The 13th conference of the International Association for the Study of Forced Migration (IASFM) will be hosted by the Refugee Law Project, Kampala, Uganda from July 3 to 6, 2011. The conference aims to explore key dimensions of the relationship between forms and tools of governance on the one hand and patterns and experiences of forced migration on the other. Under the title ‘Governing Migration’, IASFM 13 will enable a wide-ranging exploration of both the direct and indirect relationships between conflict, governance, forced migration, and transitional justice

The Zambian National Constitution Conference (NCC) concluded its business recently with the adoption of a clause for the creation of a Gender Equality Commission. This is exciting news for gender activists who did not think the NCC would accept the clause. The women’s movement, alongside other civil society groups, had refused to participate in the NCC fearing civil society’s voice would not be heard.

The South African government is in the process of passing a law that will limit access to government information undermining transparency, accountability, and media freedom in South African. The Protection of Information Bill allows every organ of state - from government departments and parastatals to the smallest municipality - to throw a blanket of secrecy over its documents. If the law is passed whistle blowers leaking, and journalists reporting, on these documents can face up to 25 years in jail. The Bill goes before parliament this month and civil society are organizing to oppose it's passing.

When Baraka, a young mother in Guidimouni, southern Niger, took her 13-month-old son Abdul to the local health centre, tests showed that he was suffering from severe acute malnutrition and malaria. He spent a week in an outpatient feeding programme but continued to lose weight.

The African Union (AU) has named Nobel Peace Prize winners, leading sports personalities and musicians to lead a campaign for a conflict-free Africa, which is expected to climax on 21 September. Former South African President Fredrick de Klerk, Archbishop Desmond Tutu of Sou th Africa and wife of South African former President Nelson Mandela, Graca Machel, are among 12 key personalities selected to an advisory board to lead the campaign.

The International Criminal Court ruled Thursday that Congolese militia chief Thomas Lubanga should be freed after his war crimes trial was suspended unless prosecutors mount an appeal within days. Presiding judge Adrian Fulford that Lubanga should be "freed without conditions" as his detention "is no longer fair" given the suspension of the trial.

Police in Rwanda investigating the murder of opposition politician Andre Kagwa Rwisereka have arrested a man. The suspect had been a business partner of the dead man, a police spokesman said. He had been seen with Mr Rwisereka in a bar on Monday night, he added.

A reminder to the ANC that it needed to deepen democracy in society arrived at the ANC’s Polokwane conference, where one major gripe against President Mbeki was that he had failed to create “policy coherence” amongst the ANC and its alliance partners, let alone the broader society. Mbeki was criticised for insulating public policy through technocratic methods, and failing to build consensus in society beyond the so-called chattering classes. Whilst Mbeki’s vision for a post-colonial society that worked rested on making unpopular decisions, it was at least palpable.

With about 3,000 Kenyan women and girls developing obstetric fistula each year, you might think the government would have a plan to prevent and treat it. Think again. Obstetric fistula is a childbirth injury which results in constant leaking of urine and faeces.

African countries have to balance their spending on Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for education better. Skills development among teachers, which accounts for only 10% of most countries’ ICT budgets, has to be strengthened. Spending on costly hardware, which covers 90% of most countries budgets, should rather be reduced. This is one of the key recommendations of a communiqué released by participants in the Third African Ministerial Round Table on ICT for Education, Training and Development.

IDMC has compiled a table showing the estimated numbers of IDPs over the past decade in all the countries which it monitors. The figures include people internally displaced by conflict, generalised violence or human rights violations. They are compiled from the figures published from 2001 to 2009 in IDMC’s annual summaries Internal displacement: Global overview of trends and developments.

For a while after the global financial crisis broke, we were told that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) would change. The Group of Twenty (G-20) meeting in April 2009 provided a massive increase in resources for the IMF to provide lending to countries affected by the crisis. In return, the Fund announced that it was going to be more supportive of enlarged fiscal deficits and other expansionary measures in the face of the crisis, and provide large amounts of funds to developing countries to cope with the situation.

