Look at a map of school attendance in Uganda and you notice something different about Karamoja. Most children do not go to school; instead, Karamojong children live the pastoralist life. But traditions are changing across the plains and escarpments, long seen as Uganda's wildlands. And with that change comes a cultural struggle over the role of education.

Where can IDPs turn for justice when their own governments fail to provide for their security and well-being? This newly released Guide to International Human Rights Mechanisms for Internally Displaced Persons and their Advocates is designed to assist IDPs in using international and regional human rights mechanisms to bring attention to their plight and where possible to secure redress.

A two-member United Nations security team has met Islamist leaders in the Somali capital, Mogadishu. It is the UN's first contact with Mogadishu's new rulers since they took over from the warlords a month ago. Islamist fighters are trying to disarm Abdi Awale Qeydiid, the last of the warlords they defeated in Mogadishu, some 30km from the city.

Reporters Without Borders has condemned the arbitrary arrests of "Daily Independent" reporter Rotimi Durojaiye and AIT television presenter Mike Gbenga Aruleba on 25 and 26 June 2006, respectively, on sedition charges under a law that was made obsolete by a 1983 appeal court ruling.

I cannot agree more with Tajudeen Abdul-Raheen’s views regarding Africa’s participation in the World Cup. The positive of it especially the 2006 is that all the African countries that were there did play the best they could with Ghana giving excellent account of what African football is all about. Pity, none of them could reach the last stages but Ghana made all of Africa proud by reaching the last 16 group stage. Disparities in terms of economic status is so glaring in the World Cup, the results speak for themselves!

With Brazil failing to ignite the scene and being edged out by a not-so-convincing France spelt disaster for the third and developing world. It is true African players shine as individuals or when they play for their high paying European teams or those adopted (new form of colonialism) by these countries! France is the case in point!

I doubt if honourable Bhamjee’s expulsion has racism undertones, I think he committed big error of judgment, or fell into a trap he should not have. But the speed with which he was dealt with, leaves one wondering if the world body (Fifa) is really this swift and efficient in dealing with misdemeanors in all cases?

I will generally agree that racism is still a huge problem, despite attempts to stem the tide. How do you explain the malicious rumours that circulated in SA this past weekend hinting that “Fifa was going to take the right of hosting the 2010 World Cup by SA away and award it to Australia” because of crime and lack of preparedness etc? Of course LOC CEO, Danny Jordaan dismissed that as “nonsense”, but it makes one wonder who is behind such a rumour.

Whenever land reform is discussed, the assumption is almost always that it means the transfer of SA's vast tracts of land from white hands to black hands. But in a very important sense, land reform also seems to be the one national endeavour that is expected to redress all the wrongs of the past and deliver a better life for all.

African Painters - (http://africanpainters.blogspot.com/2006/06/suzanne-ouedraogo-from-burki...) comments on the work of Burkina Faso artist, Suzanne Ouedraogo who uses her art as a way of protesting against the practice of female circumcision. Her paintings present are a courageous, powerful picture of this horrendous violation of the female body. He accompanies the paintings with a poem on female circumcision by Nigerian poet, Chinwe Azubuike.

Egyptian Chronicles - Egyptian Chronicles (http://egyptianchronicles.blogspot.com/2006/07/bravo-aisha-first-egyptia...) writes in praise of Egypt’s Minister of Labour and Employment, Aisha Abd El-Hady, a woman she had formerly thought of as a hypocrite. So why the change in attitude towards the Minister?

“Abd El-Hady presented her resignation from her position as a minister for Labour and Employment in the ministry to the Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif as she can't work anymore in this Cabinet who doesn't care for the 5 million workers who are going to lose their jobs because of the privatisation policy . The man who is responsible in privatisation in Egypt now is Minister Mahmoud Mohi El-Din, minister of investment , he is working on selling 365 public companies to the private sector. Already Abd El-Hady accused Mohi El-Din to ignore President Mubarak 's orders in protecting the workers rights”.

Abd El-Hady is an interesting woman. She only completed her education up to primary school level yet was able to hold her ground amongst the higher educated members of the Cabinet. She worked her way up starting as a factory worker which was one of the reasons why many Egyptian workers were disappointed with her previous lack of interest in their plight.

