Following a century of colonialism, contemporary neoliberal imperialism is the cause of many of the crises ravaging Africa, writes Ayo Ademiluyi, with particularly harsh consequences for Nigeria’s working class. With oil accounting for over 90 per cent of government revenue, local industry has collapsed, leading to widespread unemployment and increasing poverty. As child and maternal mortality rates continue to increase and life expectancy decreases despite the wealth oil exports have brought the government, Ademiluyi calls for the workers’ movement to galvanise itself to transform society.

Since the 1994 coup d’état that saw President Yahya Jammeh rise to power, the Gambian media has been forced to work under repressive and restrictive conditions. The disappearance of editors and journalists, destruction of property and threat of imprisonment and harm by Jammeh’s National Intelligence Agency officers mean Gambian media outlets must either praise the ruling party or close their doors. Alagi Yorro Jallow, once an editor of a now closed private Gambian publication, discusses the Gambian government crackdown on the media and regulations under which a Gambian journalist must work.

Yohannes Woldermariam

Sanou Mbaye

Ababacar Fall-Barros

Cameron Duodu should write a book about people whose minds were liberated by Basil Davidson’s recasting of history, says Okello Oculi.

!!! Nigerians home and abroad have a lot to learn from this piece. Brother keep on spreading the gospel of Fairness, Justice, Faith and Peace because we are confident in the victory of Good over Evil.

Now two years in the making, the South African state's War on Poverty (WoP) is ‘one of the most clandestine operations in South African history’, writes Patrick Bond.

The peace movement in US may no longer be demonstrating on the streets, writes but it isn’t dead, it has simply moved online. Horace Campbell looks at how a new generation of activists is harnessing electronic networks to democratise information and expose attempts by government and corporate interests to control public narrative about war, with reference to 'the game-changing effects of WikiLeaks'.

The Resource Kit provides ideas and arguments that can be used to advocate for equality and justice in Muslim family laws and practices. The local context and people’s needs will determine which argument works best in that environment. The Kit examines various aspects of family laws and practices. For each aspect, the Kit provides support for the idea of equality and justice from the four different approaches. The Kit also shares examples of different countries that have addressed these areas of family life in more equitable and just ways.

AfricaAdapt is launching its second Knowledge Sharing Innovation Fund. The Fund offers support to African researchers, local and civil society organisations, cooperatives and community networks that create new ways of sharing knowledge between African communities. These poor and vulnerable communities rarely get the opportunity to share their valuable experience and learn from others in formal exchanges of knowledge on climate change adaptation.

For two hours Osman Rasul perched on railings surrounding the seventh floor balcony of a Nottingham tower block. He blanked out police officers attempting to talk him down and at 7pm last Sunday, placing his hand on his heart, he looked up to the sky and leapt. The 27-year-old Iraqi Kurd, classified by the local refugee centre as a "destitute asylum-seeker" and in a fraying relationship with the mother of his two children, had lost the legal aid he needed to pursue his application to remain in the UK. A trip south to confront Home Office immigration officers in Croydon saw him being turned away and told to find a solicitor.

In this book, Patrick Beate and Daminan Platt write about AfroReggae, a movement that uses music and culture to provide hope and opportunity to young people, and is taking Brazil's favelas back - one song at a time. Powerful and moving, this is an unforgettable look at Rio, its people and this extraordinary group. What emerges is a colourful portrait of resistance, ethnic diversity, social inequality, and the timeless power of music in a society of fascinating, often heartrending extremes

On the 23rd July 2010 in an auspicious gala dinner in Johannesburg Salman Khan, founder and chairman of SAKAG (South African Kashmiri Action Group) was awarded in recognition of is work for the Kashmir cause in South Africa by the Human Rights Foundation of South Africa. Salman Khan founded SAKAG in South Africa in 1999 and have relentlessly worked on the raising of issue of Kashmir on all level in South Africa for last 11 years, he has since delivered hundreds of speeches, over 200 radio interviews, 50 TV interviews, several presentations in universities and schools, and had written many articles on Kashmir human rights issues in national news papers.

Of the 1,200 children of migrant workers slated for deportation in 2009, the Israeli Cabinet on 1 August granted legal status to 800 and said 400 would be deported with their families to their parents’ country of origin within 21 days. To win legal status, the children had to have enrolled in the Israeli school system, resided in Israel at least five years, entered Israel before the age of 13 or be born there, and speak fluent Hebrew.

