SMS FOR WOMEN’S RIGHTS

* Use your mobile phone to sign the petition in support of the ratification of the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa. Send a message to: +27832933934, with the word ‘petition’ and your name in the message. You will only be charged the cost set by your network provider for sending an international SMS. More information http://www.pambazuka.org/petition/smssocial.php or sign online at http://www.pambazuka.org/petition/

HOW TO SUPPORT THE SMS PETITION

* Send text messages to your colleagues and friends alerting them to the petition and informing them how to sign by SMS. You can also use email and word of mouth to help spread the word.

* Distribute leaflets about this initiative. If you work in a human rights or social justice organisation in Africa, volunteer to distribute leaflets for us about the petition to your networks and contacts. Send your details to [email protected] and we will post you pamphlets to distribute.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THIS ISSUE:

* Pan-African Postcard: A prophet has honour – but not in his village
* Conflict and Emergencies: ICG issues new report on Darfur
* Human Rights: How to complain to the UN human rights treaty system
* Refugees and Forced Migration: Update on the education of refugee children in Uganda
* Women and Gender: Update on the campaign to ratify the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa
* Elections and Governance: Election offices open in Mozambique
* Development: Letter from Uganda
* Education: The brain drain and education
* Media and Freedom of Expression: Commonwealth parliamentarians adopt recommendations on access to information

>>>>> Africa, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund

This year marks what many activists have dubbed the unhappy birthday of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. It is 60 years since the creation of these institutions in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, and in that time period both have come to have a profound and controversial influence on the world.

Pambazuka News is profiling a series of articles that aim to examine the role of these institutions in the context of Africa. This week we carry the second article which looks at the struggle against water privatisation in Ghana. We encourage activists, academics or anyone interested in the role of these institutions in Africa to respond to the articles or to submit articles for inclusion in the newsletter. Contributions can be sent to [email protected]