In Senegal, same-sex activity has, since 1965, been punishable by up to five years imprisonment. Enforcement of this law has escalated in the past two years, with the arrests of more than 50 people and trials of at least 16 individuals suspected of same-sex activity or being part of the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Trans community. Simultaneously, state-sanctioned violence and anti-gay rhetoric in the media against individuals believed to be LGBT has increased.

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has added its voice to that of journalists in Africa and around the world who have been shocked by the news of the death of leading Cameroonian journalist Pius Njawe who has been killed in a car accident in the United States. "Pius Njawe was a great friend of press freedom and also a loyal supporter of journalists, not just in Africa, but around the world," said Aidan White, IFJ General Secretary.

The Federation of African Journalists (FAJ), the African regional organization of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), expresses its abhorrence of the bomb attacks in Kampala, Uganda, last night, in which more than 60 people were killed, including Vision Voice journalist Stephen Tinka. FAJ President, Omar Faruk Osman, strongly condemned these barbaric attacks in the Ugandan capital and conveyed his condolences to the family of late journalist Stephen Tinka, the members of the Ugandan Journalists Union, as well as to other victims and their families who have been tragically affected by these attacks.

The United Nations rural development arm is helping to improve agricultural programmes in West Africa’s Sahel region, especially in Niger, which is currently in the throes of a growing food crisis. Recurrent food shortages have impacted the Sahel, a narrow band south of the Sahara desert also including Burkina Faso, Chad, Eritrea, Mali, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal and Sudan. The last severe drought in 2005 resulted in a famine that claimed 1 million lives and affected another 50 million people.

Théophile Kouamouo, the Editor-in-chief of the Ivorian daily 'Le Nouveau Courier' and three of his collaborators are being held in detention at the headquarters of Ivorian judiciary police section in Abidjan, after publishing the results of the investigation carried out by the Prosecutor about alleged fraud and embezzlement in Cocoa and coffee sector.

The political tension in Rwanda is heightening as a leading opponent of Rwanda's President Paul Kagame on Friday called for a boycott of next month's presidential elections because she and a number of would-be candidates have been barred from standing. Victoire Ingabire, the leader of the unregistered United Democratic Forces party who faces charges of crimes linked to genocide denial, told Reuters Kagame faces little competition and is set to easily secure a second seven-year term.

The Kenyan government and telecom companies have a new text service to report hate speech ahead of a referendum on a new constitution. According to NCIC's Millie Lwanga, the free SMS number - 6397 - was established thanks to $700,000 (£459,400) received from international donors, Kenya's Daily Nation paper reports. The National Cohesion and Integration Commission set up after the 2007 post-poll violence in which some 1,300 people were killed, will monitor it.

After a month’s engagement with the World Cup, South African President Jacob Zuma is reportedly set to resume his SADC mediation role in Zimbabwe to try and bridge the gap between Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai. Talks to iron out outstanding Global Political Agreement issues between Mugabe and Tsvangirai have dragged on since the two leaders agreed to join hands in February 2009 to form the coalition government.

Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete dissolved parliament on Friday ahead of a general election in the east African country slated for October. Kikwete pledged to continue with economic reforms, foster political reconciliation in the volatile Zanzibar archipelago and tackle corruption. "Based on our achievements of the past five years ... I am confident that the people will acknowledge our work and give us a fresh mandate to rule," he said in an address to parliament.

ViiV Healthcare, GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer's joint venture company for AIDS drugs, is opening its entire product line-up to generic drugmakers working in the world's poorest countries. The announcement, on the eve of next week's international AIDS conference in Vienna, means generic companies will be able to obtain royalty-free voluntary licences for all current ViiV products, as well as products still in development.

Moroccan activists are pressing law-makers to ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), claiming the move would boost human rights and limit government impunity. Even though Morocco's Equity and Reconciliation Commission (IER) recommended that the Kingdom accede to the statute signed in 2000, it has yet to be ratified. Concerns have been raised that it contradicts the country's own laws.

