In response to the current political crisis in North Eastern Somalia (Puntland), UNIFEM is supporting WAWA (We Are Women Activists), a network of 23 women NGOs committed to promoting peace and reconciliation and women’s human rights in the Puntland region. WAWA held its first peace march in Galkayo on 27 December 2001, bringing together over 120 women from each of the five cities in Puntland to call upon political leaders to stop violence in the region. Plans are underway to hold similar peace marches in other cities.

Hamma Hammami, is the director of a banned publication, Al Badil, and has been pursued by the Tunisian authorities for 29 years because of his opinions and political activities. By order of the Interior Ministry, all his works have been withdrawn from circulation and destroyed. He has been in hiding for nearly 4 years, since the Appeal Court of Tunis sentenced him to nine years and three months in August 1999 for membership of the Parti Communiste des Ouvriers Tunisiens - PCOT (Tunisian Workers' Communist Party). On January 12th, 2002 he opposed this judgement and a new trial is due to take place in Tunis on February 2nd. OMCT is deeply concerned about Hammami's physical and psychological integrity and as to whether he will receive a fair trial.

Sudan's justice system is handing down barbaric punishments including death by stoning and amputations, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch has sent a letter to Sudan's president condemning these punishments and strongly urging that the sentences not be carried out.

Presidential elections scheduled for March 9-10 in Zimbabwe are highly unlikely to be free and fair, Human Rights Watch charged in a submission to the Commonwealth. Unless the Zimbabwe government immediately fulfilled a set of minimum conditions it should face the threat of suspension from the international organization at the next Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, due in March.

The German military will soon deploy reconnaissance aircraft in the Kenyan port city of Mombasa to patrol the sea traffic in the Indian Ocean, German newspaper Die Welt reported. The Mombasa station would be the second German base after Djibouti, where German troops and warships arrived in the past two weeks.

The African Conservation Tillage Network (ACT) consists of practitioners and promoters who believe the adaptation and adoption of conservation tillage principles is a cost effective method of reducing and reversing the environmental degradation and food insecurity devastating Africa. ACT NOW! is ACT's electronic update on events and findings which may assist accelerate this process. ACT NOW! AND HELP AFRICA GROW!

The African NGO Refugee Protection Network seeks an experienced professional to set-up and develop an electronic Network of human rights organisations working with refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs).

Some nine thousand Angolan refugees waiting to be relocated remain stranded in transit facilities outside the Nangweshi refugee camp in Zambia's Western Province, and more are on the way. Following discussions last year with government authorities after the camp reached its maximum capacity of 15,000 people, the Zambian government elected last December is expected to announce a decision soon to open a new refugee camp that would accommodate the 9,000 refugees from Nangweshi and receive future Angolan refugees.

Residents of the Nigerian city of Lagos are demanding an independent inquiry into the destruction of a weapons dump which caused the deaths of more than 600 people.

Why did people in different parts of the world end up with different skin colour? The answer lies in vitamins, according to a recent study.

Thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) fled a temporary site some 100 km north of the Liberian capital, Monrovia, on Sunday following exchanges of gunfire near the area, humanitarian sources said on Monday.

Zambia looked headed for a constitutional crisis on Friday, after its new parliament closed unceremoniously only hours after it started sitting following sharp differences over the election process for a Speaker, political analysts said.

Insecurity in the southeastern province of Moxico has sent thousands of people fleeing into the capital, Luena, and aid workers expect more people to flock to the town for humanitarian aid in coming weeks.

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) said on Monday that it expected to secure funding soon to keep its food pipeline to refugees in Namibia flowing beyond March.

Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa's political woes appeared to deepen on Monday as a disgruntled opposition boycotted bridge-building talks he called to resolve an impasse that crippled the National Assembly last week.

Madagascar's capital Antananarivo came to a virtual standstill on Monday in answer to a call by the opposition for a general strike to protest the outcome of controversial elections in December.

Eritrea and Djibouti have both expressed concern over the prospect of US military strikes against Somalia.

The Transitional National Government (TNG) has issued a directive banning the carrying of weapons on the streets of the capital Mogadishu, a senior TNG official told IRIN on Monday.