Eritrea ranks last place on the latest Reporters Without Borders (RSF) index measuring the level of press freedom in 173 countries. Privately owned press have been banished by the authoritarian President Issaias Afeworki since 2001, and the few journalists who dare to criticise the regime are thrown in prison, says RSF. Four journalists have died in detention and, currently, at least 30 journalists and two media workers are believed to be in prison without trial.

Sixty years ago, as Mao Zedong declared the founding of a new communist nation, considered a pariah state. Today t is a world power with sweeping influence -- it is financing America's debt, snapping up access to natural resources in Africa and Latin America, and making its voice heard on major diplomatic issues.

Google Inc.’s recent restrictions on ads for abortion services in fifteen countries raises questions about the influence of search engine provider policies on freedom of information. In withholding access to this kind of information, are women’s rights being violated?

In Liberia citizens’ reaction has been mixed to a 16 September UN Security Council decision extending the UN peacekeeping mission (UNMIL) to assist with the planned 2011 presidential and legislative elections.

MISA-Mozambique, a regional chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa, has strongly protested the brutal beating of a community radio journalist by members of the country's main opposition party, Renamo, in the northern port of Nacala. The incident occurred on 16 September 2009, the fourth day of the current election campaign.

China’s successful economic policies are specifically Chinese. But they are made up of universal elements.

Sudanese army and government militias attacked this week twice rebel positions in Korma near Jebel Marra, said a commander from the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) led by Abdel Wahid Al Nur. Fighters of the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) sit on top of a truck outside the north Darfur town of Kutum, December 15, 2007. The SLM/A rebel commander Ibrahim Al-Hillu said the air and ground attack began on Thursday and continued on Friday adding that the thousands of civilians fled their villages to take shelter from the assailant troops near Jebel Marra.

In many African communities, women struggle to feed their households. The situation is worse when husbands migrate seeking better opportunities, or are absent completely, for one reason or another. Across Southern Africa, groups of mostly women farmers are turning back to traditional food crops in hopes of better food security for their families, and finding economic independence at the same time.

Officials of the Ivorian Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) have held a meeting with religious leaders to enable them to better understand the current electoral process in the country.

Zimbabwe’s troubled constitution making process is facing new challenges after the coalition principals in the unity government packed the executive of a committee managing the reforms with trusted loyalists. The process to craft a new supreme law for the country that must be completed within two years is a key area for the unity government formed by President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.

Political instability in Madagascar is having a serious effect on the already fragile and highly endangered ecology of this island nation. This is of profound concern as Madagascar contains many unique species that are already severely threatened.

On September 16, 2009, Mr. Wale Oluokun, the Radio Nigeria Correspondent for Government House in Owerri, the Imo State capital in South-east Nigeria was beaten and injured by four armed government security agents in the presence of the Imo State Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Henry Ekpe and a couple of other journalists.

Senegal has called for United Nations support for the “Great Green Wall” project in which African countries have agreed to plant trees in a band across the breadth of the continent to try to lessen the effects of desertification. President Abdoulaye Wade told the General Assembly’s annual high-level debate that he wishes the UN will endorse the project, “which contributes to the protection of the environment,” help in the battle against climate change and would mobilize thousands of people.

The United Nations Children's Education Fund (UNICEF) on Monday availed US$70 million to Zimbabwe&s under-funded education sector that is currently reeling under a two-week-old strike by teachers across the country. "The government of Zimbabwe, the United Nations Children's Education Fund and the international donor community unveiled a US$70 million partnership through the Educational Transition Fund," UNICEF said in a statement.

A growing epidemic among child and adolescent survivors of mother-to-child HIV transmission in southern Africa is emerging, highlighting the failure to recognise its development and address the clinical needs of this population, research published in the September 24th issue of AIDS shows. Although there is a high risk of death in the first year of life for infants infected perinatally, children may live with asymptomatic HIV infection for long periods, undiagnosed.

Criticised as system of dividing and ruling people according to their ethnic groups, Ethiopia’s federalism has just become a bone of contention. A recent international report warns if this system, and the resultant lack of governance, continues the entire Horn of Africa could be destabilised.

Uganda like many other developing countries, suffers from inequitable distribution of health workers between rural and urban areas and between public and private sectors. To strengthen the referral systems, people living with HIV have been trained as Network Support Agents (NSA) to work alongside health care workers in health facilities. This handbook has been designed to help NSAs and other community-based volumteers/providers to be more effective in disseminating standardised HIV and AIDs information at grassroorts levels.

Persistent drought compounded by higher than average food prices have created East Africa's worst food crisis in decades. Millions of children face the greatest risks, including severe malnutrition, disease, and death. But official food aid is falling well short of increased needs, particularly in Ethiopia. Across the Horn of Africa, an estimated 20 million people will need emergency humanitarian assistance through the end of this year. In comparison, last year – when drought, high food prices, and conflict were also at issue – only 14 million needed such assistance in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, and Uganda.

We the more than 250 representatives of Social Movements, Non-Governmental Organisations, Trade Unions, Religious Organisations, Economic Justice and Human Rights Networks, Youth and Women’s Organisations, met in Kinshasa, DRC, to bring the SADC Community’s attention to challenges that affect our daily lives. The SADC Peoples’ Summit is annually convened parallel to the Heads of State Summit under the auspices of the Southern Africa Peoples’ Solidarity Network, SAPSN.

Interface is a new journal produced twice yearly by activists and academics around the world in response to the development and increased visibility of social movements in the last few years – and the immense amount of knowledge generated in this process. This knowledge is created across the globe, and in many contexts and a variety of ways, and it constitutes an incredibly valuable resource for the further development of social movements.