‘Global Action Week' saw international attention turn towards the global education crisis. 18 million more teachers are needed if every child is to receive a quality education. 100 million children are still being denied the opportunity of going to school. Millions more are sitting in over-crowded classrooms for only a few hours a day. Without urgent action these children will remain in poverty and at far greater risk of HIV infection. The Campaign for Education reports on actions taken across Africa to promote education.

Podcasters share similar concerns to bloggers in relation to defamation, privacy, reporter's privilege, media access, election and labor laws and adult materials. This guide has been developed to help podcasters steer through this minefield.

It may be simpler to fight and even end extreme poverty over the next decade than is commonly understood by powerful global policymakers like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Take the accomplishments of the "Millennium Villages", an initiative of the UN Millennium Project, which over the last five years has demonstrated how relatively small amounts of money spent on health, education, fertiliser and other essential services can dramatically accelerate progress towards the faltering Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

This document is a guideline for replicating the Village Phone programme in a new country. It draws on experience in both Bangladesh and Uganda and establishes a template for creating sustainable initiatives that simultaneously bring telecommunications to the rural poor, create viable new businesses for microentrepreneurs, and expand the customer base of telecommunications companies.

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Southscan predicts that Russia, as chair of the G8 this year, will not continue the Africa emphasis of G8 meetings since 2002 at Kananaskis in Canada. Russia is not much into the aid and investment activities that interest the West (and China). Russia has interest in exporting arms, and will consider arms for oil on the model it established with Angola.

The newly inaugurated Antonio Pizzigati Prize for Software in the Public Interest offers a $10,000 award to a software developer who has made, in the spirit of open source computing, an outstanding contribution to the nonprofit world and the ongoing work of social change. The Tides Foundation, the host of the prize process, will name the first annual Pizzigati Prize winner on June 19, 2006.

NGOs can nominate one person to represent them at the civil society meetings. The application form is due on May 5 and can only be submitted online.

The Vatican is quietly debating relaxing its ban on condoms as a way to help stem the spread of HIV/AIDS, The New York Times reports. But the church still is only considering condoning condoms in those narrow circumstances when one partner in a Catholic marriage is HIV positive or sick with AIDS.

“Much as these aid gestures look great, I am strongly against them, given the overall impact of aid on the continent. One question that both the receiving government and the donors need to answer is – has aid really helped Africa? Quite frankly, I don’t think it has. In terms of impact, it is my conviction that there is no difference between aid and AIDS in Africa. Both have over the years proved to be very destructive to the continent’s development.” – Commentary on

This publication brings together the outputs of a recent ODI meeting series which facilitated interdisciplinary debate about the conceptual and practical issues involved in using human rights to improve development outcomes.

The World Trade Organization is moving closer to a global trade deal, but greater flexibility and concessions are needed, top officials have said. WTO trade ministers are in Geneva this week hoping to revive the ongoing Doha round of talks that have stalled over problem areas such as agriculture. Poorer nations want greater access to richer markets, while the US and Europe are fighting over subsidy levels. US trade chief said the sides are now "relatively close".

Scientists are hopeful a vaccine against the deadly tropical disease Marburg virus could be developed. Similar to the Ebola virus, Marburg causes internal bleeding leading to multiple organ failure in 90% of cases - there is no effective treatment. A US-Canadian team writing in the Lancet say they have created a jab which appears to protect monkeys from Marburg's harmful effects. Both the Marburg and Ebola viruses are considered potential bio-terror agents.

The world is failing children by not ensuring they have enough to eat, says the UN Children's Fund (Unicef). It says the number of children under five who are underweight has remained virtually unchanged since 1990, despite a target to reduce the number affected. One of the UN's Millennium Development Goals is to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger by 2015, which would mean halving the proportion of children who are underweight for their age. But Unicef warned that the world was not on track to meet that goal.

The Dutch government has suspended nearly $150m in aid to Kenya because of concerns over corruption. The Dutch development co-operation minister said her government wanted to see "more tangible results in the fight against corruption in Kenya". Kenyan officials said the move was based on a misconception. The IMF and the World Bank have recently said they were withholding millions of dollars in aid to Kenya because of concerns over corruption.

Members with "egregious human rights records" were one reason the former Human Rights Commission often failed to take strong action on human rights abuses. Democratic governments were also unwilling to jeopardise economic, political or regional ties, and shied away from condemning many states. Human Rights Watch argues that the new Human Rights Council's increased membership standards will discourage abusive states from joining. But whether "democratic government" members will also take their Council responsibilities seriously remains to be seen.

This paper focuses on the situation of teachers, the problems they face and the detrimental effect these problems are having on children's ability to complete a good quality education. As well as setting out the problems faced by teachers, education managers and governments in poor countries, the paper also collects together a range of solutions to the problems highlighted.

This programme was created to recognise and elevate those selfless individuals who make a world of difference in the lives of children across the globe, regardless of political, religious or geographical boundaries. All Award funds go to support the proven and sustainable programmes initiated/managed by the winners.

This is a consumer campaign that was launched to help fill in gaps in the sustainable food movement, and to help direct consumers to organisations that are working on the issue. Sustainable Table works to educate consumers and increase demand for sustainable food through awareness campaigns, promotional events, and educational websites. It aims to offer viable alternatives to factory farming.

The Darfur cirse, Northern Uganda's night commuters, civilans caught in Nepal's war, Afghanistan's heroin predicament, Angola's refugee returns, Malaria impact on Ethiopia: these are just some of the topics of recent films produced by IRIN. Typically 5-20 minutes long, they highlight key humanitarian concerns in often under-reported, poorly understood and neglected areas. The films are available free and can be viewed online as well as on CDROM.