The foundation seeks to hire a full-time program officer to work in its International Development Program. The person filling the position will be primarily concerned with the program interests in strengthening selected African universities, but will also participate in program considerations in the other program areas: enhancing women’s opportunities in higher education; and revitalizing public libraries.

International marriage brokers leave little doubt about what they're selling. ''Her life is centered around her family, her husband and children (similar to American women from generations past). These women would rather compliment her man than compete with him,” reads the ad on the Web site of TLC Worldwide, a Houston marriage broker. For decades foreign mail-order brides have been marketed as quiet, submissive and easily controlled. Such women have also frequently fallen prey to serial abusers who relied on an unregulated industry to secure a continuous supply of women. While there are no firm figures on how many women in brokered marriages wind up abused, a 2003 survey of 175 legal service providers by The Tahirih Justice Center indicated that more than 50 percent were serving or had served women who met their spouses through a broker.

The successes and challenges of online education in the developing world are the focus of "Online Education: What Can It Deliver?" launched this week. Educational resources available via the Internet, from online course materials to virtual classroom videoconferencing, offer new opportunities. But roadblocks remain, including the high cost of Internet access and lack of trained local professionals. The report looks at lessons learned and innovations that work. It also coincides with April's Digital Learning Asia 2006 in Bangkok, and May's International Conference on ICT for Development, Education & Training in Addis Ababa.

SANGONeT has gathered a collection of resources on sustainability for NGOs, ranging from information on monitoring and evaluation and the importance of credibility and ethics to matters such as social responsibility and entrepreneurship as well as tips relating to practical concerns that others have encountered when grappling with how to implement effective communication and marketing strategies and sound financial management techniques in their organisations.

Over five hundred million people, nearly 10 percent of the world's population, have a disability. The United Nations (UN) is currently negotiating a treaty, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, to ensure that human rights standards are extended to people with disabilities. In order to help promote the adoption of the Convention, the Centre for International Rehabilitation (CIR) has launched the ConventionYES! Website.

Most of the Millennium Development Goals may seem at first sight unobjectionable, says this introduction to an article by Samir Amin on the website of Monthly Review. "Nevertheless, they were not the result of an initiative from the South itself, but were pushed primarily by the triad (the United States, Europe, and Japan), and were co-sponsored by the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. All of this has raised the question of whether they are mainly ideological cover (or worse) for neoliberal initiatives." Click on the link to read the full analysis.

'Growth isn’t working: the uneven distribution of benefits and costs from economic growth', shows that globalisation is failing the world’s poorest as their share of the benefits of growth plummet, and accelerating climate change hurts the poorest most.   The report, the first in the New Economic Foundation's series of 'Re-thinking poverty' reports, reveals that the share of benefits from global economic growth reaching the world’s poorest people is actually shrinking, while they continue to bear an unfair share of the costs.

The Tech Museum of Innovation is issuing a global call for nominations for the 2006 Tech Museum Awards. This is a unique program that honors innovators from around the world who use technology to benefit humanity.

Following up on an agreement reached on the contentious topic of internet governance at the November World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Tunis, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has decided to start creating a forum for a more inclusive dialogue on internet policy. According to his spokesman, Mr. Annan will establish a small Secretariat in Geneva to assist in the convening of an Internet Governance Forum, following consultations held in February by Nitin Desai, the Secretary-General’s Special Adviser for the WSIS that produced a consensus on the need for a strong development orientation.

The Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission has completed investigations on Central Bank governor Andrew Mullei over corruption allegations and asked the Attorney-General to take action against him. It means Dr Mullei could face court charges arising from allegations concerning his management, which had caused a major split between the Treasury and the Central Bank Board.

Rights & Democracy is currently accepting nominations for the John Humphrey Freedom Award, presented every year to an organization or individual for outstanding contributions to the promotion of human rights and democratic development. The deadline is April 15, 2006.

