Konstantina Isidoros’s article ‘raises the bar, lifts the lid and exposes the follies of Morocco perfectly’ writes Martin Dewhurst.

The 83 members of WOZA (Women and Men of Zimbabwe Arise) arrested after a peaceful protest to mark International Peace Day appeared in a routine remand hearing in Harare Magistrate’s Court on 1 December. They were further remanded out of custody to 29 December 2010.

With Ireland in the throes of pervasive public-spending cuts following its financial bailout, Horace Campbell calls for solidarity and the need to ‘internationalise the resistance in order to change the system’.

Uncleared minefields in northern Uganda’s Lamwo district have prevented thousands of people displaced during the Lord’s Resistance Army insurgency from returning home, officials said. 'These people can’t go to their villages [in Agoro sub-county] unless the place is cleared and declared free of the landmines,' local government official Mathew Ocen Akiya told IRIN. He said some 10,000 people were unable to go home because of the mines.

After decades in exile, almost a quarter of a million officially registered refugees in Uganda and similar numbers of unregistered refugees are considering the prospect of returning to Sudan. Based on interviews conducted with refugees and returnees in northern Uganda and South Sudan, this research paper from the Policy Development and Evaluation Service of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is about the lives of individual Sudanese people who are either still living in Uganda and might identify themselves as refugees, migrants, traders or a little bit of all three, or have returned to South Sudan after decades in exile.

Low expectations about the outcomes of Cancun show how far climate change has fallen on the world's political agenda. ‘And that is bad indeed,’ writes Martin Khor, ‘because the climate problem has got even worse.’

As the UN Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change opens in Cancun this week, Subhankar Banerjee explains why an agreement on the UN’s REDD programme would spell disaster for indigenous forest communities. ‘Is this the time to tinker with trading carbon by taking away the forests from the indigenous inhabitants and then selling the credits to the polluters – or is it possible to develop a common global vision of moving away from fossil fuel altogether and working with forest dwellers on sustainable solutions?’ Banerjee asks.

'Over the past year, the Minister of Human Settlements, Tokyo Sexwale, has been praised for his energy in tackling the housing crisis. What the Minister apparently fails to recognise is that for millions of poor citizens (and non-citizens), informal settlements and inner city buildings are the only forms of accommodation available in the city or close to it. These forms of housing have two very important factors that state housing developments have often failed to provide - closer location to employment opportunities and affordability.'

In its September 2003 issue, and again in June 2005, Alliance put the spotlight on the subject of social justice philanthropy. Five and a half years later, we revisit the subject to find out what if anything has changed. Guest editor for this Alliance special feature is Christopher Harris, formerly of the Ford Foundation, who feels that some real progress has been made in the field and offers seven items worth special mention.

Developing countries continue to drive the global recovery but are not in a position to make up for slowdown in the advanced countries. Consequently, 2011 does not hold out much hope for the world economy, says a new report by the United Nations. The UN report, titled 'World Economic Situation and Prospects 2011' (WESP), finds that because of the slowdown in the advanced countries and the phasing out of stimulus measures, output growth in the developing countries is expected to shrink to six per cent during 2011-2012, down from seven per cent in 2010.

Over 600 new cases of AIDS were recorded during the first nine months of 2010 in Algeria, where the disease has spread relentlessly since the outbreak began in 1985. 'According to the likeliest estimates, there are between 21,000 and 30,000 people living with the virus,' Dr Skander Abdelkader Soufi announced November 24th at an Algiers forum on HIV/AIDS.

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, who sometimes resides in Kenya and Tanzania, has severely embarrassed the Obama Administration throughout the past week with the leaking of US diplomatic cables. Worse is, by all accounts, yet to come. The leaked files include material from the 2007 Kenyan election and its violent aftermath. They are much-awaited in some quarters of the Kenyan political sector, especially with regard to the ongoing build-up to the cases at The Hague by International Criminal Court chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo. There are even those who are hoping that something might crop up in the Kenya cables which could play game changer to the whole ICC process as it stands at present.

Zimbabwean authorities have admitted that they are having serious problems issuing new passports to tens of thousands of nationals in South Africa, just a few weeks before a deadline to get proper documents in place runs out. Co-Minister of Home Affairs, Theresa Makone, said this week that they may need to enlist the help of the South African government, because Zimbabwe is unable to process enough passports on its own. Makone said, after holding talks with her South African counterpart Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, that Zimbabwe could only process 500 passports a day.

Amnesty International has called on all states to commit themselves to end enforced disappearances, following news that a landmark treaty aimed at preventing the practice will come into effect. The International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (Disappearances Convention) will enter into force on 23 December, after Iraq on Wednesday became the 20th country to ratify it. The Convention aims to establish the truth about enforced disappearances, punish perpetrators and provide reparations to victims and their families.

