Beatrice Namuzibira’s class of 90 pupils is not even considered a large one, compared to classes in other schools. Universal primary education has filled classrooms beyond capacity across Uganda, putting a strain on teachers. But her teaching - and her home life - have received fresh inspiration, thanks to innovative online modules for teachers offered by the Teacher Education for Sub-Saharan Africa project (TESSA), a network created to support effective teaching in every subject area.

An exciting new community radio project is helping communities in Ghana to share valuable experiences of adaptation with other villages and towns, as well as local decision-makers. Researchers can also hear directly from these communities, giving an unprecedented picture of what women, men and children are already doing in their daily lives to adapt to a changing climate.

Thirty-four per cent of Moroccans admit to having paid a bribe in the past 12 months, according to a recent study by Transparency International. For its 2010 Global Corruption Barometer, released on 9 December, the Berlin-based organisation interviewed more than 91,500 people in 86 countries and territories. Nearly one thousand heads of household, including 483 women, participated in the survey.

The International Criminal Court prosecutor has named three Kenyan cabinet ministers and a former police chief among six suspects behind the east African country's post-election violence in 2008. The widely awaited announcement has the potential to destabilise Kenya's fragile coalition, or unity government, which was formed by President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga to end the bloodshed and restore stability. Prominent among the six suspects were finance minister and deputy prime minister Uhuru Kenyatta, son of Kenya's founding father Jomo Kenyatta, and William Ruto, the higher education minister who has been suspended to fight a corruption case.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon emphasised his warning against attacks on the United Nations peacekeeping force in Côte d'Ivoire or attempts to obstruct their work, saying there will consequences for those responsible, as the UN human rights arm reported 'massive violations'. In Geneva, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, expressed deep concern over the growing evidence of massive violations of human rights taking place in Côte d'Ivoire since 16 December, and reiterated her determination to ensure that perpetrators are held accountable for their actions.

A group of civil society organisations have raised concerns about the adverse impacts of BHP Billiton’s ongoing negotiations with the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) for a $5 billion aluminum smelter near the port of Banana on the Atlantic Coast to be powered by the proposed Inga 3 hydropower scheme. 'In one of the world’s poorest and most corrupt countries, this purely commercial venture is set to reinforce existing poverty. Without due action, it will cost the Congolese people electricity, jobs and development,' say the organisations.

For Geneviève Zongo, every 13 December revives excruciating memories of the loss of her husband Norbert Zongo, editor of the weekly L'Indépendant. He was assassinated in 1998 while investigating the murder of a driver working at Burkina Faso's presidential palace. More painful still is that the killers who ambushed Zongo's car, riddling it with bullets and torching it, have never been brought to justice.

In an event on sexual orientation at UN Headquarters in New York, held in conjunction with Human Rights Day, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon deplored discrimination against homosexuals and the violence of which they are often victims, for which the perpetrators escape punishment. Ban recognised that social attitudes run deep and social change often comes only with time, but he highlighted the collective responsibility to stand against discrimination, to defend fellow human beings and fundamental principles. Ban noted that during his recent trips to Africa, he urged leaders to do away with laws criminalising homosexuality.

As families count the cost of another military operation against militants in the Niger Delta, analysts say up to now government efforts to quell violence are hampered by corruption and fail to get at the deep-seated causes of unrest in the region. Residents told IRIN hundreds of families are still displaced more than two weeks after the crackdown. According to the military's Joint Task Force (JTF), the 1 December attack by its troops on the village of Ayakoromor, 50km south of Warri, was a planned operation, targeting suspected criminals. But the Red Cross says thousands of people fled, many taking refuge in swamps, then heading to nearby villages.

Delegations from Morocco and the Frente Polisario have attended a fourth round of informal talks in New York on ending the conflict in Western Sahara at the invitation of the personal envoy of the United Nations Secretary-General. The three-day meeting in Long Island, convened by the envoy, Christopher Ross, was also attended delegates from the neighbouring States, Algeria and Mauritania. The proposals of the two parties were again presented, but by the end of the meeting, each party continued to reject the proposal of the other as a sole basis for future negotiations, the statement added.

South Africa is no stranger to hosting major United Nations (UN) events. In 2001 the World Conference Against Racism was hosted in Durban and in 2002, the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) took place in Johannesburg. In late 2011 the contentious climate change negotiations will continue at the UN 17th Conference of the Party (COP 17) in Durban where the South African government is hoping they could clinch the deal for a 'fair, balanced and ambitious outcome', on climate change. Judging from the outcome of the recently concluded COP 16 in Cancun, Mexico; obtaining a multi-lateral agreement through which those most to blame for causing climate change take responsibility for the damage they are causing to those most affected by climate change, is unlikely to happen, writes Michelle Pressend, who coordinates the Trade Strategy Group (TSG) at the Economic Justice Network and Global Network Africa at the Labour Research Services in Cape Town.

The two Islamist groups fighting the weak UN-backed Somali government, al-Shabab and Hizbul Islam, are to merge, according to reports. The two had been allies but have fallen out over the past year, with Hizbul Islam losing ground. Some see the merger as a takeover by al-Shabab, which has links to al-Qaeda.