The Moor Next Door - Moor Next Door (http://wahdah.blogspot.com/2006/07/spirits-of-63.html) returns to the Algerian revolution that took place between 1955-1962 and celebrates the country’’s independence on the 5th July 1962.

“The Algerian Revolution was a revolt against exclusion, under-representation, racialism, displacement, colonialism, ignorance and all the other pretty words that come with battles in the name of rights. Algerians today, hold all of these notions close to their hearts, no matter what their political persuasion may be. The Revolution was a diverse one, claimed by former "assimilationists" fed up with the inability of the colonial system to extend the rights of man to Algerian Muslims, pan-Arab nationalists, socialists, Marxists, communists, Islamists wishing to reinstate the Islamic political order in a Muslim land, Amazigh Berberists wishing to bring equality and prestige to their people, the everyday men and women of Algerian wishing to finally know what equality and opportunity felt like, and many other interest groups.”

He writes that although the Algerian revolution could be described as a “Jihad” it was not one of those Jihad’s or “mass murder, rape, pillage, and bigotry that have ravaged the world in recent years.” It is a revolution based on patriotism and nationalism driven by an intense desire for independence and freedom.

Sotho - Sotho (http://sotho.blogsome.com/2006/07/01/francais-et-immigres/) writes a piece on the racist language used by the media when speaking about French immigrants and Black French people. He uses the commentary on the world cup to explain his point.

“Paper and television personalities are regularly accused of saying things like, “the Frenchman came from behind to win the race,” but “the Guadeloupean fell behind and never posed a threat to his opponents.” And they’d be talking about the same person, albeit at different times. It is surely subconscious but nevertheless shows deep-rooted ill-feeling toward the concept of fraternité.”

He goes on to give a number of examples of specific comments made about the Tunisians, Ghanaians and the French team which has mostly Black players.

French right wing National Front leader Jean-Marie Le Pen also made a comment about the number of Black players in the French team to which one player responded. We are French. We won the World Cup and the European Cup and we did it for France so what is the point of your comment.

afrika-aphukira - Afrika-aphukira (http://mlauzi.blogspot.com/2006/07/african-football-global-inequality-an...) also comments on the World Cup and the African media’s response to why no African teams progressed beyond the early stages of the tournament. He believes the analysis used reflect the usual two themes reflected in Africa’s media: self-blame and awe of Europe.

“Virtually no analysis I have so far looked at mentions broader issues of global, historical and political injustice and inequality, in how world cup berths are allotted in the different FIFA confederations. In fact, a Rwandan columnist repeats a common refrain about how Africans always blame colonialism for their ills, when no such thing has even been mentioned in any of the analyses and comments, whose uniting feature has been blaming African teams for lacking self-confidence and resources. Such is the strength of the reluctance to examine African problems in their broader context that blaming colonialism is considered not only taboo, it is brought up even when nobody mentions it.”

He believes there is a need to look at the way the World Cup is organised particularly the allocating of slots and the fact that all World Cups with the exception of Japan and Korea in 2002 have been played either in Europe or South America. For example

"The continent of Europe has 51 national football associations, and has 14 (15 in 2002) world cup finals slots. Africa, which has 52 member associations, has only 5 slots, an improvement from 1978 when Africa was accorded only one slot. "

And so it continues. However I believe one of the main issues for African teams in the World Cup is that many of Africa’s best play for European teams having gained citizenship of various countries. In addition the financial resources and therefore the training facilities are totally inadequate. In the case of the African Nations Cup many of the Africans playing in Europe did not even want to leave their league teams to come and play for their countries. Could one imagine a European or South American player acting in this way? I doubt it.

Building the Nation - Building the Nation (http://2bnileavenue.blogspot.com/2006/07/comment-4-dennis-thoughts-on-ga... ) responds to a post on Ugandan blog, Country Boyi in which he writes a vitriolic piece on homosexuality in Uganda with the usual comments on it being “un African” and “gay people are headed for hell”. Building the Nation writes

“Firstly, because Dr. Sylvia Tamale advocates for the rights of people who are gay does not make her gay, period. It does not mean she wants to fuck another woman, to borrow a phrase from you. It just means she’s standing up for what she believes to be a marginalised section of society. Something we all should do for people we personally believe to be marginalised. For example, I am a proponent of the – now stillborn - Domestic Relations Bill (DRB). Does that make me a woman?”

