As Senegal's President Abdoulaye Wade prepares to meet with President Bush Thursday, Human Rights Watch urged him to comply with a United Nations request to hold the exiled Chadian dictator Hissène Habré so that Habré could be extradited to face torture charges.

NIGERIA on Monday became the first developing country to contribute to a new global fund to tackle the HIV/AIDS epidemic worldwide. At a press conference here on the first day of a three-day special session convened by the United Nations General Assembly to discuss ways of tackling the global HIV/AIDS pandemic, President Olusegun Obasanjo announced a US$10 million donation to the fund on behalf of the Nigerian people and government.

Chad will receive a US $7.3-million loan from the Islamic Development Bank to support educational projects, AFP reported, citing a statement from the Jeddah-based institution.

On the eve of an important WTO meeting to address intellectual property and access to medicines, the European Commission has tabled concrete proposals designed to clarify existing rules in order to facilitate access to life-saving drugs by needy countries. These plans will be presented to fellow WTO members at the Council on Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) on 20 June.

This web site concentrates on internally displaced persons. The Global IDP training project is an initiative of the Norwegian Refugee Council. Undertaken in association with the Office of the UNHCR and the Representative of the Secretary General for Internally Displaced Persons the program is a series of "protection workshops" for humanitarian workers, policy makers and others who are confronted with the consequences of international displacement.

The International Finance Corporation - an arm of the Bank Group which supports private investment - has released a new strategy. It reveals a number of significant changes in emphasis, notably an increased focus on social and environmental issues. It admits that its attention to such matters is partly the result of "pressure from NGOs, shareholders, and civil society and local communities which have begun to insist that their concerns be respected."

We, anti-imperialist and democratic mass organizations from different countries of Asia, Africa, Latin America, North America, Europe and Oceania, are happy to announce the successful holding of the First International Assembly establishing the International League of Peoples' Struggle (ILPS). This is a historic moment for all progressive forces throughout the world who are fighting for national independence, democracy and social liberation against imperialism and reaction.

The Zimbabwe Human Rights Organisation (ZimRights), once the leading human rights watchdog in the country, is bankrupt. The human rights watchdog went broke following the withdrawal of funding by its major donors who are unhappy with the organisation's in-house squabbles and the alleged infiltration of the group by agents of the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO), the 'Daily News' reported.

It is common practice in parts of Africa for children to be cared for by wealthier members of their extended families. In return the children undertake household and other chores. What is commonly known but not publicly acknowledged is that some children end up in conditions akin to slavery, writes Cameron Duodu.

A decision by UK drugs giant GlaxoSmithKline to cut the cost of medicines in the developing world has been welcomed by campaigners now calling on the company to take a lead in pushing for a change to global patent rules.

Substantial global consensus already exists that crimes against humanity and war crimes can no longer be swept under the rug. There is also broad recognition of a role for international courts, like the current tribunals examining crimes in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, as well as for national courts.

Public outrage over the exorbitant prices of HIV/AIDS drugs in Africa is focussing public attention on the harmful role of global patent rules in blocking poor people's access to vital medicines. In response to mounting public pressure, World Trade Organisation (WTO) members have taken an unprecedented step in agreeing to hold a special meeting to discuss the impact of global patent rules on access to medicines. They will meet on 20 June at the WTO in Geneva.

No place is ever perfect but Morocco offers an interesting model for how the internet and telecoms can be developed if a strategic plan is in place. It is seeking to use the internet to compete more effectively in the global economy, grow employment opportunities and to slow down the drain of skilled workers to Europe. Najat Rochdi describes how the country has approached the task.

The European Convention on Human Rights of 1950 established the most effective international system of human rights protection which has yet been invented. This is the first book that gives a comprehensive account of how it came into existence, of the part played in its genesis by the British government.

Zambia's Drug Enforcement Commission said Friday it had arrested three senior managers of one of the country's largest banks, who have allegedly been involved in money laundering, fraud and corruption.

CAF is a charity with a unique purpose: to do all in its power to ensure that charitable giving to all charities is as robust and effective as it can possibly be.

The Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers will launch its 450-page report 'Global Report on Child Soldiers 2001' on 12 June. The first-ever survey of its type documents military recruitment by government armed forces, paramilitaries and non-state armed groups in 180 countries.

Composer/Producer Paul Anderson has been running 2 internet music stations dedicated to getting people focused on the crisis of Slavery in Africa.
Paul hopes to hear from organizations that are making legitimate efforts to end this situation, and to prevent it from being so low on America's foreign policy agenda. "People have to be shown that Slavery is not a thing of the past! In the hearts,and minds of all that will listen, I hope our efforts will make have an impact!"

Why don't African markets operate as economics textbooks tell us they should? How do long-term trading relationships and business networks get established in the absence of enforceable legal redress against fly-by-night tricksters?

The United Kingdom has announced that it will contribute 75 million pounds -- about $100 million -- to the U.N.'s global fund to fight HIV/AIDS in the developing world, the Guardian reports. Britain's contribution is smaller than the United States' $200 million allocation, but it represents a greater proportion of the country's gross domestic product than the funding proposed by the Bush administration. However, since international contributions to the fund thus far have been "pitiful" -- only Britain and the United States have pledged money -- the U.K. contribution "will not swell Kofi Annan's coffers," the Guardian reports.