Rome-based UN agencies have resolved to work together to revamp the fight against hunger, PANA reported from here. The senior managers, drawn from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), International Food for Agriculture Development (IFAD) and the World Food Programme (WFP), were led by among others, the FAO Director General Jacques Diouf.

Edited by William Gumede and Leslie Dikeni, 'The Poverty of Ideas: South African Democracy and the Retreat of Intellectuals' is now available from Jacana Media.

‘I write as a fellow African to take a stand with the people of Guinea and to let you know that Guinea and Africa as a whole are better off without you in power', Mawuli Dake says in an open letter to Guinea’s President Camara. Referring to the events of 28 September, Dake writes that the ‘horrendous massacre and flagrant abuse of human rights’ by men under Camara’s command, combined with the president’s ‘lamentable attempt to absolve’ himself of any responsibility by asserting that he ‘cannot control the security forces and their actions’, clearly make him ‘incapable and disinclined to remain in power as leader of Guinea'.

Equality Now, a New Field partner, is releasing a new film about female genital mutilation (FGM) entitled “Africa Rising.” The film is showing this week in New York, San Francisco, and Boston, USA. The film is not currently available for sale, but a trailer can be immediately viewed online.

Applications are invited from suitably qualified and experienced person to fill in the position of Administration Officer at the Legal Resources Foundation with immediate effect. This is a contract of 4 to 6 months. The closing date for this vacancy 13 November 2009.

In the 21st century it may seem ludricrous to even consider the possibility of an increase in violence against women. The fact that we have come so far in terms of creating really good legislation, has not necessarily resulted in the scale of impact envisaged. In most countries, on any given day newspaper headlines alerts us to the reality that women still face attacks on their bodies on a daily basis.

Aggressive moves by China, South Korea and Gulf states to buy vast tracts of agricultural land in sub-Saharan Africa could soon be limited by a new global international protocol. A scramble for African farmland has in recent years seen the equivalent of Italy’s entire arable land hoovered up by businesses from emerging economies.

Fana Soumah, a television newscaster with the state-owned Guinean Broadcasting Corporation, was violently assaulted by a soldier in Conakry, the Guinean capital, the sub-regional rights body, Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), said in a statement.

Civil Society Organisations from across the Commonwealth and beyond meeting in London on 13 October 2009 have issued a strong message to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2009 regarding their obligation to protect and uphold human rights and fundamental freedoms, as enshrined in the 1971 Declaration of Commonwealth Principles and other subsequent Commonwealth communiqués and declarations.

(www.pambazuka.org) is an award-winning social justice e-newsletter and website that is produced by a community of some 1800 commentators, bloggers, activists and academics. It is published by Fahamu (www.fahamu.org), an Oxford-based charity.

In order to improve the usability of the site’s online database of 55,000 records, which has been built up over the last ten years, we are seeking an experienced indexer whose task will be to assign keywords using an established cataloguing system (e.g. such as used by the Library of Congress) and to develop a thesaurus of key words for classifying new articles as they are added to the database. The person would also be required to provide similar services for the growing list of books published by Pambazuka Press (www.pambazukapress.org). The person would also be expected to train and work alongside volunteers/interns.

The post would ideally be full-time for the first three months, and part-time thereafter. Remuneration according to experience. Closing date for applications: 1 December 2009.

Applications in writing with CV and references to [email]fahamujobs@googlemail.com

Fahamu Trust is a registered UK charity (no. 1100304).
2nd floor, 51 Cornmarket St, Oxford OX1 3HA

The convictions of Pierre Falcone, Arcadi Gaydamak, ex-president's son Jean-Christophe Mitterrand and Charles Pasqua in a French court for arms trafficking to Angola have exposed the impunity with which arms traffickers supplied weapons to Angola during its 27-year civil war.

A new online collection of testimonies reveal that while communities in Anosy, southern Madagascar have been living with the challenges of increasing drought for some time, it is the impact of an ilmenite mining operation that has exacerbated their feelings of powerlessness and fears for the future.

On 14 October 2009 a bill entitled the 'Anti-Homosexuality Bill' was tabled before the Ugandan parliament titled the . The bill is aimed at increasing and expanding penalties for 'homosexual acts' and for all institutions (including NGOs, donors and private companies) who defend the rights of people who engage in sexual relations with people of the same gender.

There have been many reports in recent times on diamond extraction and trade in Marange from national, regional and international organisations. Most of these reports have focussed on the role of government in trying to halt the illegal extraction, on networks of powerful political figures that control the trade, and on the impact on the economy of the country and compliance with the Kimberley Process.

The UN Deputy Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Southern Sudan, Lise Grande, has welcomed the first-ever rescue, by the Southern Sudan Police Service, of 28 abducted children in Pibor County, Jonglei State. The children, aged between 2 and 14 years, were released on late last month.

Cheikh Tidiane Dièye

In what has been described as the final death of state sponsored AIDS denialism, President Jacob Zuma has delivered a historic speech in the National Council of Provinces acknowledging that the country was not winning the war against the disease and that extraordinary measures were needed.

Measures to reduce loss to follow-up in antiretroviral treatment programmes such as abolishing user fees, paying transportation costs, providing meals and improving staff training would be cost-effective even if they prevented less than half of patients from failing to return to the clinic, according to projections based on data from Côte d’Ivoire.

A recent round of talks has failed to achieve agreement between Morocco's unions and the government on several of organised labour's key demands. Moroccan Prime Minister Abbas El Fassi began his annual "Social Dialogue" with leading Moroccan unions on Monday (October 26th) in Rabat.

"Keep Your Chats Exactly That!" is a campaign by Women'sNet and Girls'Net that aims to empower young people in the use of the internet and cell phones. It looks at both strategies of prevention from harassment, bullying and violence, as well as strategies for using ICTs in affirmative ways to advocate for change on issues that concern them.