'We are writing to express our grave concern about the recent escalation of homophobia throughout the African continent. A vocal minority spouting hatred, paranoia, and intolerance is dominating public discourse. In response, increasing numbers of parliaments are attempting to criminalise homosexuality, and increasing numbers of African leaders are publicly endorsing this criminalisation. Currently, over two-thirds of countries in the African Union have legislation that criminalises homosexuality. AIDS-Free World is disturbed by the silence of AU leaders in the face of this discrimination, and we urgently call upon the African Union to hold a special session to address the issue.'

Defense spending in Africa has increased significantly over the last few years, largely because the continent's key oil producers have scored heavy economic gains as crude prices have risen, finds a new survey. The surge in oil revenue 'has provided an opportunity for African governments to support much-needed military acquisition and improvement programs, resulting in defense spending growth that has significantly outpaced that of non-petrostates,' the survey said, as reported by United Press International.

Government has dismissed predictions that this year’s general elections would be the bloodiest ever, describing the prophecy as an attempt to threaten peace and security. And Foundation for Democratic Process (FODEP) has described the statement from Colonel Panji Kaunda as irresponsible and alarming. Kaunda was on 3 January quoted saying Zambia will experience bloody violence if Government does not put measures in place to stop it.

Somali pirates have hijacked a Mozambican-flagged fishing vessel about 200 nautical miles (370 km) southwest of Comoros in the Indian Ocean, the European Union's anti-piracy taskforce said at the beginning of January. The capture of the 140-tonne Vega 5 and its 14-strong crew of unknown nationalities is the second successful strike by pirates off the northern tip of Madagascar in a week.

There’s a nagging misconception that all significant environmental progress begins in wealthy nations, which then shoulder the noble task of aiding and arm-twisting poor nations to do their share in taking care of the planet. But the developing world doesn’t simply do less of what’s wrong, they also have taken some bold steps in embracing a greener future, writes Jay Walljasper on Just last month Kenya adopted a 'new constitution' that declares in Article 42, 'Every person has the right to a clean and healthy environment, which includes the right—a) to have the environment protected for the benefit of present and future generations through legislative and other measures.'

If Mugabe were to call an election in 2011, it would be widely viewed as a political attack on South African President Jacob Zuma, says a new political brief from Idasa. 'South Africa and SADC would not support any such movement by Mugabe or Zanu PF. It must be noted that political activity has not been banned, a signal that an election may not be imminent. Finally, if a constitutional referendum is not held before a fresh election, it would likely prove very difficult to mobilise the population.'

More than 5,000 Mauritanian refugees, intending to return home following a tripartite agreement between the governments of Senegal and Mauritania and the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), signed in November 2007, have expressed uncertainty in the move, PANA has reported. Mamadou Wane, spokesman for the Steering Committee of Coordination of the Associations of the Mauritanian Refugees in Senegal, said no information had been given to the UNHCR representative in Dakar to assure the 5,000 Mauritanian refugees awaiting repatriation.

Fahamu and UHAI are co-organising a training programme called the Movement Building Boot Camp. The goal of the MBBC is to grow and strengthen the base of leadership among East African activists working on sexual rights and LGBTI rights. As part of this, the training will build and deepen skills and knowledge on issues of sexuality, gender and human rights, power and accountability. Please do note that this Movement Building Boot Camp is for East African activists only.

For more information and to participate in this exciting and novel journey, kindly fill in the online application form () by 22 January 2011.

To many people Facebook is a tool to announce what they are doing or what they have done, yet to some Zambians, it is being used as ‘Agony Aunt’ from which they are seeking advice on many social problems affecting them, reports Global Voices. A social work graduate from the University of Zambia, Tina Banda, started a Facebook page called Real Life and Hot Issues Discussion Forum with Tina Banda on which a number of topics are posted everyday and responses given by other Facebook users.

In Zambia, a silver lining has emerged for widespread rural hunger and poverty, thanks to homegrown agricultural research. Local scientists have successfully developed four new, early-maturing and high- yielding cassava cultivars in an ambitious research project conducted in the cassava-rich Luapula Province, under the on-going Root and Tuber Improvement Programme (RTIP).

