number in the world, and 25 percent of all households look after at least one child orphaned by either HIV/AIDS or war, according to a new study by the Ministry of Gender and Labour and Social Development, cited by the nongovernmental organisation World Vision.

The inter-Congolese dialogue talks bringing together government representatives, opposition groups, splintered rebel groups and civil society members - including tribal militia representatives, church groups, unions and women's groups - from all walks of life in the Democratic Republic of the Congo opened on Monday, 25 February in Sun City, South Africa. The talks are expected to last 45 days. The draft agenda for the meetings, as published by the Office of the Facilitator for the inter-Congolese dialogue, is the following:

A faction of the Conseil national pour la défense de la démocratie-Forces pour la défense de la démocratie (CNDD-FDD) and the transitional government on Friday 22 February agreed on a general framework of negotiations intended to lead, as soon as possible, to a definite agreement on a cease-fire and the restoration of democracy in Burundi.

South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission is closing its doors. Although formally dissolved, a skeleton staff is putting the finishing touches to a report that is meant to sum up the apartheid years. The commission, headed by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, was a unique device designed to help South Africa to deal with its past and in so doing reconcile white and black. But has it done so?

The heads of three United Nations agencies have condemned the attack by a Sudanese helicopter gunship that killed 17 civilians and wounded an unknown number of others at a food distribution site near Bieh.

The Ogiek indigenous community has expressed frustration after a case which they want to stop the President Daniel arap Moi government from degazetting parts of their east Mau forest and allocating them to outsiders was once again rescheduled to April 23. The case which has been dragging at the Kenyan courts since March last year could not go ahead since the government has yet to file a replying affidavit.

A local human rights group has accused the Tanzanian police of committing human rights violations during last week's riots involving Muslim youths in Dar es Salaam, the Tanzanian capital, in which two people were killed.

Amnesty International has expressed concern that the pull-out of European Union (EU) observers will result in an escalation of human rights violations in Zimbabwe. "The decision to withdraw EU observers will give the green light for further serious human rights violations in Zimbabwe," the rights organisation said.

Opponents of the Zimbabwean government are being abducted to "torture centres" across the country that serve as bases for ruling party militia, Zimbabwean human rights groups allege.

As if their mother land was cursed that wars would always befall it, which unfold themselves into untold suffering, agony and despair; thousands of Liberians have once again taken unto their heels as fighting intensifies between Government forces and rebels of the Liberia United for Reconcilation and Democracy (LURD).

If the majority view of all election observer missions in Zimbabwe does not find the March 9 presidential poll free and fair, then SA will not be able to recognise the election result, says Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad.

It is a sad fact that every democratic-minded and peace loving Zimbabwean believes our Sadc brothers and sisters have let us down when it mattered most. While the rest of the international community, particularly the European Union and the United States, is taking steps to ensure that Zimbabwe conducts its presidential election in a democratic fashion, Sadc has decided to look the other way and let Zimbabweans bear the brunt of both state orchestrated violence and a flawed electoral process.

Violent attacks by supporters of President Robert Mugabe on Sunday after an election rally addressed by Movement for Democratic Change leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, in Chinhoyi, north of Harare, have been condemned by the Commonwealth Observer Group.

President Mugabe is said to be planning secretly his escape route out of Zimbabwe after his private polling predicted he could be defeated in next month's elections. The ailing 78-year-old has been sounding out some of his African neighbours and his dwindling number of friends abroad about providing him with a safe haven.

Zimbabwe's main opposition leader is being questioned by police over an alleged plot to assassinate President Robert Mugabe. Morgan Tsvangirai, who denies the allegations based on a mysterious videotape broadcast on Australian television, entered central Harare police station at lunchtime with a bodyguard and a lawyer. It comes amid reports that Mr Mugabe has agreed to flee Zimbabwe if he loses the election.

Global sea levels could rise eight inches by the end of this century, more than the rise predicted last year by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Melting glaciers and collapsing Antarctic ice sheets, such as the 58 square mile iceberg that calved from the Matusevich Glacier Tongue earlier this month, foreshadow the problems to come.

SVTG has received new information on Abok Alfa Akok, the Dinka woman previously sentenced to death by stoning in Nyala. SVTG can confirm that Abok, an 18 year old pregnant woman, was sentenced by the Criminal Court in Nyala on 12 February to 75 lashes. The sentence was carried out immediately, on the same day as sentencing, after which Abok was released. The lawyer acting on Abok’s behalf has launched an appeal to the High Court on the grounds that the sentence was given and immediately executed, thus making it impossible for Abok to seek legal advice and completely preventing her from exercising any right of appeal.

INTRODUCTION: THE YEAR IN PROFILE:
-Fiftieth Anniversary of the 1951 Refugee Convention
-United Nations World Conference Against Racism
-Fiftieth Anniversary of UNHCR and New High Commissioner, Ruud Lubbers
-Impact of September 11 on Refugees and Migrants

Trafficking in girls and women has easily become the modern parallel to the Atlantic slave trade. Ahmed Tahir explored the contours of this terrain, and wrote this revealing account, which highlights the methods and routes out of Africa, and the experiences the ladies pass through at their stations.