The Second World Conference of Humanitarian Studies (WCHS), organized by the International Humanitarian Studies Associational (IHSA) and hosted by Tufts University, Medford, USA (in collaboration with Harvard University, Columbia University and the Social Science Research Council) will take place 2 - 5 June 2011. The conference marks a major step in ratcheting up the quality of our understanding of the dynamics of societies in crisis, the resultant greater use of evidence based humanitarian programming and an increased professional approach to humanitarian work. As with other professional fields, having a forum where cutting edge research can be presented and critiqued is a vital tool in moving the profession forward.

The United Nations spokesperson has said that the restrictions recently announced by the Sudanese government on the movement of personnel from the African Union-United Nations mission in Darfur (UNAMID) violates previous accords signed between both sides. Last week, a senior Sudanese official told Reuters that UNAMID travel would be monitored going forward and that their bags will be searched. They will have to inform the government before moving on roads even within South Darfur’s capital Nyala, he said.

The Refugee Law Project seeks a Gender Researcher to lead in Gender Research component of the Beyond Juba Project. S/he should be able to demonstrate field research experience as well as group facilitation skills, and be conversant with concepts of gender, masculinities, sexual & gender based violence. A Masters degree in a related field is desirable.

The Refugee Law Project seeks a Child Rights Officer to be responsible for the psychosocial component of the Child Rights and Protection Programme. S/he must be a trained social worker or counsellor with considerable experience working with Children.

Information for Change 2010: a free workshop in Nairobi linked to the Nairobi Book Fair

Title: Digital Publishing in Africa: The Next Steps

Date: 21 September 2010: 09.00 - 16.30

Location: Jacaranda Conference Centre, Jacaranda Hotel, Westlands, Nairobi

In July 2009 the first undersea cable to bring high-speed internet access to East Africa went live, opening up new opportunities for digital publishing in the region.

Information for Change 2010 will examine emerging digital publishing models in East Africa. Speakers will present first-hand experience of the realities of working in the region, and will showcase and share innovative approaches to the creation and delivery of information. The programme will include a keynote address, a speaker-led panel session, two World Café sharing sessions, case studies presentations, a venue for participants to display materials, and a moderated interactive session that will involve all participants.

A buffet lunch is included in the programme.

To register, go to click on Registration on the left hand navigation, and complete the form.

In this week's roundup of merging powers news, the new Silk Road built by China connects Asia to Latin America, more SA businesses want a piece of BRIC, Ecobank Ghana signs pact with Bank Of China, and Durban to host Africa diaspora conference.

AMwA will be holding a Sierra Leone National African Women’s Leadership Institute (AWLI) on the theme, “Reclaiming Our bodies: Women’s Leadership and Movement Building on Gender Based Violence and Sexual and Reproductive Rights in Conflict and Post Conflict Africa”, that is scheduled to take place from 3rd – 16th October, 2010 in Freetown, Sierra Leone.

Researchers from the University of California Berkeley’s Human Rights Center canvassed nearly 2,000 households in the Central African Republic to document the impact of violence in the country and gather opinions about the best way forward. The results present a stark picture of a population traumatized by decades of political strife, military coups and poverty; leading the researchers to conclude the country is one of the worst cases of a humanitarian crisis in the world.

Sokwanele is launching an online Constitution survey that aims to gather views from Zimbabweans everywhere, including the millions of Zimbabweans who live in the Diaspora and who have been largely excluded from the constitution-making process. he constitution survey features a mix of questions. Some questions directly address content usually included in a constitution, while others seek to survey opinions on issues of concern to Zimbabweans. These issues, and Zimbabwean opinions on them, should guide those who are tasked to draft the new document and our views should be honoured in the detail making up a new constitution.

International Relations and co-operation department director of Nepad, Harvey Short, says more than R770 million of South African state funds have been used to prop up states with human rights abuse records. These include Zimbabwe and Guinea, and no attempt was made to monitor the use of funds, nor evaluate what the effect of the cash windfalls were.

As Kenyans go to the polls to vote on a new constitution, Dibussi Tande reviews reactions across the African blogosphere. Tande also looks at lessons for Kenya from Ghana, and humorous calls for a new Malawian flag.

South African telcommunications company MTN has been warned by the Swaziland Solidarity Network (SSN), an opposition group close to the South African trade union federation Cosatu, that it could face a mass boycott from Africans concerned about its bowing to demands from the Swazi royal family to investigate phone calls to South African journalists from inside the country.

The Non-Governmental Organisation Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has sued Nigeria's federal government for allegedly maltreating pensioners in the country. In the suit, filed at the Federal High Court in Lagos, SERAP said 'owing to the government’s failure to faithfully implement the Pensions Reform Act, several pensioners continue to have their internationally recognized human rights to life, to an adequate standard of living, to equality and non-discrimination, and to humane treatment violated, with impunity.”

