Pambazuka News (http://www.pambazuka.org) is the award winning pan African platform for social justice. We seek to establish Pan African social networking platform as the hub of social activism across the continent – an independent, self-financing Pan African social network and community of members comprising social justice activists, engaged intellectuals and institutions that have similar missions to those of Pambazuka News.

We are seeking an experienced Web 2.0 technologist to project manage the implementation of the platform which is to be developed externally. We see this position as someone who can turn our overall vision of PZ2.0 into reality by providing us the optimum yet futuristic technological platform and functionalities. Closing date for applications: August 15, 2009.

Niger's president has said he will not bow to foreign pressure to abandon his attempt to hold a referendum on whether he can serve a third term in office. Mamadou Tandja told state TV the threat of sanctions would not deter him from doing what was right for the people.

HIV rates among gay men in some African countries are 10 times higher than among the general male population, says research in medical journal the Lancet. The report said prejudice towards gay people was leading to isolation and harassment, which in turn led to risky sexual practices among gay communities.

A little over 18 years ago, when the ruling Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) came to power, people were so eager to exercise democracy that even children started to challenge their parents saying "this is my democratic right". Perhaps it was too good to last. Earlier this month a new anti-terror law was passed, granting sweeping powers to the state to detain people it deems threatening. It follows closely on the heels of legislation that severely restricted the operations of NGOs working human rights issues.

Aid workers are finding it increasingly difficult to gain access and provide assistance to residents of the Somali capital because of the worsening conflict there, the United Nations refugee agency has reported. This week’s scheduled distribution of 4,000 aid kits in Mogadishu and surrounding areas had to be postponed because of security concerns, UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) spokesman Ron Redmond told journalists in Geneva.

Clashes in central Somalia and the capital have killed at least 46 people, officials and peace groups have said, while a newly-appointed security minister pledged to build strong national security forces. Meanwhile, the African Union (AU) said it was investigating a mystery illness that had killed three Burundian peacekeepers based in Somalia. Eighteen more were in a Kenyan hospital with the same symptoms, an AU official said.

A major decrease in the childhood mortality rate in children under the age of two (U2CMR), observed between 2001 and 2006 in northern rural KwaZulu Natal, South Africa, was associated with the rollout of antiretroviral therapy (ART) in that region, according to a presentation made at IAS 2009 in Cape Town this week. Although some of the benefit may have been due to the introduction of programmes to prevent vertical (mother to child) transmission in 2001, researchers found that it was most strongly associated with maternal access to ART.

A landmark meeting in New York, co-organized by the UN refugee agency, has given important impetus to efforts to eradicate discrimination against forcibly displaced and stateless females, including rape, domestic violence and other abuses.

Trial to the murder of Eudy Simelane is resuming at Delmas Circuit Court on 29 – 31 July 2009. This time only three of the four accused, who pleaded not guilty, will appear in court as one of the accused who pleaded guilty is already serving a 31 years sentence. The remaining co-accused Khumbulani Magagula, Johannes Mahlangu and Themba Mvubu are facing charges of robbery with aggravating circumstances, rape and murder.

The Swaziland cabinet has endorsed a harsh law imposing fine of E50, 000 ($6, 500) for persons convicted of perpetrating domestic violence. The proposed legislation, Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Bill of 2009 which is yet to be tabled in parliament, further says should the convict fail to pay the fine, they should faces up to 10 years in jail.

On 14 July 2009, freelance photojournalist Andrisson Manyere and 15 members of the Movement for Democratic Change-T (MDC-T) filed a lawsuit with the High Court demanding compensation in the amount of US$19.2 million from the Co-Ministers of Home Affairs and State Security agents, following their alleged abduction, unlawful detention and deprivation of liberty.

Two scarcely noticed events occurred in Nigeria and Botswana at the end of last week that signal the growing speed and strength of a new "scramble for Africa" among the world's big powers, who are tapping into the continent for its oil, iron ore, timber, gold, diamonds and other natural resources. At Nigeria's Defence Intelligence School in Karu, near the capital Abuja, 30 military officers from seven African countries graduated from a training course designed to meet the "rapidly changing security complexities" of their nations "and the continent at large".

The International Budget Partnership (IBP) was formed in 1997 to collaborate with civil society organizations in developing and transition countries to analyze, monitor, and influence government budget processes, institutions, and outcomes. The aim of the Partnership is to make budget systems more responsive to the needs of poor and low-income people in society and, accordingly, to make these systems more transparent and accountable to the public.

The Zimbabwe Women Resource Centre and Network (ZWRCN) is seeking a competent, experienced and self motivated individual for the position of Receptionist/Secretary. ZWRCN is an information-based organization with a focus on research, collection, analysis, processing and dissemination of information on gender and development. The organization’s strategic interventions aim to empower women, strengthen inter-organizational networking of gender and development agencies and promote the women’s movement in Zimbabwe.

The Secretariat for the International Conference on African Culture and Development (ICACD) invites you to submit abstracts / presentation ideas for ICACD 2009 – . Academics, artists, cultural and development workers, Government agencies and policy makers and all people committed to working to see Culture included on all development agendas are encouraged to submit their abstracts or ideas. ICACD 2009 will be held in Accra, Ghana November 15th to 18th 2009.

The construction of a two billion dollar dam in Metolong, some 35 kilometres outside of Lesotho’s capital Maseru, is being welcomed by people in and around the city who will gain access to clean and safe drinking water when construction is completed in 2013. But for 250 rural families who will lose access to land and natural resources - some will be forced to relocate to make way for roads, power lines and other infrastructural development during construction - the dam is bad news.

Kenya's private sector-backed SEACOM fibre optic cable has gone ‘live’ in five of the 11 countries that it is to connect. The 17,000-kilometre cable, linking South and East Africa to global networks through India and Europe, was commissioned in Kenya, South Africa, India, Tanzania and Mozambique simultaneously. It went live in the port city of Mombasa.

China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., the country’s largest refiner, and CNOOC Ltd. agreed to buy a 20 percent stake in Angola’s offshore deepwater Block 32 for $1.3 billion from Marathon Oil Corp. Marathon, the fourth-largest U.S. oil company, will keep a 10 percent interest in the block, site of 12 announced petroleum discoveries, after the sale, which is expected to close by year- end, the companies said today in separate statements.

Currently, the country of Honduras in Central America is experiencing its worst political crisis in decades. In the aftermath of the military coup that forcibly removed President Manuel Zelaya Rosales, there have been various developments that have raised our concern about the security of citizens’ rights and the impact of the situation on people of African descent.

The Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) would like to comment on the ongoing debate about prosecution of perpetrators and financiers responsible for the post-election violence versus the role of the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC) in handling the question of justice. To begin with, KHRC wishes to remind Kenyans that the post-election violence as result of the disputed presidential elections in December 2007 led to massive deaths, displacement, injuries and destruction of property.