Tough, unresolved issues keep the United States, European Union, Canada, Japan and Australia far apart from developing nations, a month before an "Earth Summit" formally called the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), that will bring some 100 world leaders and 60,000 participants to Johannesburg. South Africa's foreign Minister Nkosazanna Dlamini-Zuma will chair an "informal" New York meeting of representatives from 25 countries in an effort to bridge the gap of differences.

From Burkina Faso to Botswana, national and regional Human Development Reports are proving to be a vital tool for generating commitment and mobilizing resources against the deadly HIV/AIDS epidemic. The Burkina Faso Human Development Report 2001, for example, led the way to negotiations with international financial institutions, resulting in significant new allocations of resources for the campaign against HIV/AIDS, reported Christian Lemaire, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative.

The BCC/IEC Specialist will provide the technical and professional service set forth under the supervision of the Senior Adviser/Team Leader.

Most of Africa's countries enjoyed rapid economic growth last year, pushing the average gross domestic product (GDP) growth to four percent, according to a United Nations report.

The Addis Ababa-based UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) said on Tuesday that granting farmers in Ethiopia ownership of their land could speed up development.

World Bank President James Wolfensohn has announced in Kinshasa that his Bretton Woods institution has cancelled 80 percent of Democratic Republic of Congo's debt of 12 billion US dollars.

The Mozambique Country Coordinator will be posted to the field office in Mozambique to support management of the HIV/AIDS Workplace Prevention and Education Program - Mozambique.

The "fraud-ridden" home affairs department is to undertake an assessment of its business risks and revamp its fraud-prevention plan.

The EU and France have agreed to fund rural development projects in Burkina Faso under separate agreements with the West African country. Five provinces in western Burkina Faso are to benefit from a five-year project under which the EU is to provide 10.01 million euro (US $9.89 million) to promote rural empowerment and economic activity for local development, strengthening the delivery of social services and encouraging sustainable management of natural resources.

Should the market dominate? How much control can the state retain? In the last twenty years, almost every developing country has liberalised its economy to some extent. What is the result? Do adjustment policies help growth or do they stifle it? What policy mix should international donors promote?

Nigeria has received a $50 million loan from the World Bank to develop a reading culture among primary school pupils.

Solutions for desertification can no longer be postponed, says Hama Arba Diallo, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). Speaking at the opening in Windhoek of the African Regional Conference to review UNCCD, Diallo said the poor were both the victims and agents of environmental damage.

A vast political and financial scandal in the Central African Republic (CAR) appears far from over following the arrest of the country's finance minister this week. The scam allegedly involved senior officials who produced and recycled false treasury bonds in order to syphon-off government funds.

The Southern Africa Institute of Fundraising is holding a three-day Resource Mobilisation and Fund Development Course in Port Elizabeth from 26-28 August.

Kiswahili is now an official language of the African Unity. The Council of African Union (AU) has overwhelmingly supported a proposal presented by the Tanzanian delegation that Kiswahili becomes one of the working languages of the Union. This is indeed a landmark decision in support of African languages.

The May 2002 election in Sierra Leone was the country’s first truly non-violent vote. Sierra Leone continues to make remarkable progress in ending its 11-year civil war. However the election also highlighted a potentially dangerous division between the government and the military, and demonstrated that ethnic tensions remain significant, according to a report from the International Crisis Group.

The clampdown on corruption in the regime of former Zambian President Frederick Chiluba has increased with the arrest of the country's ambassador to the US. A spokesman for Zambia's anti-corruption commission said Atan Shansonga had been arrested on charges linked to corruption under Mr Chiluba's presidency.

There has been a low turnout in the West African country of Mali for the first round of parliamentary elections. Correspondents say scepticism about the electoral process, after widespread allegations of corruption in the presidential elections, kept many voters at home.

Women's Solidarity is a non-governmental organisation engaged in counselling, education and research work around the issue of violence against women. The post holder will work on developing and strengthening the services provided by Women's Solidarity.

The multinational firms recently fingered for corrupt practices in the United States may be practicing similar operations on a larger scale in developing countries, say long-time corporate watchdogs. "Enron and WorldCom are just symptoms of the way companies are able to do business without too much accountability," said Nadia Martinez, research associate at the Washington-based Institute for Policy Studies.