It is excellent that this debate on homosexuality is taking place in the African blogosphere. Previously there have been discussions in the Kenyan and Nigerian blogospheres and now in Uganda. Let us hope the discussions continue as it is only through debate on the issues that transformation will take place eventually.

Harowo.com - Harowo.com (http://harowo.com/2006/07/03/somalia-washingtons-warlords-lose-out) comments on the role of the USA in supporting the coalition of warlords under the name of “Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counterterrorism (ARPCT).

According to the writer, the CIA have been paying the Alliance between $100,000 and $150,000 a month via their Nairobi office. He explains the response by the people of Somalia to the victory of the Islamic Courts Union (ICU)

“Somali reactions to the ICU's victory have been mixed. On one hand there is relief at the prospect of a respite from constant battles in the capital, but for some this is tempered by fears of the imposition of draconian interpretations of sharia (Islamic) law. .....
Among many though there is hope that the ICU will at least provide a degree of stability in a country that has been gripped by violent conflict between rival warlords since the 1991 ouster of military dictator Mohammed Siad Barre. He took power in 1969 and had originally aligned Somalia with the Soviet Union, but the alliance was broken when Barre came into conflict with Ethiopia in 1977.
Washington stepped in to fill the gap and supported Barre until he was toppled in 1991 by rebel forces led by General Mohammed Farah Aidid, Barre's former intelligence chief. In the wake of Barre's overthrow, the country was carved up by rival warlords. Under the guise of a UN-backed "humanitarian mission", Washington dispatched 20,000 US troops to Somalia in 1992.”

The fact that the CIA website lists Somalia’s resources as uranium plus other natural minerals does of course question the motives behind the involvement of the USA in Somalia both now and in the past.

Black Looks - Black Looks (http://www.blacklooks.org/2006/07/1906-2006_-_history_still_repeats_itse... ) builds on last weeks interview withGeorges Nzongola-Ntalaja in Pambazuka News in which he spoke on the “strategic importance of the DRC” and on the probable outcome of the elections at the end on this month. Black Looks takes an historical route based on the political biography of Patrice Lumumba and returns to 18 and the beginnings of Leopold of Belgium’s rule in the Congo around 1906 when he first invited and international monopoly capital to the country and sold off mineral mining and agricultural rights.

“Firstly land was given to the mining companies; secondly land was used for the creation of a system of national parks; thirdly huge tracks of farmland were given to white settlers. But ultimately it was the mining sector that took control of the country and remains in control today. Two regions, the Katanga and Kivu provinces most affected by the above distribution of land have also been the most affected by war and conflict throughout the history of Congo.”

She concludes that Nzongola-Ntalaja’s prediction that nothing will change is a correct assessment of the post election period. The multinationals will continue to exploit the country, the corrupt leaders to exploit the people and the people to remain in poverty and victims of the various marauding militias wondering the countryside.

The NGO sector can often be something of a nuisance to governments, but in Namibia they have decided to embrace their activists in a formal partnership to facilitate development. A policy document, later to be turned into law, advocates working with willing NGOs in recognition that civil society groups are often closer to the communities that government development programmes want to reach.

Presidential aspirants in the Democratic Republic of Congo kicked off their nationwide campaigns on Friday 30 June for the country's first democratic elections in 45 years, due on 30 July. There are 33 presidential candidates, and 9,780 aspirants vying for 500 parliamentary seats. Presidential frontrunner and incumbent Joseph Kabila is contesting as an independent.

Birds that migrate long distances have adapted to the world's changing climate in unexpected ways, a study shows. As the planet warms, and spring arrives earlier in Europe, birds are being forced to change their migration patterns. It had been thought that birds travelling long distances from Africa to Europe would be unable to adapt.

Zambia President Levy Mwanawasa declared himself fit on Thursday 29 June to run for a second five-year term in elections later this year despite suffering a mild stroke, state-run radio reported. Opposition leaders have argued Mwanawasa, who has a history of hypertension, should step down because of poor health.

Robert Mugabe's ruling Zanu-PF on Sunday 2 July said most Zimbabweans are grateful for its rule and dismissed as insignificant a new opposition political party launched at the weekend. Zanu-PF spokesperson Nathan Shamuyarira shrugged off calls by the leader of the newly launched United People's Party (UPP), Daniel Shumba, on the ruling party to resign because it had failed to run Zimbabwe properly.

