Pambazuka News 519: The rough road to freedom: Côte d'Ivoire, Libya & the continent
Pambazuka News 519: The rough road to freedom: Côte d'Ivoire, Libya & the continent
As part of its mission of collaborative peacebuilding, the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding
(WANEP) organised a regional workshop at the PACIFIC hotel in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso on
22 and 23 February 2011. After two days of discussions and exchange of experiences, the 50 participants from Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Nigeria and Togo developed mechanisms and solutions for sustainable and more effective actions, and identified the different actors and organisations for the implementation of the actions.
The African Leadership Centre (ALC) was established in Kenya in June 2010 as a joint initiative of King’s College London and the University of Nairobi. The ALC is pleased to announce a call for applications for the Peace and Security Fellowship for African Women for 2011/2012. This Fellowship is an intellectual and financial award to those who have demonstrated obvious or potential capacity to make a change in their field. Please note that the Fellowship does not lead to an academic qualification, rather it is a postgraduate non-degree programme.
The first issue of Development 54 starts the one year debate on sustainability by looking at the dilemma of the current global land grabs in Africa, Asia and Latin America. It engages academics and researchers of the Land Research Action Network and of the University of Utrecht in a hot debate on land speculation today. The journal issue tackles land, commodity and food speculation. It explores the implications for an equitable and sustainable development and looks at how to ensure that any benefits from foreign land development are passed on to local people.
While protest movements are developing against dictatorial regimes in northern Africa and the Middle East, the statements and actions by European governments are mere rhetoric when it is a matter of reaffirming the necessity of a closure of borders that undermines fundamental rights, says this article. Thus, while Gaddafi brandishes the spectre of a migratory invasion by threatening European states of putting an end to any 'cooperation in the field of the fight against irregular immigration', the EU, through the words of its representative for foreign affairs, Catherine Ashton, claims that it does not want to give in to blackmail. At the same time European bodies continued to negotiate, less than a week ago, Libyan participation in their policy to secure the Mediterranean space.
The Dag Hammarskjöld Journalism Fellowship is open to individuals who: are native of one of the developing countries of Africa, Asia, South America or the Caribbean. Applicants must demonstrate an interest in and commitment to international affairs and to conveying a better understanding of the United Nations to their readers and audiences.
An Israeli company is recruiting mercenaries to support Moammar Gadhafi’s efforts to suppress an uprising against his regime, an Israeli news site said Tuesday. Citing Egyptian sources, the Hebrew-language news site Inyan Merkazi said the company was run by retired Israeli army commanders.
This map shows fighting in Zawiyah, Misrata, Bin Jawad and Ras Lanuf as the Tripoli government tries to claw back gains made by the rebels.
'Freedom of Information and Women’s Rights in Africa' is a toolkit guide published by the African Women’s Development and Communication Network (FEMNET) with the support of UNESCO. The book provides guidance for women’s organisations in Africa on how to organise around freedom of information. It has compiled five case studies from five African countries, namely, Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa and Zambia under different scenarios.
Police backed by gangs of youths have ransacked at least 10 houses belonging to ministers and other allies of the internationally recognised president of Ivory Coast, according to witnesses. The raids came amid worsening tensions between Alassane Ouattara and the sitting president, Laurent Gbagbo, whose refusal to step down has pushed the west African country to the brink of civil war. Fighters loyal to Ouattara said they captured the western town of Toulepleu, but Gbagbo's military said fighting continued.
Opposition forces in Libya are bracing for a prolonged campaign in their bid to overthrow the regime of Muammar Gaddafi, the country's long-time leader, as their fighters battle to repulse ferocious assaults by government soldiers. Forces loyal to Gaddafi have attacked several rebel-held cities along the country's coastline in a bid to halt the anti-government forces' rapid advance to the capital Tripoli. Dozens have died in a dramatic escalation of the conflict gripping the oil-rich North African nation.
The three-month long conflict in Ivory Coast has entered a particularly bloody stage. Nearly 400 people have been killed in the west African country, including 32 on 3 March alone, almost all of them men who had voted for opposition leader Alassane Ouattara, according to UN figures. The photographs on this page provide an illustration of recent events in the country.
