Sometimes, racist people commit acts which are as stupid as they are outrageous. However, violent forms of racism and discrimination is only the tip of the iceberg. Beneath the surface of apparent equality, people belonging to ethnic, religious, sexual or any other minorities, continue to be confronted with various forms of intolerance and discrimination. The vicious circle of popular bigotry and populist politicians finds easy victims in any group of people who fall outside the prejudiced perception of “normality”.

Although the number of people internally displaced within their own countries by conflict decreased slightly during 2005, the global internal displacement crisis remained at an alarming level, according to a new report published by the Norwegian Refugee Council’s Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre. “The report clearly shows that most governments in countries affected by conflict fail to live up to their responsibility to prevent arbitrary displacement and ensure the safety and well-being of their displaced citizens,” said Elisabeth Rasmusson, head of the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre.

The threat of HIV/Aids on the global economy in the next five years is likely to cause severe losses, according to the World Economic Forum Report 2006. Business losses are predicted at 46 percent from 2005 compared to 37 percent as at 2004. "Future concern is rising about the expected impact of HIV/Aids on firms' operations over the next five years," reads in part the World Economic Forum (WEF) Report 2006 titled: Business & HIV/AIDS: A healthier partnership?

Uganda, like other sub-saharan African countries, still faces the challenge of keeping the inflation rate below 10% and holding the shilling at bay against the dollar at the expense of poor medical care, substandard education, poor road network, rampant unemployment and having millions of the population still living on one dollar a day. Participants at the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) roundtable meeting on debt relief and the challenges of increased aid in Lusaka, Zambia over the weekend agreed that there was need for increased debt relief instead of increased aid inflows.

"A heap of garbage," was Justice James Ogoola's description of the accountability rendered for the millions spent by the three ministers of health in purported supervision of Global Fund activities in Uganda. "Utter rubbish," Bank of Uganda Governor Tumusiime Mutebile summed up state minister for general duties Mike Mukula's attempts to exonerate himself from responsibility of accounting for the money. This was a session of Justice Ogoola's commission of inquiry into the alleged mismanagement of the Global Fund against Aids, Malaria and Tuberculosis, which was thrown into shock by Mukula when he said the money was never misused.

Nearly one-fifth of the world’s adult population – 771 million adults – lack the basic literacy skills vital to improve their livelihoods, according to the EFA Global Monitoring Report released in November 2005. But where does this number come from? Does it include migrant workers, nomads or refugees? And how accurate is it? The Report makes cross-national comparison of literacy using data compiled by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). About two-thirds of the country statistics come from nationally-reported figures based on national censuses or surveys.

Less than a decade remains for countries to reach the ambitious targets laid out in the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) -- agreed on by global leaders at a summit in 2000. The eight MDGs focus on halving the number of people living in extreme hunger and poverty, achieving universal primary education, promoting gender equality and reducing child mortality, all by 2015. They also aim to improve maternal health, combat disease, ensure environmental sustainability and develop partnerships that can tackle issues such as unfair global trade rules, and debt in developing countries. To get a sense of what progress is being made towards achieving the MDGs, Walter Kudzodzi spoke to Tetteh Homeku, director of programmes at the Accra-based Third World Network-Africa (TWN-Africa).

The United Nations' new Human Rights Council - created Wednesday (March 15) with a 170-4 vote in the General Assembly - will launch in June, with advocates saying they hope it will be effective at confronting countries that abuse their own people. The US, which voted against the new entity citing concerns it will not be strong enough, nevertheless agreed Wednesday to help fund the council and work toward making it "as strong and effective as it can be."

Indigenous and tribal peoples represent about 5 per cent of the world's population, but over 15 per cent of the world's poor. The incidence of extreme poverty is higher among them than among other social groups and they generally benefit much less than others from overall declines in poverty. This paper reports on an ethnic "audit" of 14 PRSPs (poverty reduction strategy papers) in 14 countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Its goal is to ascertain whether and how the rights, needs and aspirations of indigenous and tribal peoples have been taken into account and whether they have been involved in the consultations leading to the formation of the PRSPs.

