Featured in this issue

EDITORIALS: In the wake of the killings of demonstrators in Ethiopia, Makeda Tsegaye paints a picture of a brutal regime - whose Prime Minister served on UK Prime Minister's Commission on Africa - that will stop at nothing to retain its grip on power
COMMENT & ANALYSIS: Africa Day of the Child - 16 June: In Soweto, South Africa, thousands of black school children took to the streets in 1976 to protest the inferior quality of their education. Hundreds of young boys and girls were shot down by apartheid police. To honour the memory of those killed and the courage of those who marched, the Day of the African Child has been celebrated on 16 June every year since 1991.
- Hellen Tombo highlights the negative impact of onerous debt, unfair trade, inefficient aid and poor governance on the lives of African children and youth.
- G8 Finance Ministers allegedly write off $40 billion in debts of the poorest nations. But is the deal all that it's cracked up to be? Pambazuka News summarises reactions to the debt deal.
- For most of Africa's young people, the Day of the African child doesn't mean much - the day is primarily a day for adults, argues Christina Clark
- Despite the hype around the the Global Call to Action against Poverty, insufficient pressure is being put on the G8 by many mainstream international NGOs and demands of social movements are being ignored, argue Patrick Bond, Dennis Brutus and Virginia Setshedi
LETTERS: Cooperation not exploitation; more on the 'second great Boer trek'
PAN-AFRICAN POSTCARD: Rotimi Sankore and Chidi Odinkalu consider whether it would be possible to organise a meeting of civil society organisations as a follow up on the AU meeting in Libya
GLOBAL CALL TO ACTION AGAINST POVERTY: Actions in Africa launched on the Day of the African Child, Africa Snaps launched, SMS function goes live; reports from Zimbabwe Girl Child Network; African civil society organisations have called on the African Union to be prepared to repudiate Africa's multilateral debts
CONFLICTS & EMERGENCIES: Thousands flee CAR into Chad
HUMAN RIGHTS: Rwanda: Trial of top Rwanda genocide suspect starts
REFUGEES & FORCED MIGRATION: Zimbabwe: Refugees caught in Zim blitz; 11 million refugees worldwide
WOMEN & GENDER: Tensions between the role of trade, development and gender equality
ELECTIONS&GOVERNANCE: Egypt: Focus on pro-democracy movement in referendum aftermath; Uganda: I'll lobby for multiparty politics, says Museveni
DEVELOPMENT: Africa: Business As Usual Means 28 Million Dead Children;
AND MORE…links to news on corruption, health, education, media, environment, jobs and books.

* CAN'T PAY WON'T PAY

Join the call for debt cancellation! Text your comments with your name and surname to

+27 82 904 3425

Your message will be used to demonstrate overwhelming support for debt cancellation.

You can also subscribe to a free SMS alert service on the GCAP campaign by sending a message with the word ‘subscribe’ and ‘your name and surname’ to:

+27 82 904 3425

Or, sending an email to [email protected] with 'subscribe' in the subject line and your name and mobile/cell phone number (including country code) in the body of the email

Or visiting the website www.gcapsms.org

Together we can demonstrate overwhelming support from Africa for debt cancellation.