The protesters who stormed the offices of Egyptian state security this weekend say the buildings are proof of 'the greatest privacy invasion in history', filled with transcripts of phone conversations, surveillance reports and stark reminders of the torture carried out inside.Hundreds of protesters seized the state security building - a prominent symbol of the Egyptian government's brutality - after hours of protests. Protesters say they hope the documents are used to prosecute state security officers.
Soldiers patrolled the Angolan capital Luanda on Sunday as Angolans watched to see if plans for a Monday mass protest against the 31-year rule of President Jose Eduardo dos Santos would materialise. Since last month, rumours have been circulating on the Internet of north Africa-style protests scheduled to begin on 7 March.
A court in Angola's southwestern province of Namibe sent a journalist to prison without due process over his coverage of a sexual harassment scandal that implicated the province's top judicial official, according to local journalists and news reports. Judge Manuel Araujo sentenced Armando José Chicoca, a freelancer who reports for US government-funded broadcaster Voice of America (VOA) and private Angolan newspapers such as Folha 8, Agora, and O Apostolado, to one year in prison and a fine of 200,000 kwanza (US$2,100), according to news reports.
Kenyan Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka started a second round of shuttle diplomacy on Sunday to lobby for International Criminal Court deferment of Kenya’s post election violence case by a year. Musyoka left the country for a meeting with UN secretary general Ban Ki Moon on Tuesday and US officials on Wednesday.
Citizens in Equatorial Guinea trying to take advantage of the government’s pledge to allow greater citizen participation continue to face serious obstacles that hinder their efforts, EG Justice says in a new report. The country was delisted from the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) - a voluntary international effort to strengthen governance in resource-rich countries through improved transparency and accountability - in April 2010 for its failure to comply with the EITI’s requirements, including failing to allow unfettered civil society engagement. Nearly one year later, the Equatoguinean government has not implemented the necessary reforms to guarantee citizen participation and to increase the likelihood that the country will be readmitted to the EITI. The 37 page report, 'Disempowered Voices: The Status of Civil Society in Equatorial Guinea', identifies systematic failures on the part of the Equatoguinean government to allow the full and independent participation of civil society organisations.
While Tanzania's health indicators in some key areas have shown improvement, challenges abound within the health system, a new study shows. The report lists 36 factors impeding the development of the health sector in the country. Limited financial and human resources, administrative shortcomings and unfulfilled plans and promises are among the reasons. Giving local authorities some mandate on decision-making, functional responsibility and resources from central to local government authorities also contribute to the sector's underperformance. The 'Tanzania Health System Assessment 2010' report reveals that there has been a layer of complexity arising from the managerial ability of staff to coordinate across different ministries and fulfil their roles within the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and the Prime Minister's Office, Regional Administration and Local Governments (RALG), administration structures.
Three people were killed and 21 injured by an explosive device thrown from a car at an election rally near Nigeria's capital Abuja on Thursday, the latest act of political violence ahead of nationwide polls next month. The device missed the centre of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) rally in the town of Suleja, on the northwestern edge of Abuja, but landed close to where street traders were working, police said.
As pro-democracy forces advance toward Gaddafi's main strongholds, the dictator of Libya is stepping up efforts to retake regions lost to the rebellion. Amidst an almost complete Internet and media blackout, videos still manage to be leaked, giving us a glimpse of what's happening on the ground. This post from Global Voices contains a round-up of the videos that emerged.
As anxiety grows about President Robert Mugabe's health, divisions in Zanu-PF have worsened, with the two main camps angling to succeed the veteran leader intensifying their internal battle for control of the party. Mugabe's health concerns escalated last week when he was rushed to Singapore for what spokesman George Charamba said was 'the last review on his minor cataract operation'.
The Executive Director of GAMCOTRAP, Dr Isatou Touray, is one of the recipients of the Africa Gender Award 2011 by FAMEDEV (Femme et media et Development) headed by a Gambian, Amie Joof-Cole based in Dakar, Senegal. Dr Touray is amongst other prestigious awardees such as the Senegalese President, His Excellency Abdoulaye Wade. Imam Baba Muhtarr Leigh, received the award on behalf of Dr Touray.