Through an initiative by called 'Treasures we Bring' migrants of all kinds - refugees, economic migrants, students, cross border or from one city to the next - are being invited to share their stories thorough video testimonies about a treasured object that represents where they come from, their journey, their challenges, and their hope for the future.

By telling these stories, the videos aim to show how migrants bring a wealth of diversity, talent, and skills to their new homes, while also sharing the histories of the personal objects that they consider to be treasures.

The recorded videos are uploaded to

This edition includes the articles:

- The extraversion of protest: conditions, history and use of the ‘international’ in Africa,
Marie-Emmanuelle Pommerolle
- Internal dynamics, the state, and recourse to external aid: towards a historical sociology of the peasant movement in Senegal since the 1960s
- Peasant struggles in Mali: from defending cotton producers’ interests to becoming part of the Malian power structures by Alexis Roy.

Click on the link provided to access the journal.

Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos at the end of 2010 gave a state-of-the-nation address to the citizenry in Luanda, a move analysts say was doubtlessly informed by the looming 2012 general election. Dos Santos, who has ruled Angola for 30 years, focused his end-year speech on the polls. Under the terms of the new constitution which was approved early this year, dos Santos will not face a direct presidential election. He will instead be automatically elected from the top of legislative poll lists.

Wikileaks has revealed diplomatic cables complaining of favouritism and suspicion of corruption in the manner Air Tanzania Company Limited (ATCL) went about shopping for jetliners for its ageing fleet four years ago. The newspaper report titled: 'Diplomats Help Push Sales of Jetliners on the Global Market. Tanzania and the Fight to Stop Airbus Sale,' said Boeing executives, at times, were pressed by foreign government officials and airline executives to hire 'agents' or other intermediaries to help deliver a sale.

The future of Zimbabweans without legal documentation in South Africa is uncertain, after a brief window to regularise their stay in the country slammed shut last week. The South African government has said more than 232,000 Zimbabweans applied to legalise their stay in the country before the December 31st deadline passed last Friday. This means that an estimated million Zim nationals who live in South Africa have missed this opportunity to apply for relevant work or study permits.

The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information has said that the bombing of a church in Alexandria proves that the emergency law imposed on Egypt for 30 years has not provided security and safety to Egyptians. 'This law resulted in nothing but an acute retreat in civil and political freedoms and wasting rights of Muslim and Christian Egyptians.'

In the last six years, there has been a dramatic increase in foreign investment in land deals across Africa and the Malibya deal - a 50-year lease agreed by the Malian and Libyan Presidents - has become totemic of the fear that this new phenomenon of land grabbing will deprive subsistence farmers of their land and their food, reports The Guardian. Mali is one of the countries most affected by the scramble for land, and Segou, the country’s rice basket, is at the eye of the storm, with buyers from Senegal, South Africa, and Asia, as well as domestic companies snapping up leases on thousands of hectares.

South Africa may start deporting more than 1.2 million Zimbabweans in April after they missed a deadline to legalise their residency, Lawyers For Human Rights said. Almost 255,000 Zimbabweans applied to legalise their residency before the 31 December deadline, South Africa’s government said while ruling out an extension to the process. A 'conservative' estimate by Johannesburg’s University of The Witwatersrand is that there are 1.5 million Zimbabweans in South Africa.

Tunisian lawyers have been making a stand throughout protests in that country - and paying the price for it. The lawyers have been protesting regularly to denounce what happened in Sidi Bouzid and the social situation in Tunisia. This is why the government has decided to ‘punish’ them. Every day, news of the kidnapping, arrest, or assault of lawyers is surfacing on social networking sites, report bloggers via Global Voices.

The second India-Africa Forum Summit takes place in 2011, three years after the inaugural event in New Delhi. Sub-Saharan Africa’s exports to India have almost trebled over the past five years and Indian-African business links – particularly in energy resources, precious metals and uranium – have boomed. This paper from Chatham House assesses the prospects for the 2011 India–Africa Forum.