South Africa’s largest farmers’ union expects to conclude a multimillion hectare farmland deal with the Republic of Congo and agree a smaller land lease with Libya next month, its deputy president said. Theo de Jager, Deputy President of farmers’ grouping AgriSA said on Wednesday the union expected to finalise its 10 million hectare deal with the Republic of Congo in mid October.

The leader of the Union of the Democratic Forces of Guinea (UFDG) and former Guinean Prime Minister, Cellou Dalein Diallo, who was grievously wounded during Monday's rally at the 28 September Stadium in Conakry, was prevented Wednesday evening from going for treatment abroad, according to sources close to his family. The UFDG leader, who sustained five broken ribs during the bloody repression by the police force on Monday, was about to board a plane to Paris, France when he was forced to return to his room in a local clinic where he was receiving treatment, under heavy military guard.

Zimbabwe's economy is projected to grow by 3.7 percent this year, according to the International Monetary Fund, the first expansion since 1997. The IMF in its latest World Economic Outlook published on Thursday did not give reasons for its assessment. It forecast that growth in the southern African nation's gross domestic product would accelerate to 6 percent in 2010.

Sudanese women who escaped the Darfur conflict to eastern Chad are facing high levels of sexual violence, an Amnesty International report says. Despite the presence of a UN force, women and girls are being attacked when they leave 12 designated camps in search of water, the report says. It also documents cases of refugees being attacked inside the camps by Chadian aid workers.

Guinean security forces should immediately cease violent attacks on demonstrators protesting against the military government, Human Rights Watch has said. Human Rights Watch called upon the government to hold accountable security forces responsible for firing upon and killing dozens of generally peaceful demonstrators in the Guinean capital, Conakry, on September 28, 2009.

14 leading African Finance and Education Ministers have written to development and finance ministers in leading OECD donor countries, appealing for financial help to send 20 million children to primary school for the first time by the end of next year.

A very successful Second Edition of the Price Moot Court took place in Oxford from 18 - 21 March 2009. Teams from Malaysia, India, China, Jordan, Europe and the United States competed, and many internationally recognized media law experts acted as judges, including Judge Dean Spielmann from the European Court of Human Rights, Ms Siobhain Butterworth from The Guardian, Ms Gugu Moyo from the International Bar Association, Mr Mark Stephens from Finers Stephens Innocent and Sir Louis Blom-Cooper QC. The finals of the Third Edition of the competition will be taking place in Oxford in March 2010.

Rights groups such as Amnesty International have called on the Egyptian authorities to "urgently rein in their border security forces" after seven African asylum-seekers were killed in September trying to cross into Israel on foot, but some Israeli NGOs and soldiers say the death toll at the border is far higher.

Programme Director, Demand Dignity
London based
£53,568 plus excellent benefits (3 year fixed-term contract)

Big issues demand big ideas. If you have them, bring them to the biggest human rights campaigning platform there is. Amnesty is the only global movement of its kind. And we can give you a louder voice and the chance to make a massive difference the world over.

About the role
You’ll boost the Demand Dignity campaign’s effectiveness and the quality of Amnesty’s work on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights by shaping the direction that the programme takes, and deciding which issues they focus on. It’s a strategic role and a creative one. It’ll be down to you to get the most out of your budget by harnessing new approaches and fresh thinking. Working closely with others at the International Secretariat, Amnesty’s sections worldwide, and our partners, you will steer the resources using innovative forms of activism and capitalising on other emerging campaigning opportunities. But whatever tactics you employ, you’ll never lose sight of the big picture, our core values and the ultimate aim of ending human rights violations.

About you
You’ll have already proven you can develop and deliver global campaigns that galvanise people into action and make change happen. And whichever part of the world you’re working in now, you’ll have shown you’re forward-thinking, and well able to initiate and win support for your innovative projects. Thoroughly familiar with human rights issues, you’ll have a deep understanding of the links between poverty and human rights including perspectives from the global south, you’ll also have developed sound political judgement, strong relationship-building skills and a flair for putting your points across convincingly. Now you’ll be looking for a more influential role in a complex campaigning environment – one where you can truly capitalise on your ability to make and win arguments.