Malawi president Bingu wa Mutharika has ordered that the electoral commission be suspended amid talks of grave fraud. The suspension follows an audit report detailing some US$ 9 million meant for local government elections scheduled for April next year and cannot be accounted for.

Ten years after the signing of an accord designed to move Burundi from civil war to democratic stability, the country has yet to establish transitional justice mechanisms aimed at enhancing reconciliation and bringing to book those responsible for crimes committed during the country's turbulent years. Human rights activists and political observers say the lack of these mechanisms - a truth and reconciliation commission and some form of criminal tribunal - had perpetuated a culture of impunity, allowing human rights violations to proliferate, especially by state organs such as the police and judiciary.

Hundreds of residents from civil society organisations marched in the streets of Bulawayo on 1 December to mark the 16 days of Activism Against Violence Against Women and Girls . But sex workers and members of gay groups were barred by police from joining the demonstration. A dozen organisations took part in the event in Zimbabwe's second largest city, Bulawayo. The commemoration was organised by the Musasa Project, an organisation that deals with domestic violence, under the slogan 'Structures of violence :Defining safety and security for women and girls'.

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) is moving to support its member countries to tap into benefits from the reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) framework. Destruction of forests both contributes to carbon emissions and deprives the planet of an important mechanism to soak up atmospheric carbon dioxide that contributes to global warming.

In an interview with The Africa Report, the founder of the Niger Delta People’s Volunteer Force. explains why the Niger Delta's troubles remain central to Nigeria's politics. 'The NDPVF was formed after the 2003 elections when the government threatened that they wanted me dead because of my views. I had offered to be a witness at Muhammadu Buhari’s election tribunal hearing. They were shocked that as close as I was to Odili, I would be willing to give evidence against his party’s conduct of the 2003 election in Rivers State.'

In the aftermath of the referendum and simultaneous failed putsch, a veritable waltzes of arrestations and investigations are shedding a sad shadow on the island, says this Global Voices post. The referendum lowers the presidential age to 35 years old (from 40 years old), allows Andry Rajoelina (now 36 years old) to participate in presidential elections, to stay in power indefinitely during the transitional period, however long that period becomes.

A three-year plan to address the quality of education in Africa was launched in Tunis on Friday with various education officials from Africa calling for radical reforms to set guidelines for the sector. The programme, which begins in 2011, to be hosted in the Burkina Faso capital, Ouagadougou, is on the theme, 'Education and training in service of Africa’s sustainable development.' Organisers say that the goal is to adapt education mechanisms to train competences to meet the needs expressed by companies and the job market.

No one but the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) seems to dispute the fact that there was massive fraud during the first round of the parliamentary elections on 28 November. Many journalists were physically prevented from covering the widespread irregularities. Such incidents are unfortunately expected to recur during the second round on 5 December. Reporters Without Borders has drawn up a non-exhaustive list of cases of abusive behaviour towards journalists by NDP members and supporters with the complicity of the police on 28 November.

The military Joint Task Force (JTF) battling militants in Nigeria's oil producing Niger Delta region last Wednesday raided and destroyed three camps operated by militant John Togo, seizing several weapons, a military spokesman said. The JTF spokesman, Lt.-Col Timothy Antigha, however said Thursday it was too early to give casualty figures, while denying rebels' claim that 100 people, mostly civilians, were killed in the attack, in the creeks of Delta state.

Cameroonian journalists Robert Mintya and Serge Sabouang were released conditionally on 24 November on the order of President Paul Biya, report Journaliste en danger (JED), Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE), PEN International's Writers in Prison Committee (WiPC) and Reporters Without Borders (RSF). They had been in prison since March 2010.

Forum for the Empowerment of Women (FEW) a Johannesburg based organisation that advocates for lesbians’ rights, strongly condemns the vicious attack of 21-year-old Ncumisa Mzamelo in an apparent hate crime. According to reports, Mzamelo’s lifestyle could have been why she was murdered, dumped in a disused toilet and her body set on fire. The circumstances and the severe brutality of the attack are indicative that the victim may have been targeted because of her sexual orientation. The intersectionality of black lesbians identities continue to put them at risk of being 'corrected' of their sexuality.

The facts are grotesque and chilling. Violence against women, who constitute more than a half of the human population, is a pervasive and cold reality of social life in most societies. Its human and economic costs are simply staggering. If we are to redeem humanity for a better world, it is imperative that we awake our consciences and adopt robust and effective strategies to eradicate this mutating pathology that has become an integral equation in the calculus of domination.

Compelling new evidence suggests the Nigerian military killed four Ogoni elders whose murders led to the execution of the playwright and activist Ken Saro-Wiwa in 1995. The evidence also reveals that the notorious military commander Lieutenant-Colonel Paul Okuntimo, whose troops were implicated in murder and rape, was in the pay of Shell at the time of the killings and was driven around in a Shell vehicle.