The north of Sudan will reinforce its Islamic laws if the south secedes as a result of next month's referendum, President Omar al-Bashir has said. Bashir said the constitution would then be changed, making Islam the only religion, Sharia the only law and Arabic the only official language. Correspondents say his comments are likely to alarm thousands of non-Muslim southerners living in the north.

Documents found in Lamu have exposed the understated role of Kenyan Asians in the struggle for independence, reports the Daily Nation. The files also shed light on the real reasons behind the detention of Jomo Kenyatta and fellow freedom fighters. 'The files are a real treasure as they explain in detail how the detainees were treated,' says Athman Hussein, the National Museums of Kenya, assistant director in charge of Coast region.

Tunisian activists pounced on the latest Wikileaks US Embassy Cables, dedicating a new website to republish and discuss the revelations related to their country, reports Global Voices. Tunileaks, was launched by Nawaat one hour after the whistle-blowing site unleashed the cables on 28 November. The first release contained 17 cables issued from the US Embassy in Tunisia. They mainly dealt with the neglect of human rights in Tunisia and the restrictions on freedom of expression.

Ghana and Qatar’s announcement that they will jointly farm 50,000 hectares of land is the latest in a sweeping, but controversial, trend rolling across Africa. Cash-rich countries are securing land in poorer states, which they hope will provide them with food security. But critics warn that in the rush to secure food for themselves, investors and African governments risk alienating large sectors of the populations, for whom land ownership is an ongoing, emotional issue.

The global development landscape is changing rapidly with the growing role of China, Brazil and other 'emerging' economies. In this new context, African countries have seen a significant increase in trade, foreign direct investment and official development assistance from the South. However, 'While some emerging economies have a strategy for Africa, Africa does not have a strategy towards the emerging economies,' notes a new report of the UN Office of the Special Adviser on Africa (OSAA). So that both sides can gain from this relationship, African countries need to adopt a coordinated, coherent strategy and exercise greater ownership over their growing interactions with emerging economies, urges the report, 'Africa's Cooperation with New and Emerging Development Partners: Options for Africa's Development'.

Government, donors and Members of Parliament have been challenged to make decisions that will enable Tanzanians achieve better results from their tax and donor money. In a new policy brief, Uwazi at Twaweza presses for a more transparent budget process; implementation of the recommendations of the Controller and Auditor General (CAG), and a focus on learning in primary schools. The brief titled, 'Achieving Results: Four Challenges to Government, Donors and MPs', says effective management of public resources remains elusive because the budget process is opaque, and citizens and oversight bodies lack a substantive voice in it. It notes further that efforts to improve primary education have disproportionately focused on increasing enrolment, failing to ensure that children actually learn while in school.

Mauritius plans to summon Britain's top diplomat in the country after a leaked US cable suggested a new marine park around the disputed Chagos islands was a ploy to stop uprooted islanders returning home. Mauritius' Foreign Affairs Minister Arvin Boolell was quoted in local newspapers as saying the classified document confirmed his government's belief that the protected area was in fact a smoke-screen.

Egypt was offered nuclear weapons, material and expertise on the black market after the collapse of the Soviet Union, according to a senior Egyptian diplomat. President Hosni Mubarak turned down the offer, but the incident raises new questions over what nuclear sales were made by the other states or groups in the chaos of the early 1990s in Russia and the former Soviet republics. Maged Abdelaziz, the country’s ambassador to the UN, made the revelation to America’s top negotiator on nuclear arms control, Rose Gottemoeller, in a conversation reported in a leaked US cable in May last year.

Donors continue pressing the Tanzanian government to fight against corruption as Transparency International’s global report indicated a dramatic increase in corruption worldwide, reports the Tanzania Corruption Tracking System. Speaking at the end of a week long Poverty Eradication Review and Annual Policy Dialogue, the General Budget Support (GBS) group of development Partners in Tanzania spoke tough against the government’s slow pace in the fight against corruption. Over 14 donors contribute to Tanzania’s budget through the GBS modality.

Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has said that elections could not take place in his country without reforms and a constitutional review, despite President Robert Mugabe's threat to call one next year. Tsvangirai formed a power-sharing government with Mugabe after disputed 2008 elections, and both promised to work together to reform the Constitution and organise a referendum to approve it before new elections.

The 31 December deadline for Zimbabwean immigrants to apply for the necessary permits to allow them to stay in the country will not be extended, Home Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma has said. Zimbabweans in South Africa who attempted to register for business, study or work permits after the deadline would not be processed, she said, speaking in Pretoria after meeting representatives of the Zimbabwe Stakeholder Forum.

A report into conditions at the De Doorns safety camp, set up to house victims of xenophobic violence in the Western Cape town, has found that conditions did not meet international guidelines for disaster victims. 'Too often have the narratives surrounding the xenophobic attacks in De Doorns centred around the causes of the attacks, which has inadvertently lent some legitimacy to the an underlying opinion that xenophobic violence is justified in some cases, for some causes. This, in turn, seems to have given rise to the sentiment that the victims of these xenophobic attacks are not entitled to the same rights and assistance as other disaster victims.'