About us
Amnesty International is a worldwide movement of people standing up for human rights. Our network extends to more than two million members and subscribers in more than 150 countries around the world. Each one of us is outraged by human rights abuses but inspired by hope for a better world – and together we work to improve human rights through campaigning and international solidarity. This year Amnesty launched its biggest and most ambitious global campaign to date, the Demand Dignity Campaign against the human rights violations that keep people poor.

To apply, visit and quote reference CP/09/15.

Closing date: 25th October 2009.

Small scale farmers have accused the Kenyan Government of failing to act to address persistent food insecurity. Further, they want policies that discourage use of chemical fertilisers and other substances that damage soil fertility to be introduced. Under the auspices of the Sustainable Agriculture and Community Development Programme, the group also opposed the leasing of agricultural land to foreigners.

Nigeria's most vocal opposition political party, the Action Congress (AC), said Nigeria's "comatose state", on the occasion of its 49th independence anniversary, has brought to the fore the litany of opportunities missed by the nation to leap into the rarefied height of developed countries and ensure better life for its people. In a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Alha ji Lai Mohammed, the party said a succession of inept, selfish and visionless le a ders was to blame for the sorry state in which a country that was so promising at independence in 1960 had now found itself.

Nine Zimbabwean human rights activists and others tortured in custody are suing government officials for $500m (£314m), their lawyers have said. Jestina Mukoko and eight others are suing the police commissioner, a cabinet minister and police officers.

Opposition parties in Gabon have rejected the terms of a re-count of votes from last month's controversial presidential poll. Activists, who alleged widespread vote rigging, were angered after a court ruled that opposition observers would not be allowed to oversee the re-count.

What role do young women play in contemporary African wars? Mainstream thinking on war and conflict sees women as passive and peaceful and men as active and aggressive. This report from the Nordic Africa Institute calls for a broader understanding of women’s roles and participation in armed conflict in Africa. Programmes to disarm, demobilise and re-integrate former fighters need to be adapted to local contexts and designed to meet the needs of female ex-fighters.

Angelina Silva doesn’t remember the exact dates when her sons died. She just remembers their ages. "One was one year old, the other was one year and nine months," she said. "They had an illness. We think it was malaria, but we don’t know for sure." The 30-year-old, who has five other children and lives in a shantytown on the outskirts of Angola’s capital Luanda, is unsentimental.

Nigerian militants said on Tuesday they opposed a bid by a Chinese energy group to secure 6bn barrels of crude reserves, comparing the potential new investors to “locusts”. The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta told the Financial Times that the record of Chinese companies in other African counties suggested “an entry into the oil industry in Nigeria will be a disaster for the oil-bearing communities”.

On behalf of the Inter African Committee on Traditional practices Affecting the Health of Women and Girls as well as the members of the NGO Committee on the Status of Women, I would like to congratulate the President on his appointment, as well as wish him a successful tenure. We would also like to take this opportunity to commend the Council for holding this annual discussion on the integration of gender into its work of promotion and protection all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights.

Libya deported an additional 740 Nigerians Thursday, bringing the total number of Nigerians repatriated from the north African nation in recent days to 1,064, the local press reported. Last month, Libya also brought back about 330 Nigerians. Most of the deportees did not have the required papers to stay in Libya, which many use as a transit point to Europe.

After four years of giving each other a cold shoulder, Uganda President Yoweri Museveni and the King Ronald Muweanda Mutebu II of the Buganda held an hour-long private discussion at the State House in Entebbe on Wednesday, government officials said. The meeting is aimed at easing tension between the dominant Buganda ethnic group - with an estimated 12 million population out of the country's 30 million " and the President Museveni -led central government, after riots 11-14 September 2009 level several people dead.

Residents of the Somali port of Kismayo are burying the dead and tending to the injured after a day of fierce clashes between rival Islamist groups. Al-Shabab has gained control of the city and the Hizbul-Islam fighters have withdrawn to villages to the west.