As we commemorate South Africa National Women's Day, Gender Links spoke to ordinary women about the challenges they face every day. In an accompanying story, Doreen Gaura writes that the link between many women's organisations and the realities of women's every day lived experience has become tenous. She spoke to women from informal settlements about the issues that matter to them. This photo essay documents their conversation.

The third Africa Union Communications and Information Technologies Ministerial Conference got underway in Abuja, the Nigerian capital city, Tuesday, with a communications expert stressing the n eed for countries to invest more in the sector so as to generate employment for their peoples.

South Africa has recalled its ambassador to Rwanda following a diplomatic row over the shooting of an exiled Rwandan general in Johannesburg. Gen Faustin Kayumba Nyamwasa, a critic of Rwandan President Paul Kagame, was shot and wounded in June. South Africa said it had not broken diplomatic ties and no connection was being made between the ambassador's withdrawal and the shooting.

The date for long-delayed presidential elections in Ivory Coast has been set for 31 October, Prime Minister Guillaume Soro has said. A rebellion lead by Mr Soro split the country in half in 2002 and polls are seen as a vital step to end the crisis. Mr Soro joined a unity government in 2007, but the peace process has been dogged by delays.

Rwanda's presidential elections will take place on August 9, 2010, in a context marked by increasing political repression and a crackdown on free speech. Over the last six months, Human Rights Watch has documented a worrying pattern of intimidation, harassment and other abuses - ranging from killings and arrests to restrictive administrative measures - against opposition parties, journalists, members of civil society and other critics.

A recent decision by the UK Supreme Court found that a gay man would "face a well-founded fear of persecution" if he returned to Cameroon. The Supreme Court overturned the Court of Appeal's decision that this Cameroonian man could return and conceal his identity to avoid persecution. News outlets quoted Cameroon's communications minister, Issa Tchiroma, as saying, "No homosexual is persecuted in Cameroon." The cases below prove that the UK Supreme Court got it right and that the minister might be unaware of what is happening in his country.

The Angolan government should annul the convictions of three prominent rights advocates and a former policeman after a politically motivated trial in the oil-rich Cabinda province, Human Rights Watch has said. The government should revoke the overbroad and vague provisions of the state security law brought against the four men, Human Rights Watch said.

Africa is witnessing a gradual shift towards massive investment in Information and Communications Technology (ICT), thanks to the role of policymakers who are pushing for full regulatory reform for ICTs. Many African leaders have realised that, for any meaningful economic development to occur, technology has to play its part. But the free flow of investment in the sector was slowed down last year, owing to the global economic downturn, which forced many African countries to cut spending in some sectors and prioritise the most urgent areas.

More than 10 years on, global poverty reduction strategies introduced by multilateral organisations including the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF), have failed to remove many of the poorest communities, especially minority and indigenous communities, out of poverty, Minority Rights Group International says. Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) were initiated in 1999 by the IMF and World Bank to help low income and highly indebted countries to reduce their poverty levels. At the time, the move was widely supported by the UN and big donor countries. Currently, about 140 countries around the world are at some stage of a PRSP process, including implementing development projects based on the papers.

The AIDS 2010 conference theme emphasizes the central importance of protecting and promoting human rights as a prerequisite to a successful response to HIV. The right to dignity and self-determination for key affected populations, to equal access to health care and life-saving prevention and treatment programmes, and the right to evidence-based interventions based on evidence rather than ideology are all incorporated in this urgent demand for action. Rights Here, Rights Now emphasizes that concrete human rights measures need to be in place to protect those most vulnerable to and affected by HIV, especially women and girls, people who use drugs, migrants, prisoners, sex workers, men who have sex with men and transgender persons.

An uneasy calm has returned to a displaced persons’ camp in the restive region of Darfur in western Sudan where clashes broke out last week over tensions related to the current state of the peace process, the joint United Nations-African Union peacekeeping mission (UNAMID) there reported. Mohammed Yonis, UNAMID’s Deputy Joint Special Representative and acting chief of mission, visited South Darfur, where the troubled Kalma camp is situated, and discussed the security situation with the state governor and camp leaders.

About 1.3 million South African public sector workers have penned down August 10 to stage a nationwide strike. The government raised its pay offer to civil servants on Thursday to try to avert the strike, but it was quickly rejected by the unions. "More than 1.3 million public servants will on Tuesday take part in marches and demonstrations right through the country leading to a total shutdown of the public service," the largest umbrella labour group, COSATU, said in a statement.

The French government through the French Development Agency is sponsoring the execution of development projects totalling 200 million Euros throughout the West African Nation of Ghana. The projects, which are mainly on the provision of potable water, electricity and sanitation, are currently being executed in the Brong Ahafo, Ashanti, Northern and Volta Regions.