This week marks 100 years of International Women’s Day with a theme that mentions the need for a pathway to decent work for women. Despite the fact women cross-border traders make huge contributions to African economies, their path to decent work is still strewn with difficulty and danger. A recent United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) report surveyed 700 cross-border traders in Southern Africa and found that most women traders had reported sexual abuse and harassment. This exposes women traders to HIV infection and other sexually-transmitted diseases, yet nobody seems to take action.
More than 191,000 people have fled the violence in Libya, according to a report by the UN's Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), citing figures from the International Organisation for Migration. People fleeing Libya for Tunisia said they had to pass through dozens of checkpoints on their way from Tripoli, the capital, and that they had been robbed by Gaddafi's security forces.
Thousands more refugees are fleeing an escalation of political violence in the Ivory Coast, reports children’s charity Plan International. Unofficial figures suggest that up to 40,000 people have crossed the border into neighbouring Liberia. 'The number of refugees entering Liberia has increased dramatically in the last week, due to an outbreak of fighting in our neighbouring country, Ivory Coast,' says Mohammed Bah, Plan International’s Country Director in Liberia.
The investigation into alleged improper conduct and maladministration perpetrated by the National Commissioner of South African Police Service (SAPS), Bheki Cele, and the Minister of Public Works (PW), Gwen Mahlangu-Nkabinde has been completed and a comprehensive report submitted. It is now up to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to urgently move the process forward, says the Social Justice Coalition. It is in the interest of the Rule of Law and our faith in the Justice system that the case against General Cele and Minister Mahlangu-Nkabinde be brought before the courts, says the Coalition.
Pambazuka News 518: Libyan revolution: A call for solidarity and vigilance
Pambazuka News 518: Libyan revolution: A call for solidarity and vigilance
African Union (AU) election observers say Uganda's presidential poll suffered from several shortcomings, while two losing candidates are calling for Egypt-style protests. Two of the losing presidential candidates on Monday threatened to mobilise mass protests against the government. Museveni said last week he would jail anyone who tried to spark Egypt-style unrest.
Malawi’s security forces blocked a demonstration against fuel shortages on 14 February and arrested organisers of the protest, reports Bloomberg. Mavuto Bamusi, the national coordinator for the Human Rights Consultative Committee, was among those detained, Deputy Commissioner of Police Innocent Botomani told reporters in the capital, Lilongwe.
At least 50 Somali and Ethiopian migrants died when a ship carrying 129 people sank off the northern coast of Mozambique last week, media reports said. Reuters reports that survivors, thought to be illegal migrants, have been taken to refugee camps.
The London Guardian has established an interactive map that syncs with Twitter feeds relevant to protests currently prevalent in the region. The page makes it possible to click on a region, following which the relevant Tweets for that country show up.
This page shows an infographic that maps out Twitter accounts active during the Egyptian revolution. 'Someday in the near future, the chart you see below might be looked at as a hero's roll call - the same way that war heroes are listed at the sites of famous battles. Or, it might simply be useful to social scientists, hoping to understand the role Twitter played in bringing about the end of Hosni Mubarak's 30-year dictatorship. Either way, it's an astounding document of a once-in-a-lifetime event,' says the article posted with the page.
The supply of water is often said to be this century’s greatest challenge, and with good reason. However, in many parts of the world it is the lack of adequate sanitation and safe hygiene practices that remain the most ubiquitous threat to people’s health. Addressing this offers the chance to bring fundamental change to the lives of billions. This is no truer than in Sub-Saharan Africa where only 31 per cent of people have access to improved sanitation facilities, a number that falls to 24 per cent in rural areas.
Alhaji Bature Iddrisu, managing editor of privately-owned Bilingual Free Press on 19 February 2011 filed a complaint at the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service against Kennedy Agyapong, an opposition Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin North Constituency of the Central Region, for threatening him with death. Agyapong was reported by a pro-government daily newspaper, The Enquirer, to have said that he would 'kill' Alhaji Bature for consistently linking him and his family to illicit drug trafficking from one radio station to another.
Multiple pre-dawn explosions rocked opposition offices in oil-rich southern Nigeria, the latest in a wave of attacks ahead of April elections, police and the party said Monday (21 February). The explosions went off at the Labour Party campaign offices in Bayelsa, President Goodluck Jonathan’s home state.
