Deputy Prime Minister, Arthur Mutambara on Wednesday said the two MDC formations have no power to stop continued abuses of power by ZANU PF, and said the parties have no control in the unity government. Mutambara, who was speaking at a Commercial Farmers Union (CFU) congress on Wednesday, said the MDC’s efforts to influence positive change in Zimbabwe were being frustrated by ZANU PF loyalists fervently opposed to the coalition with the MDC.

The Kenyan government has given Ogiek communities living in the Mau forest until mid September to abandon their homes or face arrest. Police officers have been stationed around the forest in preparation. The Mau forest has been severely degraded in recent years, largely due to an influx of logging companies and illegal settlers exploiting the area’s resources. The Kenyan government has decided to combat this problem by evicting everyone, including the Ogiek people who have lived there for centuries.

The Division of Dramatic Art in collaboration with Drama for Life, Wits School of the Arts, is organising the 2009 Africa Research Conference in Applied Drama and Theatre. This year's conference will aim to facilitate dialogue across disciplines concerning the role of Drama and Theatre in HIV/AIDS education, prevention and rehabilitation.

Malawi’s Constitution Amendment Bill banning homosexual marriages was passed in July this year, during a parliamentary sitting to pass the 2009/2010 budget. During this sitting Member of parliament, Edwin Banda proposed that the constitution should include a clause stipulating that Malawi is a “God fearing nation”, a phrase that would cast homosexuality out as it is said to be ungodly.

The British Department of International Development (DFID) has committed £20 million that will support a land registration programme for Rwanda. The five-year project will see million of Rwandans attain certified rights to land as well as create a data base of land ownership in the east African state.

The African Studies Association of India is proud to announce a seminar; South Africa under Globalization: Issues in Foreign Policy and Development, to be held at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, on 11 to 12 November 2009.he proposed seminar seeks to address the issues related to foreign policy and development in South Africa under globalisation.

Tensions over the future of the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) and trade relations with the EU are rising, as reflected in the plethora of recent media reports. Unfortunately they are so complex that they defy simple categorisation. The most difficult problem concerns the future of revenue distribution within SACU. South Africa substantially subsidises the smaller members - particularly Lesotho and Swaziland - and the South African Treasury is uncomfortable with the subsidy’s extent, given competing domestic fiscal demands.

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/445/58272_Kakuma_camp.tmb.jpgAs part of a global campaign to end the ‘warehousing’ of refugees, Merrill Smith, director of government relations and international advocacy for the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, speaks to KANERE (Kakuma News Reflector) about the UNHCR’s position on the practice, the campaign’s most significant successes so far, and the role of a free refugee press in ending warehousing.

Since the global financial crisis hit the mining industry, a dramatic decline in the demand for commodities and the closure of certain operations have seen an increase in the illegal mining trade in Africa. Angola’s law enforcement authorities have reported that more than 6 000 foreign nationals, who were caught illegally digging for diamonds in the country’s north-eastern region of Lunda Norte, have been deported since the beginning of 2009.

Human development is about putting people at the centre of development. It is about people realizing their potential, increasing their choices and enjoying the freedom to lead lives they value. Since 1990, annual Human Development Reports have explored challenges including poverty, gender, democracy, human rights, cultural liberty, globalization, water scarcity and climate change.

Gabon is a sparsely populated country covered mostly in rainforest – just 1½ million people live here. That, and the fact that oil wealth has made per capita income higher in Gabon than most other African countries, are some of the reasons why its natural wonders are so well preserved. But the oil is running out and the government has started selling other mineral resources to foreign investors, which means destroying large tracts of forest.

Four African Heads of State have drawn the attention of President Barack Obama's Administration to the fact that Africa as a continent was seeking partnership and not patronage. A release from the World Bank Office in Accra on Wednesday said President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia; President Paul Kagame of Rwanda; President Seretse Khama Ian Khama of Botswana and President Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal said this in a joint statement.

On the occasion of African Women’s Day, the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and Media Rights Agenda wish to draw the attention of the Nigerian authorities to the urgent need to address the situation of women and girls victims of gender-based violence and discrimination, in particular sexual abuse.

Nine years since the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) was enacted, Kenya is yet to fully benefit from the legislation. Although the country’s slow pace of economic reforms and growth are largely to blame, US stringent import policies have also undermined the benefits. The Ministry of Trade says Kenya’s volume of exports to the US have been minimal. For instance, in 2006, export to the US amounted to Sh21 billion and Sh19.3 billion in 2007 against imports of Sh24.7 billion in 2006 and Sh44.5 billion in 2007.

The Gender and Media Diversity Journal is the biennial journal of the Gender and Media Diversity Centre (GMDC). The GMDC is a physical and virtual resource centre based in Southern Africa, managed by Gender Links and the Gender and Media Southern Africa (GEMSA) Network, with linkages in Africa and across the globe. The journal is an intellectual but not academic journal. It provides up-to-date and cutting edge information on media diversity in Southern Africa and the space for the dissemination of research findings and projects; case studies; campaigns; policy developments; and opinion and debate on media practice in the region.

The Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society at The Graduate Center of The City University of New York is accepting applications for the spring 2010 Emerging Leaders International Fellows Program. This program provides nonprofit sector leadership training through seminars, applied research and mentorships. The program is designed for young scholars and practitioners from outside the United States who are interested in building Third-Sector capacity in their home countries or regions. The deadline for receipt of application materials is September 3, 2009.

A private oil company in Angola, given permission by the state oil company Sonangol to bid for potentially lucrative oil rights, has shareholders with the same names as Sonangol's chairman and other top officials, Global Witness has learned. Angola is one of the two top oil-producing countries in sub-Saharan Africa but most of its people still live in dire poverty.

Despite Sudan being a signatory to the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People's Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, its discriminatory laws against women contradict the declared government commitment to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) signed on 9 January 2005 and the National Interim Constitution. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) - which Sudan acceded in 1986 - prohibits torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment such as flogging and protects women's rights to be free from discrimination based on sex.

The Pan-African Reading for All (RFA) Conference is one of the most exciting and most memorable literacy events on the African continent. It is organized bi-annually by the International Reading Association’s International Development Committee in Africa (IRA/IDAC) and the National Reading Association in the host country. Under the theme: “Literacy for Community Based Socio-economic Transformation and Development” participants from all over the world will converge in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania from August 10th – 14th, 2009 to share their experiences in literacy and reading promotion initiatives and practices from different countries.

Horn Relief is an international African based development and humanitarian organization which focuses on increasing sustainable livelihoods for (agro-) pastoralists and coastal communities in Somalia as well as cross-border areas in neighboring countries. Presently it has programmes focusing on water & sanitation, food security, non-formal education, vocational training, cash based responses, as well as other humanitarian emergency interventions.Horn Relief is looking for a Fundraising and Information Coordinator.