Bush-meat trade is threatening a possible depletion of Africa's great apes, the world's leading chimpanzee and gorilla conservationist, Jane Goodall, has warned. She said that although governments on the continent have agreed to the protection of the primates, corruption and commercial interests involving logging companies are making conservation efforts futile.

Swaziland's largest opposition group, the People's United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO), has held its annual general meeting in South Africa. The official reason for crossing the border to the town of Nelspruit rather than meeting on home soil is the fear that "royal hit squads masquerading as police would disrupt the conference", said PUDEMO president Mario Masuku.

As seasonal rains begin to fall across West Africa, health officials in Togo fear outbreaks of malaria and cholera as people wade in filthy water up to their chests to go about their daily lives. Sources at Lome’s main Tokoin hospital say about 10 people a day have sought treatment for cholera since 20 June.

The head of state and his cabinet turned out Wednesday 28 June to join the mainly Muslim population of this impoverished desert country in prayers for nourishing seasonal rains to begin to fall. The people of vast Niger are mostly subsistence farmers and herders whose livelihoods are dependent on rains that fall in one short mid-year season.

Adults and children lie on a concrete floor between steely skeletons of beds that once had mattresses in the Isangi public hospital. The collapse of their health system horrifies Congolese. "It's disgusting. The medical team helps out in emergencies," Dr Jean-Robert Tshimanga, the hospital director, said "but if they [patients] have no money what can we do?

With nearly 400 grants approved to combat HIV/ AIDS, TB and malaria, Global Fund-financed programs are proving that where money is invested, treatment and prevention efforts are working. In its latest progress report the Global Fund outlines the latest program results and looks at the initial data on how its grants affect health systems and indications of global impact in the fight against the diseases.

World Bank president Wolfowitz announces his move to disband the Environmentally and Socially Sustainable Development (ESSD) network within the Bank. It will be merged with the Bank's infrastructure department and report to the current head of the infrastructure department.

In the global economy where neo-liberal values of privatisation and market competition are dominant, it is crucial for those committed to public education to reaffirm the principle that education, including higher, technical, and professional education, is a right and not a merchandise.

Born as part of an intelligence military system, Internet has become an essential means of communication and information with great democratic potential as an organizational tool for social movements challenging the domination of political and economic power.

The growing increase in the number of mobile devices is encouraging more and more content providers to look to mobile phones as distribution platforms for Internet content. According to Alexa Raad, Vice President for Marketing and Business Development, mobile phones are the appropriate means by which Internet content can be distributed efficiently and at low costs to both providers and consumers.

The supply of free antiretroviral drugs is fast dwindling, raising fears that the people using them might find themselves with no treatment after August, Daily Monitor has learnt. Aids activists say unless something is done urgently, numerous lives will be endangered.

As the world's poorest, most agriculturally dependent continent, Africa is the most vulnerable region to global climate change. It is estimated that Africa's GDP could decline up to 10% because of the effects of this phenomenon. Yet, the World Economic Forum on Africa and recent discussion on Africa's economic outlook for this year made minimal mention of climate change and its economic ramifications for African countries.

Kofi Annan has commended Tanzania for its immense contribution to hosting refugees from the Great Lakes region. During talks with President Jakaya Kikwete at the seventh ordinary session of the African Union Summit that has brought together Heads of State and government in Banjul, Gambia, Dr Annan said it was unfair for the UN to recognise countries that give material and moral support to refugees as the donors and forget host countries.

No fewer than ten primary school pupils were recently caught writing Primary Six examination for their parents, which the state Commissioner for Secondary and Primary Education, Dr. Veronica Ogbuagu has described as "preposterous".

There are African presidents who, occasionally, break with the mould and speak the plain truth. Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni used to be a great one for that. Corruption today forms the building block of nearly every African political enterprise. Something happened on this fair continent when the euphoria of independence began to fade at the close of the 1960s and the commodity export economies started collapsing in the 1970s, reports the East African.

Confirmation of raids on SA’s corvette supplier in Germany in search of evidence of bribery and corruption has led to renewed calls for South African authorities to re-open parts of the investigation into the multibillion-rand arms deal.

