World Bank President James Wolfensohn is facing pressure from Nobel Peace Prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu to clean up the World Bank's policy and practice on funding oil and mining industries. Archbishop Tutu joins four other Nobel winners and more than 300 organisations who have written to Wolfensohn calling on him to radically reform the way the World Bank supports oil and mining industries. A recent review of World Bank funding for extractive industries, commissioned by Wolfensohn found that funding extractive industry projects was not a suitable use of public money in the vast majority of cases and does not promote sustainable development. It recommended the Bank reallocate funds towards renewable energy.

Each year, since 1994, CODESRIA has organised a Gender Institute which brings together some 12 to 15 researchers for between four to six weeks of concentrated debate, experience-sharing and knowledge-building. CODESRIA is seeking applications for the following posts for the Gender Institute 2004: Director (senior scholars known for their expertise on the topic of the year and for the originality of their thinking on it); Resource persons (senior scholars or scholars in their mid-career who have published extensively on the topic, and who have a significant contribution to make to the debates on it); Laureates (African social scientists who have a minimum qualification of a Masters' degree, with a proven research capacity and who are currently engaged in teaching and/or research activities are invited to send in their applications for consideration for admission into the Institute). For more information, please contact the CODESRIA Gender Institute: [email protected].