Witnesses say security forces fired on protesters for the second consecutive day in Ivory Coast’s biggest city, following a call for an 'Egypt-style' uprising to depose sitting president Laurent Gbagbo.
The witnesses say military police encircled a group of supporters of Alassane Ouattara in the Abobo district of Abidjan on Sunday afternoon, before opening fire. There were reports of several injured, though their numbers could not be independently verified.
A new issue of the Journal of Refugee Studies (vol. 24, no. 1, March 2011) has just been published. It includes the following articles:
- Laws, Policies, or Social Position? Capabilities and the Determinants of Effective Protection in Four African Cities.
- Refugee Camp Security: Decreasing Vulnerability Through Demographic Controls.
- ‘Let Me Go to the City’: African Asylum Seekers, Racialization and the Politics of Space in Israel.
Based on comments from presenters and the audience the key priorities emerging from the Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS) public debate on rural transformation 'Back to the Plot!' held on 31 January 2011 included land reform; service delivery in rural areas; experimenting with alternative modes of agricultural production, such as smallholder producers and organics; enabling access to food value chains for more producers, especially small producers; addressing the rising cost of farm inputs, including new technologies, fertiliser and petrol; and addressing ecological matters. For more details about presentations at the event, please click on the link provided.
The annual meetings of Commonwealth women's ministers and officials began on Saturday 19 February in New York, with an assessment of the progress and challenges in implementing the Commonwealth's 10 year Plan of Action for Gender Equality. At the meeting, it was decided that regional groupings would play a bigger role in monitoring the Plan of Action. Dr Sylvia Anie, Director responsible for Gender at the Secretariat said: 'The formation of regional groups is an important development. Their observations will feed into the general monitoring of the Plan and the groups will hold their first meeting before June.'
A subsidiary of one of the world's largest commodity trading companies stands accused of a series of tax irregularities in Zambia - a desperately poor developing country where life expectancy is 47 and tax revenues are urgently needed. According to a leaked auditors' report, the copper and cobalt mining company Mopani Copper Mines Plc may be using derivatives trades to shift profits out of Zambia in order to minimise its tax bill in the country. Swiss giant Glencore International AG has a 73 per cent interest in Mopani through one of its subsidiaries.
The UN refugee agency said in Geneva on Tuesday it has become 'increasingly concerned' about the dangers for civilians inadvertently caught up in the mounting violence in Libya, especially asylum-seekers and refugees. 'We have no access at this time to the refugee community. Over the past months we have been trying to regularise our presence in Libya, and this has constrained our work,' Melissa Fleming, UNHCR's chief spokesperson, told journalists in Geneva.
Malaria is the leading cause of mortality among children under the age of five in this West African nation, and UNICEF is concerned that stocks of essential drugs to treat the deadly disease are in danger of running out in two to four weeks’ time.
Lecturers at the Chancellor College, a constituent college of the University of Malawi in the eastern city of Zomba, some 80 kilometres from Blantyre, Monday held peaceful demonstrations, protesting what they called an intrusion on their academic freedom. This follows the summoning, by Inspector General of Police, Peter Mukhito, of political science lecturer, Dr. Blessings Chinsinga, over an example he allegedly gave in one of his classes. Dr. Chinsinga reportedly drew parallels between Malawi's current fuel crisis with the insurrections that toppled the government of President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt.
The Accra-based media rights body, Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), is pushing for the inclusion of issues of freedom of expression and media rights in UN Human Rights Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of West African states. Sources told PANA on Saturday in Dakar that MFWA is at an advanced stage of working on 'stakeholders’ reports and recommendations' to State delegates on the 'free expression situation' in West Africa.
While the US has condemned egregious examples of rights-violating policies in Uganda, it still funds HIV interventions that are inherently anti-LGBT (lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgender) and anti-woman, says this Huffington Post article. 'They assume and reinforce the idea that everyone is heterosexual, everyone is going to get married, and everyone has control over when and with whom they and their partner have sex; ideas that are flat-out wrong and result in useless HIV interventions and rancid discrimination.'