When the United Nations hosts a summit meeting of world leaders next September to assess the current state of its Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), it is expected to single out one of the major "success stories" of the day: a reduction in global poverty. But have there been any real, significant successes in the absolute number of people worldwide who have escaped poverty?

Nine-year-old Nomasonto* had no choice but to switch roles with her mother and care for the HIV-positive woman who gave birth to her. Instead of worrying about homework and going out to play with her friends, Nomasonto’s daily concerns were now a matter of life and death. Suddenly the child had to wash her mother, change and feed her. She even had to take her ill mother to hospital for checkups and to collect her medication.

African countries should deepen their tax bases to collect more revenues to finance their development, build state institutions and to improve national dialogue and, more generally, their social contracts with citizens. These are some of the conclusions in two new studies on the taxation systems in Africa.

Educational inclusion relates to all children accessing and meaningfully participating in quality education, in ways that are responsive to their individual needs. The terms ‘inclusion’ and inclusive education’ are often used in relation to children with disabilities and/or special needs and emerged partly out of debates to reduce their segregation from mainstream schooling.

It does not rain, but it pours for the GALZ duo, who are facing charges of allegedly possessing pornographic material as they are likely to stand trial on a second charge of undermining the authority of President Robert Mugabe. In a letter given to representing lawyers by state prosecutor Memory Mukapa the two Ellen Chademana and Ignatious Muhambi are being accused of contravening Section 33(2) (ii) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform Act Chapter 9:23(undermining authority of or insulting President) ARW Section 277(4) &(5) of the Criminal Law Codification and Reform Act.

Across the world, but especially in parts of sub-Saharan Africa, young people are taking action to protect themselves from HIV, says a new study by UNAIDS. "Young people have shown that they can be change agents in the prevention revolution," the agency said in a supplement to the OUTLOOK Report 2010, released ahead of the International AIDS Conference starting in Vienna, Austria, on 18 July.

The Open Society Institute works to build vibrant and tolerant democracies whose governments are accountable to their citizens. To achieve its mission, OSI seeks to shape public policies that assure greater fairness in political, legal, and economic systems and safeguard fundamental rights. On a local level, OSI implements a range of initiatives to advance justice, education, public health, and independent media. At the same time, OSI builds alliances across borders and continents on issues such as corruption and freedom of information. OSI places a high priority on protecting and improving the lives of marginalized people and communities.

In 1993, investor and philanthropist George Soros created OSI as a private operating and grantmaking foundation to support his foundations in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Those foundations were established, starting in 1984, to help countries make the transition from communism. OSI has expanded the activities of the Open Society Foundations to encompass the United States and more than 60 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Each foundation relies on the expertise of boards composed of eminent citizens who determine individual agendas based on local priorities. In addition, over twenty thematic specialist platforms serve as OSI Network Programs frontlining OSI’s engagement with various issue areas.

The Higher Education Support Program (HESP) is one such Network Program. It is supported by the Higher Education Sub-Board (HESB). HESP, through its support to institutions and individuals, promotes the advancement of higher education. HESP provides assistance – both financial and technical – to a network of institutions, ranging from undergraduate universities to doctoral programs and centers for specialized advanced studies. Institutional support tends to focus on sustainable curriculum and faculty development and the improvement of methods of teaching and learning. In the future, an important component of the work of HESP will be to collaborate with the School of Global Public Policy that is currently being established at Central European University. Drawing on the synergistic strengths of both Central European University and Open Society Foundations, the School of Public Policy addresses important contemporary issues in international public affairs.

The Director of HESP will be based in any of the three principal offices out of which Network Programs operate: Budapest, New York or London. S/he will report to the OSI Director of Programs and will work closely with the OSI President.

