The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has condemned attacks and harassment of Tunisian journalists after a series of incidents which suggest deliberate targeting of activists for independent journalism. In particular, the IFJ condemned the beating up of Zied El Heni, journalist for the daily Assahafa, that took place yesterday in Tunis. His blog, Tunisian journalist, was also shutdown for the 22nd time by the authorities.

Gender Links is commissioning commentary and opinion pieces and personal accounts or ‘I’ stories around different thematic areas on the impact of the FIFA Soccer World Cup 2010 on the advancement of gender equality and women’s economic empowerment throughout the SADC region. The aim of the contributions are to highlight the gender dimensions of the FIFA Soccer World Cup 2010 through people’s lived experiences and relevant opinion pieces.

Dear Ambassador,
As you are aware, the last two weeks have seen dramatic levels of violence in Guinea. A large part of this violence has been specifically aimed at women, particularly sexual violence. Reports tell of women being raped in public, being gang-raped, and being sexually assaulted with guns and knives, by members of the Guinean armed forces.

The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum is sad to announce the tragic death of our colleague, Keith Goddard, a champion of human and LGBT rights in Zimbabwe and on the world stage. Sadly, after a short illness, Keith died last night, Friday 9^th October at St Anne's Hospital in Harare. Keith sat on our Board of Directors and was the Director of our member organisation, Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ).

FIAN is pleased to announce the release of the new issue of the Right to Food and Nutrition WATCH. This year's edition focuses on the question of "Who controls the governance of the world food system?" - a burning issue in light of the current World Food Crisis. The WATCH, available in three languages, is a common endeavor of a Consortium of human rights organizations, social movements and development agencies.

This Report is on the recent Genocide at Bundu Waterfront in the Township axis of Port Harcourt in the Rivers State of Nigeria. The Report is presented by the National Union of Tenants of Nigeria and based, not only on newspaper publications, but more on the personal experiences by officials of the union who visited the scene and equally had interviews with leaders of the affected community who confirmed the incident and gave useful information to the union.

Poor South Africans could receive 70 kilowatts worth of free electricity if Eskom is granted a 45 percent "smoothed" tariff increase, says it's Chief Executive Jacob Maroga. "We recommend that it be increased to 70 kilowatts and that the cost be carried by industry," Maroga told reporters as the parastatal unveiled details of its Multi-Year Price Determination 2 (MYPD 2) for the three-year period, beginning in 2010 to 2013.

Botswana’s ruling party claimed victory in the country’s general election on Saturday extending President Ian Khama’s rule over the world’s largest diamond producer for another five years. Khama’s Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), in power since independence from Britain in 1966, said it had secured a majority of the parliamentary constituencies. “We have reached the 29 out of the 57,” Langston Motsete, a member of the BDP’s election committee, told Reuters.

The United Nations top envoy to the Côte d’Ivoire is slated to hold a series of meetings next week in a bid to jump-start a critical step threatening to disrupt the nation’s much-delayed presidential elections, scheduled for late next month. The initiative aims to give new impetus to efforts which would lead to the posting of the final voter list for the Côte d’Ivoire’s long-awaited polls, which were to have been held as far back as 2005 and are now scheduled for 29 November.

Africa in Democracy and Good Governance (ADG) gladly accepts interns interested in broadening their knowledge on a range of topics. Internship assignments vary in length according to the availability and academic requirements of the intern, as well as the needs of ADG and are available on a part-time and full-time basis throughout the year. Internship assignments also vary greatly in terms of content.

Applications are now open: The Ford Foundation International Fellowships Program2010- 2011. The Program is especially designed to support candidates from groups that have historically lacked access to higher education. Eligible candidates who belong to marginalized and excluded groups and communities such as scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, other backward classes, religious minorities, women, physically challenged and those with other kinds of socio-economic deprivation are encouraged to apply.

Forty years after the rights of Africa’s refugees were enshrined in a landmark convention, the continent’s leaders are due to make legal history again by adopting a new instrument to assist people displaced within the borders of their own country. The African Convention on the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa is the main agenda for the heads of state summit on refugees, returnees and IDPs in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, from 19-23 October.

Aggravated homosexuality will be punished by death, according to a new bill tabled in Uganda's Parliament. The private member's bill was tabled by Ndorwa West MP David Bahati (NRM). A person commits aggravated homosexuality when the victim is a person with disability or below the age of 18, or when the offender is HIV-positive.

Applications are now open for the 2010 STARS Impact Award. The STARS Impact Awards recognise outstanding organisations working in the areas of children's health, education and protection. Eligible Organisations working with children in Africa, the Middle East, Asia or Pacific are invited to apply.

The Chiadzwa diamond fields in Marange, Manicaland province are still off-limits for journalists working in the country. This was demonstrated by Friday's incident where freelance journalist Annie Mtalume was arrested on allegations of entering the ' protected' area without a pass. She was detained overnight in Chiadzwa and was only transferred to Mutare on Saturday.

The Government of Burundi should immediately evaluate the claims of up to 400 Rwandan asylum seekers and stop all efforts to coerce them to leave the country, Human Rights Watch has said. Human Rights Watch also called on Rwandan authorities to stop pressuring Burundi to force the asylum seekers to return to Rwanda.

Lake Chad, once one of the world’s largest water bodies, could disappear in 20 years due to climate change and population pressures, resulting in a humanitarian disaster in central Africa, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has warned. The lake – surrounded by Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria – has shrunk by 90 per cent, going from 25,000 square kilometers in 1963 to less than 1,500 square kilometers in 2001.

Abahlali baseMjondolo Movement of South Africa, an organisation representing thousands of people who live in informal settlements, and its President, Mr Sibusiso Zikode, approached the KwaZulu-Natal High Court, Durban, challenging the constitutionality of the KwaZulu-Natal Elimination and Prevention of Re-emergence of Slums Act. The High Court dismissed the challenge.

The Graduate Studies in International Affairs (GSIA) program in the ANU College of Asia and the Pacific, in partnership with the International Peace Research Institute, Oslo (PRIO) and Bjørknes College, offers one scholarship each year for full-time study in the Master of International Affairs specialising in Peace and Conflict Studies degree program. Tuition fees will be covered by The Australian National University and Bjørknes College; and students will receive some funding towards living costs as a stipend. Oslo Peace Scholarship Applicants Deadlines is April 30, 2010.

The Millennium Goals cannot be achieved at the United Nations. The U.N. can create a platform for governments to make commitments but cannot force compliance by member states. Only citizens and their elected representatives – at the national level – can hold governments to account for the promises to reduce poverty made in 2000 at the UN General Assembly in New York.