More and more evidence is accumulating that a clean and green economy is most likely to deliver a more secure, prosperous and less tumultuous future for humanity, WWF has said. WWF International Director General Jim Leape was commenting on the release of the major United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) report 'Towards a Green Economy' which shows that appropriate policies and relatively modest redirections of global investment flows could grow the global economy at equivalent or greater levels than current forecasts.
COSATU has condemned the continued persecution of political activists in Zimbabwe and the never improving situation in that country. 'The detention of about 52 activists of the International Socialist Organisation (ISO) in Harare on baseless charges of plotting to topple the government indicates the state of insecurity in that country. Amongst those arrested was a former MP for Highfield, who is also the general coordinator of International Socialist Organisation (ISO).'
'What social media has created is a sort of an alternate space for reviving a dormant public consciousness into a sentient, dynamic social discourse,' says this blog post reflecting on the significance of social media in the Egyptian revolution. 'The assumption that social media’s largest influence was during or shortly before the 18 days in which Mubarak’s regime was brought down is very naive.'
Algeria's government has adopted a draft order to lift the country's 19-year-old state of emergency, the official APS news agency reports. It says the measure will come into force after its publication in the official gazette, which is expected 'imminently'. It did not elaborate.
Guinea's President Alpha Conde has told the BBC the military junta that held power before he was elected has left the country bankrupt. Conde said the army leaders had spent more money in two years than in the 50 years from independence in 1958.
Amid revolutionary struggles across North Africa and the Middle East that have already toppled dictatorial regimes in Tunisia and Egypt, details continue to emerge of the corrupt ties between these dictators and leading French politicians. These revelations are embarrassing the French political establishment, including the main bourgeois 'left' opposition party, the Parti Socialiste (PS), writes Kumaran Ira on the World Socialist Web Site.
A project in South Africa supports mathematics education in schools using the web, social networking and mobile apps to deliver learning material directly to students’ cell phones. Teachers can also use the content in their classroom lessons. Students can practise mathematics exercises from a cell phone at any time and receive immediate feedback.
A schism about the division of revenues in the world’s oldest customs union threatens to derail the process of regional economic integration in Southern Africa. The internal problems plaguing the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) for the past year have entered a new phase. A concept study looking into revenue sharing from the SACU pool proposes a radical overhaul in which South Africa receives more money, while Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland (BLNS) see their shares drop.
Pressure piled on President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga to defuse rising tension in the country following their standoff over state office nominations and declaration of political warfare by their lieutenants, reports The Standard. There was also fear their disagreement over picking of nominees to key judicial postings and newly created Budget Office would compromise the implementation of the Constitution, and poison the road to next year’s general election.
The high cost of maternity and health care, the lack of a proper follow-up system, and a limited ability to diagnose HIV infection early in babies means many Zimbabwean children are not being caught by the safety net that the prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) programme was intended to provide. At least 150,000 children below the age of 15 are living with HIV, and more than 90 per cent of HIV infections can be attributed to vertical transmission, according to government figures.
Amina Ahmed Barre, 29, a mother of two, has lived in refugee camps most of her life. She is one of nearly 14,000 Somali refugees in Djibouti. Barre fled Somalia with her parents in 1991 when civil war broke out; she was only eight years old. 'I do not recall much about my life in Somalia because I left there when I was very young. My parents took us away when the fighting started in Mogadishu in 1991.'
Human rights violations including sexual violence and unlawful killings are being perpetrated by forces loyal to both Côte d'Ivoire's outgoing President Laurent Gbagbo and internationally recognised incumbent Alassane Ouattara, an Amnesty International investigation has revealed. Victims and eyewitnesses first-hand accounts of the ongoing abuses, which follow the disputed November 2010 election, are contained in a six-page summary of preliminary findings compiled by Amnesty International researchers during a four-week visit to Côte d'Ivoire.
Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro has underscored the importance of education in raising the status of women in society and called for greater investment in measures to ensure gender equality, deploring the fact that two-thirds of illiterate adults across the world are female. 'Investing in women and girls is a force multiplier,' Migiro told the opening of the two-week session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women at UN Headquarters.
A senior United Nations official has welcomed a verdict by a military court in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) which marked the first time that a high-ranking commander and several other army personnel were arrested, tried and sentenced for conflict-related sexual violence in the conflict-prone nation.