Responsibilities:
The Director of HESP will:
• Provide strategic leadership in the development of OSI's higher education program efforts.
• Manage the resources, including staff and budgets, of the Higher Education Support Program.
• Serve as program officer for the HESP grants portfolio.
• Serve as OSI’s focal point in networks of relevance to the organization's higher education program objectives.
• Develop, on the basis of priority regions agreed within OSI, cutting-edge programs in new geographies where HESP has not operated before.
• Strengthen OSI's effectiveness in its ongoing programs in the region of the organization’s traditional efforts, including the former Soviet Union.
• Contribute to the conceptual and strategic articulation of HESP as part of a composite OSI intervention in education – an intervention that includes the Education Support Program, Early Childhood Program, Roma Education Fund, the University-based Initiative on Climate Change Adaptation, and the Network Scholarship Program.
• Align, in relevant instances, the higher education support efforts of OSI with the Central European University's School of Public Policy.
• Support tertiary institutions and academics in the defense and enlargement of freedom of inquiry, in the context of initiatives such as the Bologna process, the Dar es Salaam Declaration on Academic Freedom and the Social Responsibilities of Academics, etc.
• Facilitate the work and role of the HESB in the furtherance of OSI's higher education support efforts.

Qualifications:
• A respected leader with a minimum of ten years of involvement in a higher education setting. A research background in higher education policy would be an advantage.
• Advanced academic training.
• Some experience of high-level programmatic work in thematic issues of OSI’s interest, such as human rights, public policy, etc.
• Strong international-level reputation and demonstrable track record as a program innovator.
• Strong program and staff leadership and management record.
• Superior analytical skills and an ability to deal simultaneously with a range of complex thematic issues.
• Superior written and verbal communication skills in English. Additional language skills would be an advantage.
• Willingness and ability to travel extensively.

Compensation: Commensurate with experience.

To apply:
Please send a covering letter, CV and writing sample; with ref: HESP in the subject line to: [email]recruit[email protected]

Application Deadline: August 31, 2010

Please note:
Due to the large volume of applications expected – only those candidates selected for interview will receive notification.

No phone calls, please. The Open Society Institute is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

In an

If a single hummingbird tries hard enough it has the power to put out a forest fire. As Alemayehu G. Mariam writes, Ethiopian citizens and opposition politicians – the hummingbirds – have become too complacent and uncoordinated to mobilise and end the current dictatorship in Ethiopia. Despite claims that only violence can end the authoritarian rule, Mariam points to the examples of Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr and Nelson Mandela as cases where citizens have united for a cause to peacefully end suppression. He also points to periods of history where ‘hummingbirds’ have prevailed, only to take the same road as the ‘forest fire’ predecessors they’ve succeeded. Mariam calls for the need for a united Ethiopian political opposition and citizenry to bring an end to the current dictatorship.

Rajiv Bhatia provides a historical overview of India's foreign policy towards the African continent. Reflecting on the successes and failures of this policy thus far, he lays out the political and economic motivations for a policy change and provides suggestions as to how government, business and civil society can work together to raise the relationship to a new level.

[/img"> The report made a number of recommendations to the governments of Uganda and Rwanda, and to UNHCR, in order to improve protection for this group of refugees. In particular, it stated that the Ugandan government must scrupulously uphold its international and national legal obligations with regard to the protection of refugees and to the truly voluntary nature of any repatriation.

We therefore call for an immediate halt to the current removal process. We also call on the Ugandan government to ensure that any failed asylum seekers are able to exhaust the appeal processes provided for under the Refugees Act, and, where these routes have indeed been exhausted, that the Government follow due process for deportation as provided for under the Citizenship and Immigration Control Act.

For further information or comments, please contact;
Dr. Chris Dolan, Director, Refugee Law Project,
[email][email protected], +256 414235330/ 343556

or

Dismas Nkunda, Co-Director, International Refugee Rights Initiative,
[email][email protected] +256 782310404

The following is a press statement from Abahlali baseMjondolo released on Monday 12 July. It details the movement's plans to attend Durban High Court in solidarity with the accused 'Kennedy 12'.