In the last five years, the number of asylum-seekers arriving in all industrialized countries has fallen by half, according to preliminary annual figures released by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), who said this trend should spark reflection in the industrialized world about the fate of those in need of protection. Asylum applications in 50 industrialized countries fell sharply for the fourth year in a row in 2005, reaching their lowest level in almost two decades, the agency said, attributing this to more stable situations in many areas of the world but also to increasingly restrictive asylum policies.

A controversial South African multimillionaire and convicted fraudster has been ordered to answer questions about his involvement in the shadowy DRC mining industry. And the Pretoria High Court order, which will force Niko Shefer to take the stand, also promises to uncover how figures within the local mining company became embroiled with the Democratic Republic of Congo's state mining company, Gecamines.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is seeking to broaden its donor base to meet increasing needs. The deputy high commissioner of UNHCR, Wendy Chamberlin, said the agency was suffering financial stress owing to the rising needs. Chamberlin, on a tour of East Africa, was accompanied by five top executives of leading trans national corporations.

A 20-year-old fractious conflict centered in Northern Uganda that has displaced 1.7 million people is receiving renewed attention from the United States, United Nations and other international organizations. What the United States and other world bodies can or cannot do to help resolve this crisis, which has resulted in close to 30,000 child abductees and set the scene for heinous forms of torture and murder, was discussed at a March 9 event sponsored by the Congressional Human Rights Caucus.

Tanzania's Williamson Diamonds Limited (WDL), will soon start providing antiretroviral therapy to employees, their families and people living in the surrounding villages. A medical officer-in-charge of the Mwadui Hospital, said the voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) centre at the hospital would offer antiretroviral therapy, now that it has secured clearance from the Tanzania Commission for AIDS (TACAIDS).

Britain has thrown its weight behind recent decisions by international lenders to delay aid to Kenya. High commissioner Adam Wood said Britain was a key partner of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) and would, therefore, support their conditions. The Bretton Woods institutions have withheld the funding to press the Government to act tougher on corruption and reforms. At the weekend, World Bank country director Collin Bruce said Kenya stood to miss out on close to Sh15 billion in aid if it did not speed up economic reforms.

I am shocked to read that African countries are suffering from Chinese textile imports. (China in Africa - the new imperialism? Stephen Marks) It seems that the Chinese textile industry is simply wiping out its African competitors . Italian textile and shoe manufacturing is facing same hard competition from China. Here, in Italy, we blame the low-paid, hard-working Chinese workers. Should we think Africa is a worker's paradise, where people earn a high-salary for a few working hours?

Instead, is the Chinese textile invasion due to a commercial factor? I mean they sell their manufacturing surpluses at a low-price to African markets. Is the Chinese textile invasion due to a manufacturing factor? I mean African factories are badly managed and use obsolete technology .

Editors' Reply: It's a bit of a generalisation to say that African factories are badly managed and use obsolete technology, especially when the conditions for that manufacturing sector have been undermined. What comes first: People or Profits? In the case of Chinese textile imports, surely the issue is that in a sector where a local industry has been developed it does enormous damage when a global economic giant such as China - which can produce at a far lower cost, certainly not because of any advanced labour rights standards - is allowed to undercut local industry at huge social and economic costs to workers. What is fascinating is that there is such vehemence against the impact of China in Africa, yet the same outrage is sometimes lacking when it is USA, Europe or other advanced capitalist countries doing the same.

More aid is being channelled to the poorest countries. Donors are coordinating efforts around nationally-owned, sector-wide policies. But what do these new rules mean for middle income countries? Do they still need aid? If so, how should it be administered?

Human Rights First, formerly known as the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, is a US-based advocacy group that works to advance justice, human dignity and respect for the rule of law. It runs an Asylum Legal Representation Program that matches volunteer American lawyers with refugees seeking asylum in the United States.

Literacy is recognised as a human right and the foundation for all further learning. However, complacent policymakers keep nearly a fifth of the world's adult population on the sidelines of society and limit progress towards poverty reduction. Action is needed to increase programmes and encourage the meaningful use of literacy.

Companies that develop drugs to treat diseases of poor countries such as malaria should be rewarded with vouchers that might speed up government review of far more lucrative drugs, researchers proposed on Tuesday (March 7). Another set of researchers suggested that rich countries subsidize the use of the most effective drugs to fight malaria in poorer nations. Both reports, published in the journal Health Affairs, are aimed at finding ways to eradicate easy-to-treat diseases that persist because there is little profit in fighting them.