In the weeks immediately following the June 2008 presidential elections in Zimbabwe, AIDS-Free World received an urgent call from a Harare-based organization working on behalf of women and girls. They believed that hundreds and possibly thousands of women had been raped by members of President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party as a strategy to influence the election, and sought help from AIDS-Free World in documenting these crimes.

Kenyan security forces shot in the air and fired tear gas at hundreds of people protesting in the capital on Friday against the detention of Jamaican Muslim cleric Sheikh Abdullah al-Faisal. The protesters, chanting "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest) and some holding the flag of Somali rebel group al Shabaab, were blocked by police with dogs as they tried to march through the heart of Nairobi after prayers at the downtown mosque.

Namibia’s National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) is gravely appalled by what appears to be an escalating spate of misguided and, sometimes, punitive attacks on the independence of judges in the country.

Chérif Salif Sy

The 31st Durban International Film Festival (22 July - 2 August 2010) is proud to announce the 3rd edition of Talent Campus Durban from 23 - 27 July 2010, an intensive 5-day programme of workshops and seminars delivered by film professionals to enhance both theoretical and practical approaches to filmmaking.

The Center for African Studies (ISCTE / Lisbon University Institute) and the Center for African Studies of the University of Porto are organizing the 7th Iberian Congress of African Studies which will be hosted by ISCTE / Lisbon University Institute between 9 and 11 September 2010.

The Refugee Law Project announces the following vacancies: Karamoja Research and Advocacy Officer, Transitional Justice Lawyer, ATJRN Research and Advocacy Officer Deportation Researcher, Administration & Human Resource Assistant, Pool Research Assistant,Functional Adult Literacy - Volunteer English Teacher, and Video Advocacy Volunteer.
Interested candidates must submit an application letter, curriculum vitae, copies of relevant academic documents to:
The Head of Finance, Administration & Human Resources
Refugee Law Project, Faculty of Law, MUK
Plot No. 9 Perryman Gardens (Opp. Old Kampala Primary School) Old Kampala
P. O. Box 33903,Kampala

Email applications should be sent to: [email]recruitment@refugeelawproject.org

Deadline for receipt of applications is 22nd January 2010 at 5.00pm

Egyptian experts have completed a mission in Kinshas a aimed at evaluating the construction of an ultra-modern hospital and hydro-electric power in DR Congo by Egypt.These projects are efforts to contribute to the accessibility of quality care and provision of electric power supply in DR Congo.

Grasslands have vast untapped potential to mitigate climate change by absorbing and storing Carbon Dioxide (CO2), according to a new report by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

South Sudan leader Salva Kiir is to seek re-election in that post rather than tackling Omar al-Bashir for the national presidency, his party says. The SPLM will instead field a northern Muslim, Yassir Arman, in the national elections due in April.

The Namibian Police and or the Office of Prosecutor General as well as the Lower Criminal Division of the Namibian Judiciary are making themselves vulnerable to charges of discrimination and political bias, owing to the inconsistency with which they are handling certain criminal cases.

The Harare International Festival of the Arts (HIFA) began in 1999 and has received an enthusiastic response from Zimbabwean audiences, participating artists as well as local/regional and international media. The event celebrates the finest Zimbabwean and international music, theatre, spoken word, dance and visual and applied arts.

'We cannot imagine life now without a mobile phone' is a frequent comment when Africans are asked about mobile phones. They have become part and parcel of the communication landscape in many urban and rural areas of Africa and the growth of mobile telephony is amazing: from 1 in 50 people being users in 2000 to 1 in 3 in 2008. Such growth is impressive but it does not even begin to tell us about the many ways in which mobile phones are being appropriated by Africans and how they are transforming or are being transformed by society in Africa. This volume ventures into such appropriation and mutual shaping.

The Music Crossroads program was initiated in 1995 by Jeunesses Musicales International (JMI), the world's largest youth-music network. Music Crossroads is going to lead a research on the creative sector as well as a feasibility study/search for partnership for Music Crossroads International in Mali, Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana and Cape Vert.

Addis Ababa is selling vast fertile swaths to international companies in effort to introduce large-scale commercial agriculture.

Two months after being re-elected for a fifth five-year term, president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali has reshuffled his cabinet with the departure of several known figures.

Namibia's national broadcaster's Director-General (DG) Mathew Gowaseb has quit his job, becoming the third DG to leave the public broadcaster in one year. Media reports said that Gowaseb, who was appointed in acting capacity at the Namibia Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) last year, had thrown in the towel citing political interference.

Cote d'Ivoire's government has ordered an investigation into allegations of fraud by the electoral commission. Last weekend, President Laurent Gbagbo accused the commission of trying to register hundreds of thousands of ineligible people.

is an authoritative analytical web site which assesses, analyzes and documents conflict situations so as to keep up Africa regional issues in focus internationally. It's goals are to improve overall availability of political, security and defense related information in policy circles and the public domain through research, analysis and development of policy options.

This manual is designed to help NGOs in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) who may be interested in the field of Human Rights but feel that they do not know enough about it or where to start.