ABANTU for Development in collaboration with UN Millennium Campaign-Africa, the African Women’s Development and Communication Network (FEMNET), Akina Mama wa Afrika (AmWA), Solidarity for African Women’s Rights Coalition (SOAWR), White Ribbon Alliance and other partners launched an East African Caravan on Maternal Health on 3rd July, 2010 in Nairobi, Kenya. The Caravan then travelled to Arusha and Mwanza in Tanzania, Kigali in Rwanda, and Kabale, Mbarara and Masaka in Uganda.

Buoyed by the wave of pan-African and anti-racist sentiment resulting from South Africa's World Cup, Horace Campbell stresses that such momentum must be continued in the struggle for a more peaceful and just world.

Zambia has sold more than 262 state-owned enterprises in the past 18 years, with the latest being the beleaguered telecommunications company Zamtel. As the debate continues about whether privatisation is the best policy option for the country, the government has learned from experience and addressed labour concerns more adequately in the most recent deal.

The phrase ‘global land grab’ has become a catch-all framework to describe and analyze the current explosion of (trans)national commercial land transactions related to the production and sale of food and biofuels. Initially deployed and popularised by activist groups opposed to such transactions from an environmental and agrarian justice perspectives, the significance of the phrase has quickly moved beyond its original moorings, as it gets absorbed into mainstream development currents that push for ‘win-win’ arrangements and a ‘code of conduct’, which is critically examined in this paper.

Responding to Edward Herman and David Peterson's critique of his review of their book, Gerald Caplan continues to challenge the notion that the Rwandan genocide never took place: 'Since the authors and I are never going to agree, the only point of continuing this exchange is not to change each other's minds but to persuade readers whose minds remain open.'

Jairos Mukotosi, 50, is avoiding a team of consultants, sent as part of a parliamentary outreach programme to the Rushinga area of rural Mashonaland Central Province in northeastern Zimbabwe, to find out what people would like included in a proposed new constitution. But for the past two months the members of the youth militia aligned to President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF party - have been warning villagers to either shut up or support ZANU-PF's view on the new constitution, which includes no limit on the number of presidential terms that can be served. They have dubbed their operation "Vhara Muromo", or Shut Your Mouth.

Check out Gado's latest cartoons...

Behind the hysteria of Ghana's success at the recent World Cup lies a dubious use of taxpayer money and sense of national priorities, writes Kofi Ali Abdul.

Following the Pope's address to victims of sexual abuse in Ireland, it's time for a specific apology to Rwandans for the Catholic Church's role in the country's 1994 genocide, says Jean Baptiste Kayigamba. The church has actively protected clerics allegedly involved in the genocide, Kayigamba argues, but now is the time for it to break its silence and acknowledge the role of some of its followers in perpetrating one of the worst genocides of the previous century.

After 13 years as founder and executive director, Firoze Manji has stepped down from his role as ED to focus attention on developing Pambazuka News and Pambazuka Press.

We should clarify that Firoze remains as Editor in Chief of Pambazuka News and Pambazuka Press - and he remains a member of staff of Fahamu (letters from many of you indicated that our original advert might have been ambiguous).

The board of trustees of Fahamu is therefore seeking a dynamic, visionary person with a passion for social justice, to lead the organisation, ideally based in Kenya.

If you are interested in applying, please review the by 31 August 2010.

Commenting on Patrick Bond's article , Pat Stevens argues that both Fifa and the South African government deserve credit.

Agreeing with , Melakou Tegegn stresses that the DR Congo's Patrice Lumumba must occupy a prominent place in the country's history.

The 4th annual London International Oromo Workshop (LIOW) conference discussed history of land use and abuse in Oromia, drivers of the land grabbing, Ethiopian regime’s land sale policy, mining and environmental degradation, land rights and identity and the threat posed by foreign investment to the future survival of the indigenous population.

In his review of Dani Nabudere's 'The Crash of International Finance-Capital and its Implications for the Third World', Martin Williams commends the economist's foresight yet laments the absence of stronger analytical engagement.