The process of statement taking from security chiefs has been suspended, meaning the Kenya chaos case will now be filed without their testimony. Judge Kalpana Rawal put the process on hold Tuesday to await the outcome of an application filed by the security bosses' lawyers at The Hague. The lawyers want assurances from the ICC that any evidence provided by their clients will not be used against them as the court's prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo puts together his case on post election violence.

Some cried. Some were confused. They looked on in disbelief as a local female surgeon tried in vain thrice, probably using a very blunt knife, to cut off a girl’s clitoris. Once cut, the girl was pushed aside. Then seven other girls were circumcised. The eight are part of over 120 girls who have been mutilated in Sebei region since the Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) season kicked off in Sebei in eastern Uganda. The government passed a law prohibiting FGM in December 2009 but nobody in the FGM areas seems to care.

Senegal is in talks with Saudi Arabia to lease farmland to grow food of an area nearly four times the size of Manhattan, an official in Senegal involved in the deal told Reuters. Like other wealthy Gulf states Saudi Arabia has been buying farmland in Asia and Africa to secure food supplies after inflation had nearly doubled the price of food in 2008.

Small-scale gold miners have implored Government to support them to enhance productive capacity to ensure optimal use of the vast claims they hold. The small miners said they had capacity to produce about 1,2 tonnes of gold every month if supported with adequate financial resources and equipment.

At least 30 people have been killed in Morroco following torrential rain and floods. The dead included 24 people who were killed on Tuesday after their bus fell into a flooded river near Bouznika city, 40km south of the capital Rabat, police and the official MAP news agency said.

Food production will have to increase by 70 per cent to feed the expected world population of 9 billion by 2050, says a report released by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). Agricultural output in developing countries will have to double, the report says. This will have to be done when rural poverty is still widespread across many developing countries.

As workers celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), the whisper of 'back to basics' is gaining momentum, writes Ebrahim-Khalil Hassen. 'COSATU faces significant challenges in its continued long-term role. These challenges include an older union membership, new forms of economic activity that make organising difficult as well as a more fluid environment with a multiplicity of voices on public policy issues. Thus, COSATU needs new forms of membership that it can utilise to mobilise sections of the working class that it has not traditionally organised.'

In the quest for an international climate agreement on actions to address the climate change crisis, three aspects have to be the basis simultaneously: the environmental imperative, the developmental imperative, and the equity imperative, says this December policy brief from the South Centre. This formula requires that the different pieces of the climate negotiations be seen and addressed as a whole, in a holistic way. In particular, setting the global goal for emission reduction has to take account of the environmental imperative. A global carbon budget of how much more emissions should be allowed between now and 2050 should be fixed, and also how that budget should be allocated especially between developed and developing countries.

The Kenyan government should immediately stop deporting Somali nationals to war-torn Somalia and make a public commitment to protect and help them, Human Rights Watch has said. The Kenyan authorities deported almost 300 Somalis to south-central Somalia on 15, 29 and 30 November 2010, in violation of international law. Credible sources and witnesses to the deportations on 29 and 30 November told Human Rights Watch that police in the Kenyan border town of Liboi used pickup trucks to drive 130 Somali asylum seekers back to the Somali border.

Making ends meet is often difficult and dangerous for refugees living in cities, where paying rent and buying food can be a daily struggle and finding work is complicated. Most host countries do not allow refugees to work legally, so people find themselves forced to take jobs that pay 'under the table'. Refugees with no legal protection risk exploitation and abuse by their employers. Until recently, the international community has largely overlooked the needs of refugees in urban settings. Today, more than half of the world's 10.5 million refugees live in cities and towns, as compared to one-third who live in camps.

Harvard School of Public Health and UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, will release a new manual on 9 December on how to apply and promote human rights in all development work - including in humanitarian emergencies and difficult contexts. Designed for use by development workers and others, the manual provides practical tools for designing and implementing a human rights-based approach, and illustrates the benefits of using such an approach in development work.

The National Council for Broadcast and Communication (CNCA), a media regulatory body in Cote d’ Ivoire on 2 December 2010 issued a directive banning all foreign radio and TV channels in the country from covering the ongoing political crises in the country. Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA)’s correspondent reported that the CNCA announced the ban in a communiqué read by its secretary general, Félix Nanihio, during a news broadcast on state-owned TV at 20 hours GMT.

Access to justice for women is often not given enough attention in both national and international judicial systems, a United Nations official has said, adding that the newly-created UN entity for women will play an important role in promoting justice for women especially in post-conflict situations. 'Justice for women is still an afterthought,' said Anne Marie Goetz, the Chief Advisor on Governance, Peace and Security of the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) at a news conference at UN headquarters to highlight a report by the Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice, an international non-governmental organisation, on gender issues at the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has expressed concern that Zambian President Rupiah Banda invited indicted Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir to participate in a regional conference scheduled for 15 December. Group spokesman Reed Brody said a majority of human rights groups across Africa have expressed displeasure over the invitation. 'We are hoping that this report is not correct and, if it is, we are hoping that the president of Zambia will eventually think better of it.'

While wanting to identify itself as a 'failed state', the Irish government discovers that this is a reserved phrase, suggests Gado.