A small kingdom in Uganda says it is suing the United Kingdom for alleged atrocities committed by British soldiers during the colonial period, the BBC said in a report on its website this week. Ernest Kizza, a spokesman for the Bunyoro-Kitara kingdom, told the BBC they are seeking $5.5 trillion.

Ecotourism is taking its toll on wildlife and may be endangering the survival of the very animals people are flocking to see, according to researchers. Biologists and conservationists are worried because polar bears, dolphins, penguins and other creatures are getting stressed and losing weight and some are dying.

While Brazil maintains the strongest economy in Latin America, access to education for many young people in Brazil is still an obstacle. Brazil's 76 million negros and pardos (blacks and browns) constitute the world's second largest population of people of African descent outside of Africa. Although they are between 45% - 55% of Brazil's population, they comprise merely 2% of the nation's university students. Limited access to education and racial discrimination within Brazil's education system has a significantly negative impact on the lives of Afro-Brazilians.

The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination held over two days a thematic discussion on the issue of non-citizens and racial discrimination during which Committee Experts exchanged views with representatives of States parties, NGOs and UN agencies. Doudou Diène, the Special Rapporteur on racism of the Commission on Human Rights, stated that discrimination against non-citizens was a new type of discrimination and was connected to discrimination against refugees and immigrants. Non-citizens were extremely vulnerable in terms of exercising their rights and receiving social protection, including the right to health.

Save the Children Denmark is undertaking a review of literature into child rights based monitoring and evaluation, and is calling for information from colleagues who have worked, or thought about working, in these areas, particularly in: i. Activities in child rights based monitoring and evaluation; ii. The conceptual underpinning or framework of this work; iii. Monitoring and evaluation procedures that involve children in active and participatory ways; iv. The development of appropriate and useful indicators for children's rights; v. Tools and methods used, successes and challenges; vi. Ethical and technical challenges faced.

Around the world, in rural and urban areas alike, indigenous children frequently constitute one of the most disadvantaged groups, and their rights - including those to survival and development, to the highest standards of health, to education that respects their cultural identity, and to protection from abuse, violence and exploitation - are often compromised. At the same time, however, indigenous children possess very special resources: they are the custodians of a multitude of cultures, languages, beliefs and knowledge systems, each of which is a precious element of our collective heritage.

This study covers a variety of political and economic aspects of Africa's and South Africa's relationships to the world. The author considers the context of global apartheid, in terms of international stagnation, uneven development and African marginalisation, and evaluates the South African setting as a telling site of worsening inequality. Where then does the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) stand on the largest economic and political problems? South Africa's other proposed global reforms are also discussed. Finally, the author records an emerging ideology based not on commodification via globalisation but on decommodification and deglobalisation, and the strategies, tactics and alliances required for African and international progress.

This guide aims to provide practical information for indigenous peoples and organisations to support their use of rights-based arguments under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). The guide covers general information on the CEDAW and its monitoring body, the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and information on other UN human rights bodies and procedures that might be invoked to highlight the concerns of indigenous women within the UN system.

A global treaty that bans certain long-term pollutants that have been linked to a range of human health problems is to come into force. The countdown towards implementation of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants was triggered on 17 February, when France became the 50th country to ratify the treaty. The first phase of the agreement will ban the use of 12 types of pollutant of limited economic importance. Environmentalists hope to expand the range of pollutants covered by the agreement, but chemical manufacturers are likely to fight constraints on more financially valuable compounds.

An official review has echoed many external criticisms of the World Bank's knowledge roles, but has buried some of the most important feedback from officials and researchers in the South. A recent study by the World Bank's Operations Evaluation Department (OED) found significant problems with the Bank's self-appointed role as guardian and disseminator of the world's development knowledge, but produced only extremely bureaucratic conclusions which do not match the degree or nature of the concerns expressed by outside critics, says Bank monitor the Bretton Woods Project.

The initiative to write off debt owed by the world's poorest countries to the International Monetary Fund and World Bank has been held up by a dispute among rich nations on how much relief to grant. The arguments centre around the effect of lower global interest rates on the debt relief calculations used by the heavily indebted poor countries (HIPC) programme. They mean that the value of future debt payments in present value terms, discounted back to the present day using interest rates, are larger. Officials familiar with the situation say that some countries on the IMF and World Bank boards, including the UK, France and Canada, have argued that the amount of debt relief on offer by the bank and fund should take account of this. Others, who they say include the US, Japan and Germany, have disagreed. The US Treasury said it was concerned that countries would use increased debt relief as an excuse to borrow more from the bank. "We are concerned about the bank being in a position where it is in a continual cycle of lending and forgiving," said a US Treasury official.

One of the world's leading electrical companies, Schneider Electric, was fined R10-million in the Lesotho High Court after admitting to bribery. The global giant avoided a trial by pleading guilty on 16 counts of bribery, all relating to the construction of the now-completed Lesotho Highlands Water Project. The corruption involved around R16-million.

Globalization can and must change, says a new, groundbreaking report released by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) urging that building a fair and inclusive globalization become a worldwide priority. A Fair Globalization: Creating Opportunities for All calls for an "urgent rethink" of current policies and institutions of global governance. "There are deep-seated and persistent imbalances in the current workings of the global economy, which are ethically unacceptable and politically unsustainable. Seen through the eyes of the vast majority of men and women, globalization has not met their simple and legitimate aspirations for decent jobs and a better future for their children," says the report.

The contrast between rich countries' rhetoric and reality is staggering, says an ActionAid report that examines the performance of 22 rich country leaders on their promise to provide the aid needed for every child to get an education.

Indigenous children are among the most vulnerable and marginalized groups in the world and global action is urgently needed to protect their survival and their rights, says a new report from UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre in Florence. Improving the lives of indigenous children is crucial not only for their own health and well-being but for the future of indigenous peoples and their unique place in the human family, the report concludes.

TakingITGlobal.org is a global online community, providing youth with inspiration to make a difference, a source of information on issues, opportunities to take action, and a bridge to getting involved locally, nationally and internationally based on areas of interest. TIG showcases the power of expression through art and writing. TIG is a bridge to events, organisations, and scholarships around the world. Membership is free of charge and allows you to interact with various aspects of the website, to contribute ideas, experiences, and actions.

As civil society, we are confronted with an opportunity – to use the Internet and other emerging network technologies to support our quest for global peace and social justice. Consider that we live in a world where almost anyone located in an urban centre can share their message globally with a free blog and a few dollars spent at an Internet café. Access is not– or will not for much longer be – a major communications stumbling block for civil society organisations. The more pressing need is for civil society to learn how to appropriate the technologies that we now have access to, bending and moulding them so that they can be used more strategically and politically.

This programme aims to support women's participation in international events such as seminars, conferences, trainings related to women’s rights issues. The objective of this programme is to facilitate the access of women active in this field to the international movement for the emancipation of women. The grants will be allocated for the participation in those events which will contribute to information gathering and later on their dissemination at national level, as well as to sharing experiences concerning the promotion of women’s rights.

The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination opened its sixty-fourth session by electing its Chairperson, 3 Vice-Chairpersons and a Rapportuer. In the course of its 3 week session, ending on 12 March, the Committee will review anti-discrimination efforts undertaken by the Governments of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Suriname, Spain, Sweden, the Bahamas, Lebanon, Nepal, Brazil and the Netherlands. It will also look into the state of affairs in Guyana, Nigeria, Tanzania, Saint Lucia, Barbados, Madagascar and Venezuela under its review procedure for States parties whose reports are seriously overdue. These countries are among the 169 States parties to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.