The second World Forum on Human Rights will be held in the Nantes Métropole International Convention Centre from July 10th to 13th, 2006 (2006 will be marked by the 40th anniversary of the adoption of the International Covenants on Civil and Political Rights, and Economic, Social and Cultural Rights by the General Assembly of the United Nations). As in 2004, topical issues relating to Human Rights will be debated by policy makers (representatives of States, towns and local governments, members of parliaments) from all over the world, members of international organisations, of academia and representatives of civil society.

There is much I agree with in the paper on China. However, what is lacking is a balanced view of who created the conditions that make Africa ripe for exploitation, not just by the Chinese, but by any other country with money, skills and entrepeneurship to stake a claim.

The erosion of productive capacity in Africa, the devastating impact of subsidies on African agriculture, the opportunistic use of conditionalities by IMF, WB and Western governments all have contributed to the systemic decay in Africa.

Without undermining the necessity for Africans and African Civil Society to insist on equity, justice and the right to benefit from national wealth and opportunities, the analysis of China must also take into account their ability and willingness to take risks in the continent and harness some of the latent productive capacity.

Conditions that are exploited by China such as lax labour, environmental and developmental laws have been actively created by the Northern countries who insisted on these conditionalities and proceeded to not invest, not to provide meaningful aid, etc. It was the North that insisted that South Africa reduce its textiles tariffs (well before the expiration of the MFA), yet Chinese imports get the blame. What role does a country like South Africa play in this? If you live in a National Game Park and are forced by external forces to remove the fence around your house, do you then blame the lion for attacking your family?

The Associated Press has examined US HIV/AIDS funding in Uganda and the view of some advocates and officials that the country's emphasis on prevention has shifted from condom use to fidelity and abstinence. While US officials acknowledge condoms "are a key weapon" to contain the HIV/AIDS pandemic, they believe "prevention information is more effective when targeted at the appropriate audience," the Associated Press reports.

iLoveLanguages presents an impressive array of language resources, from the obscure to the commonplace. iLoveLanguages purpose is to list, categorize, and promote Internet resources related to language learning, education, and use. Aside from the obvious online dictionaries, grammar references, and culture sites, iLoveLanguages contains links to language schools, translations services, and software as well.

Even before the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol's first period can begin, a dialogue has been launched on limiting climate change after the current agreement ends in six years. And it is not too early. Questions enough have been raised about the Kyoto deal to question its continuation in its present form after the first implementation period 2008-2012. The Protocol, signed in Kyoto, Japan in December 1997, is an agreement by industrialised countries to reduce emissions of so-called greenhouse gases by at least 5.2 percent from 1990 levels over the first implementation period.

The making of a plan and sticking to it is the key to eradicating slums worldwide, the United Nations said Wednesday. "We must incorporate the culture of planning in our towns and cities," said Anna Tibaijuka, executive director of UN-HABITAT, during a keynote speech at a one-day seminar on the Urbanization Crisis in Tanzania in Moshi, a town near Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. Many urban centers have taken passive attitudes when it comes to planning but Tibaijuka insists slum-free urbanization can be a reality but only if the master plans are managed well, reports United Press International.

Southern African nations are to increase their scientific collaboration with Japan through an organisation called the Southern Africa Science and Technology Community (SASTeC), which launched last month (31 January). The group is made up of staff at the embassies in Japan of member nations of the Southern Africa Development Community, reports SciDev.

The European Commission (EC) is providing 20 million euros (US$24 million) to allow scientists in developing countries to join existing European projects. The EC announced the 'top-up' funds last month (15 February). It is intended to address poor participation by 'third countries' in projects funded by the EU's Sixth Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development. Eligible nations include those in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Mediterranean and island states in the Caribbean and Pacific.

DOTank is a Dutch network for improving public sector performance. It recently started a project to work with regional governments on models for a covenant society with the aim to go beyond governance towards learning to name the highest aspirations without trying to solve every issue through traditional instruments such as regulations and the markets. DOTank is in particular focusing on the issue of integration of minorities and the drop out rate of young people. A network of people and communities, DOTank provides an opportunity to share experiences in the field of systems innovation and organisational learning.