Various campaigns hoping to defy Robert Mugabe’s clampdown on civic action have been launched, trying to encourage Zimbabweans to follow the lead of other African countries protesting against their dictators. The campaigns, launched over email and through the social networking websites, Facebook and Twitter, encourage Zimbabweans to hold peaceful marches calling for Mugabe to step down. The ‘Zimbabwe Million Citizen March’ was launched a week ago, and calls for a mass protest next Tuesday under the theme ‘Power in numbers to remove dictatorship’.
Egypt's key portfolios of defence interior, foreign, finance and justice were unchanged in a cabinet reshuffle, state television confirmed on Tuesday when it broadcast the swearing in ceremony for the new ministers, reports Reuters.
A heated debate is raging in Tunisia over the creation of a special body to monitor the current government. A group of 28 parties and organisations of various political hues on 15 February called for the establishment of the National Council for the Protection of the Revolution, 'in dedication to the principles of the revolution, so as to counter all attempts to abort the revolution and shove the country into a state of vacuum'.
‘Tunisia and Egypt are a big “we can do it too,” not just for Swaziland, but for the rest of the African continent and the repressed Arab world,’ according to Swaziland United Democratic Front (SUDF) project coordinator Sikelela Dlamini.
Recent Wikileaks cable releases reveal why the US continues to crush democracy in Haiti.
Azad Essa explores the significance of popular uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia for other African countries.
In the wake of the Berlusconi scandal, leaders offer advice to the Italian premier.
Inspired by events in Egypt and Tunisia, will Kenya witness its own revolution, asks Gado.
I wake to the news
of Egyptian unrest
on calls for freedom
and democracy…
Colleagues! Last February 7-9, 2010, we attended the African Regional Conference on the Rights of Access to Information in Accra, Ghana, hosted by the Carter Center…
The creation of a new department of anthropology, linguistics and gender studies at the University of Cape Town poses a number of disquieting challenges for the political and intellectual project of the African Gender Institute.
The MenEngage Alliance, a global network working worldwide to increase men’s support for gender equality and human rights, mourns the death of David Kato, a fearless advocate for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersexed people (LGBTI) rights in Uganda. We call on the Ugandan Government and the African Union to take swift action to bring his murderers to book and to make clear their commitment to protecting the rights of LGBTI people across the continent.
A common message through the uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East is that leaders must serve the interests of the people or quit, writes Cameron Duodu.
As the extraordinary events within North Africa and the Middle East continue, Philo Ikonya stresses that genuine support for people’s freedom around the world must increase.
In an interview with Azad Essa for Al Jazeera, Firoze Manji, editor-in-chief of Pambazuka News, discusses the rise in protests across Africa and the extent to which the events inspire people’s demands for greater political representation and self-determination.
Following the passing of Anthony Enahoro, Okachikwu Dibia salutes his thinking around Nigeria’s composition and laments the disingenuous public well-wishing of friends happy to reject his ideas.
The blog Ethiopian Recycler raises a glass to a brewery deal and good governance.
This document from the Norwegian Peacebuilding Centre provides an overview of the four groups that have emerged as major political players in Egypt's political transition. Having actively supported an authoritarian regime for 30 years, US and European politicians now have a unique opportunity to engage more seriously with the real forces of change, the document suggests.
Egyptian women, just like men, took up the call to ‘hope’ represented by Tahrir Square. In this article, they describe the spirit of Tahrir – the camaraderie and equality they experienced – and their hope that the model of democracy established there will be carried forward as Egyptians shape a new political and social landscape.
AWID's Resisting and Challenging Religious Fundamentalisms initiative is an advocacy-research project that seeks to strengthen the responses of women's rights activists to the rise of religious fundamentalisms across regions and religions. The February 2011 edition of the Facing Fundamentalisms Newsletter is now available. Email [email][email protected] to subscribe.
The Popular Resistance blog contains writing in Arabic and English. It covers postings on the rapidly
escalating situations in the Arab world.
The African Women’s Journal - the African Women’s Development and Communication Network (FEMNET) signature publication - will focus on the first priority theme of the African Women’s Decade (2010-2020): Health, Maternal Mortality and HIV&AIDS.