How respect for human rights and effective law enforcement can go hand in hand was the subject of a workshop for 26 officials of the Kenyan Administration Police that took place at the Kenya School of Law in Nairobi from 25 to 29 October 2010. What democratic policing means and its consequences for law enforcement officials including issues of human rights, police deontology and ethics was a key topic that included a discussion of examples from police services in other countries.

Black London’s Film Heritage invites submissions from any organisation or individual holding film material which depicts an African?Caribbean presence in London. To be considered for inclusion in this project, submissions for previewing will be accepted on all formats, but if possible preferably digital or VHS tape.

'On October 24th, I went to Entebbe Airport to catch a South African Airways flight via Johannesburg to Namibia. Airline officials said I needed a transit visa through South Africa...Under the new rules, passengers are required to disembark, enter the transit lounge and re-board the plane. You need a transit visa to do this...However, the new visa requirements do not apply to British, Americans, Irish and other Europeans (or nations of white people); so my colleagues going to the same conference from the United States and Europe faced no problem transiting through that country.'

Fishing communities are organising to demand fishing laws change to include their right to participate in planning, implementing and managing Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) to protect marine and coastal biodiversity. But what are the underlying issues and how does policy creation need to shift? One case study in Struisbaai highlights key issues and examines if current small-scale fisher policy processes create an enabling environment for fishers. Indigenous and local communities have many customs and lengthy histories of using South Africa’s well-established network of MPAs, covering 21 per cent of the 3,000km coastline. Fishing in Struisbaai (population: 2,052 in 1,588 households) can be traced to the first nation KhoiSan who used vyfers (fish traps) in the inter-tidal zone to catch elf (Pomatomus saltatrix), harder (Liza richardsonii), kolstert (Diplodus sargus capensis), strepie (Sarpa salpa) and galjoen (Dichistius capensis). Traditionally, clans and families maintain traps; women harvest, gut, cut and cook.

Maritime authorities have created a security corridor for ships entering the Port of Mombasa to counter piracy attacks on Kenya’s territorial waters. Vessels will be required to wait at the four identified co-ordinates, which according to the Kenya Maritime Authority (KMA) is a corridor of 10 by 20 nautical miles from the Port of Mombasa. 'The area is a security zone within which patrols by the Kenyan Navy have been enhanced to provide security for vessels waiting berthing at the port,' KMA director Ms Nancy Karigithu said.

Zambia has been named among several countries in Africa that have failed to account for about US$13 million believed to have been misapplied and embezzled under the Global Fund. According to media reports, citing the November 2010 edition of the Global Fund report, Zambia is on the list together with Cameroun, Mauritania and Mali that are said to have misapplied in excess of US$25 million meant for assistance to the health sector.

A total of 1,000 doctors are to be hired to improve the delivery of health services, according to the Health Service Commission. There are about 2,000 doctors employed by the government. But this number is still low, since many health units depend on junior health workers.

Polio was on the brink of eradication in Angola at the end of 2004, when the country had experienced three consecutive years without new cases. Then, in 2005, the wild poliovirus reappeared here. Angola now has one of the biggest polio caseloads in Africa.

When Victoire Mpelo fled his native Democratic Republic of the Congo, practising medicine again was probably one of the last things on his mind. Yet, some 10 years later, the doctor is kept busy every day, looking after fellow refugees in Namibia's Osire settlement. Meanwhile, the nearby Osire Secondary School, headed by another refugee, Come Niyongabo from Burundi, is ranked among the top secondary education establishments in the country.

The Chinese government will provide 60 annual scholarships for Angolans wishing to study in China, the Angolan Ambassador to China, Joao Bernardo, said here Sunday in an interview with the country's News Agency (ANGOP). The diplomat disclosed this while appraising the visit to Angola of China's Vice President, Xi Jinping. According to the ambassador, as part of the agreement signed Friday, China had raised the scholarships from 20 to 60.

The Tunisian blogosphere has witnessed a period of stagnation since April. Indeed, the month was a black one for Tunisian bloggers as more than 100 blogs have been censored by the authorities, discouraging the rest of the bloggers, who have become reluctant to write on their blogs. Since then, blogger Arabasta, proposed to launch an online campaign to urge Tunisian internet users to create blogs. Some bloggers supported the initiative, which other bloggers have rejected it. Seven months later, the campaign is now being launched under the name ‘7el Blog’ (Tunisian dialect) translated in English as ‘Launch a Blog’.

ANC veteran Pallo Jordan has criticised his party's media appeals tribunal plans and the Protection of Information Bill at a debate, saying it was a 'fool's errand'. 'How did it [the ANC] paint itself into a corner where it can be portrayed as being opposed to media freedom? All the legislation we now have, including the Protection of Access to Information Act, was developed by the ANC,' said Jordan, according to a report in Business Day newspaper on Tuesday.