My story is about culture, belief systems, early marriage and alcohol abuse that negatively affected my life as a teenager. My children paid the price as well. My story however has a happy ending. Allow me to give voice to my story. When I was 16, young and vulnerable, had not even experienced puppy love as yet, I was chosen while at a wedding, to be married to a man 10 years older than myself. While growing up as a typical South African Indian girl, deeply held morals, values, and belief systems were passed on to me.

Forming part of a larger document looking at the development of sustainable media in Africa, this chapter focuses on progress in Malawi. Quantitative baseline scores were obtained and in-depth qualitative studies from a local perspective prepared to explain the numbers.

In many ways, the media has been an effective way to reach and get information to women who are experiencing gender-based violence (GBV) and any other form of gender inequality. Moreover, the 16 Days of Activism against GBV underlines the importance of reaching women with these information campaigns. However, in many parts of Africa, there is a more complex aspect to having access to information. This includes the difficulties many women experience in gaining access to the means of information itself – be that a radio or television set, newspapers or magazines.

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has condemned the arrest and detention of about 70 journalists on Monday, as they were demonstrating against the censorship practice and tactics employed by the Sudanese government. "We consider the arrest of the journalists on Monday by the Sudanese authorities as an act of intimidation aimed at preventing the media from reporting the truth in Sudan" said Gabriel Baglo, Director of the IFJ Africa office.

The IFJ has condemned the killing of a journalist working for Radio Okapi who was shot dead in the town of Bukavu, in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. According to the radio's website, Didace Namujimbo was shot in the head by unknown assailants on Friday night near his home. "We condemn strongly the murder of our colleague Didace which shows yet again the alarming lack of protection for journalists in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo," said Gabriel Baglo, director of the IFJ Africa office. "In the last three years, six journalists have lost their lives in targeted attacks."

At least ten thousand people are expected to march on KwaZulu-Natal Premier S'bu Ndebele tomorrow morning. A memorandum will be handed to the Premier warning him to immediately retract his plans to evict 10 000 families from eMacambini and to cease his collaboration with new forms of colonialism. The march has been organised by the eMacambini Anti-Removal Committee which has been formed by the eMacambini Development Committee which has been democratically elected by the community. The eMacambini Anti-Removal Committee is rejecting all forms of party politics.

The Magistrate's Court in Lilongwe acquitted Nation Publications journalist Maxwell Ng'ambi of the charge of providing false information to a public officer. Ng'ambi was arrested on 17 May, 2008 at Maula Prison where he was suspected of planning to interview a former speaker and minister of education, Sam Mpasu, who is serving a jail term.

Reporters Without Borders condemns the attorney general’s threatening remarks to journalists on 17 November. He said journalists who criticise the government could be arrested under a new anti-terrorism law that has just been used to crack down on opposition groups.

National Press Day in Morocco, observed on Saturday (November 15th), launched a fresh campaign by journalists discontented with what they see as an environment hostile to the conduct of free press. Among the various targets of their scrutiny was the March 2008 ruling against independent newspaper Al Massae, which was ordered to pay 6m dirhams for libel against four deputy royal prosecutors who the court said the newspaper accused of homosexuality.

The e-Africa Commission has initiated a study on the feasibility of its Umoja terrestrial network – marking key strides in the development of a broadband infrastructure network for Africa. “The study will determine what the cost of the Umoja network in the various regions will be. This input will then determine what the SPV (special purpose vehicle) will need to make the network a reality,” said Dr Edmund Katiti, policy and regulatory advisor for the e-Africa Commission.

Africa’s operators say they cost their national backbone prices based on distance. The basis is that the further you want your traffic carried, the more it costs. However, this logic will soon be challenged by new, cheaper international bandwidth costs. If it costs more to send traffic from Johannesburg to Cape Town or from Lagos to Abuja than it does from any of these places to Europe, then national arbitrage will have well and truly arrived. Russell Southwood looks at what is likely to happen.

Freedom House released a video examining the challenges that Egyptian bloggers face at a conference on internet governance held in Cairo, Egypt November 2-7. In the film, Egyptian bloggers speak of overcoming torture, political intimidation and censure as they push against government restrictions on freedom of expression.

Regional integration issues featured strongly in a recent call by Professor Peter Katjavivi, Director General of the Namibian National Planning Commission, for improved dialogue between researchers and SADC governments: the call was made at a gathering of SADC universities hosted by the University of Namibia.

The South-South Exchange Programme for Research on the History of Development (SEPHIS) is currently running a research project on ‘Sexualities and Modernities’ sponsored by the FORD Foundation. The objective of this programme is to allow researchers to gain a deeper historical and comparative understanding of the complex interplay between cultural contexts and the politics of sex- and gender-based claims of identity. Dissemination to advocacy groups and into the public sphere is an essential part of this endeavor.

Africa's and Nigeria's first geosynchronous communication satellite NigComSat-1 may have been lost for ever, although operators hold it only suffers from a flat battery, which can be fixed. The Chinese-build satellite had cost at least US$ 340 million.

In a bid to tackle the problem of electronic-waste (e-waste) in South Africa, the e-Waste Association of South Africa (eWASA) hosted a one-day conference on 7 November 2008 in Johannesburg. The conference was aimed at providing a platform to discuss the successes and lessons learnt while implementing electronic waste (e-waste) management systems. It also served as an opportunity for the project team to report on progress made thus far.

Reporters Without Borders is relieved to learn that Zakari Alzouma, the editor the independent weekly Opinions, has been released but is astonished that he was given a three-month suspended prison sentence for supposedly libelling interior minister Albadé Abouba.

Reporters Without Borders calls on the authorities to explain the detention of freelance journalist Hadis Mohammed Hadis for the past ten days in Hargeisa, the capital of the northern breakaway region of Somaliland. Hadis was arrested while filming at Hargeisa airport on 3 November, five days after 25 people were killed in a suicide bombing in the city.

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has warned that journalists in Democratic Republic of Congo are facing extreme danger after Congolese journalist Alfred Nzonzo Bitwahiki Munyamariza was killed in the town of Rutshuru and Belgian journalist Thomas Scheen was kidnapped nearby.

Tafadzwa Sikwila, a DJ employed by ZBC’s Power FM Radio, sustained serious head injuries after being brutally assaulted by four Zimbabwe National Army soldiers in Gweru on 25th October. According to reports which only surfaced this week the soldiers accused him of wearing replica military camouflage trousers, without permission (under Zimbabwe’s obscure defence Act, civilians are prohibited from wearing camouflage).