Cameroon could lose all of its 3,000 practising doctors within three years if the government does not act quickly to stem a brain drain in the health sector, the national doctors' association has said. "Between now and 2009 if nothing is done to stop this mass exodus our hospitals will be empty and the government may be forced to undertake a massive recruitment of young doctors".

Sixty-three Women of Zimbabwe Arise members arrested on Valentine’s Day appeared in court again today (3 July) in Harare. They are on trial charged under Section 7(c) of the Miscellaneous Offences Act – conduct likely to disturb the ordinary comfort of the public. The trial has yet to begin however, and has once again been postponed to 11th July 2006.

A panel set up by an international group of science academies has proposed various steps to encourage more women to pursue scientific careers, reports this article by SciDev.

New Economic Foundation's Steve Mandel writes, in the preface to this extremely well-timed and strongly argued paper: "Debt sustainability has, until now, been narrowly assessed according to a country's ability to pay in terms of its export earnings, regardless of other demands on public funds. This prevents governments in many developing countries meeting the basic needs of their citizens. A new approach to debt sustainability that takes this into account is urgently needed."

This manual aims to provide tools to help further the work of activists particularly those investigating and addressing violence against women perpetrated by non-state actors. It is especially designed for activists without legal backgrounds, with the aim of directing them towards legal definitions and human rights mechanisms that may help them in their efforts to ensure that states fully meet their obligation to protect.

The Gender, Institutions, and Development Data Base (GID) is a tool for researchers and policy makers to determine and analyse obstacles to women's economic development. It covers a total of 162 countries and comprises an array of 50 indicators on gender discrimination. The data base has been compiled from various sources and combines in a systematic and coherent fashion the current empirical evidence that exists on the socio-economic status of women.

This report is the sixth annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report issued by the US Department of State, aimed to assist the elimination of severe forms of TIP. In assessing foreign governments' efforts, the TIP Report highlights the "three P's"- prosecution, protection, and prevention. A victim-centred approach to trafficking is also used which equally to addresses the "three R's"- rescue, rehabilitation, and reintegration.

This article on the website of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) discusses the work of Population Media Center and the Sabido methodology of entertainment-education. According to the article, radio and television melodramas captivate wide audiences in every part of the world, and in developing countries, positive social messages are increasingly being interwoven into the narratives. The article proposes that this has resulted in dramatic behaviour changes...

Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf persuaded the UN Security Council to lift the sanctions on Liberia's timber industry. Revenues from the timber industry will be crucial in rebuilding the country's shattered infrastructure and providing employment to the impoverished populace. However, the Security Council has given Monrovia only three months to enact laws to establish full authority and control over the timber-producing areas.

The Freedom of Expression Institute has condemned the decision on the part of the state to subpoena ex-Sowetan newspaper journalists Willie Bokala and Saint Molakeng as reprehensible and a blow to media freedom, according to a release from the FXI.

The failure of the Darfur Peace Agreement to improve conditions on the ground will jeopardise the lives of already displaced and hungry people, writes Simon Roughneen from Fata Borno camp in northern Darfur.

Recently, Cameroon's female legislators could be found under a tree in the garden of the country's parliament, listening to Hannah Kwenti: 17, the mother of a five-month-old baby girl -- and a victim of female genital mutilation (FGM).

Nearly two months after the signing of a peace accord between Sudan and a rebel group in Darfur, the humanitarian situation there appears to have worsened, while Khartoum-backed Janjaweed militia continue to attack towns and villages in neighbouring Chad. Human rights groups and others are calling for urgent action by the African Union (AU) and the United Nations to prevent the violence from further destabilising the entire sub-region along Sudan's lengthy western border.

TrustAfrica is looking for an exceptional individual to serve as Project Manager for an initiative to support research on the investment climate and business environment in Africa.

Civil war and genocide in 1990s Rwanda saw not only millions of lives lost, but a population left behind to establish a livelihood when facing serious obstacles. This study examines the impact of the conflict on household income and poverty dynamics, particularly the transitory nature of poverty.

The Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA), an advocacy and grant making organisation operating in Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe, invites application from suitably qualified individuals for a vacancy in Johannesburg. OSISA is recruiting a Law and Policy Researcher: HIV/AIDS.

The Enable project implemented by E-Knowledge for Women in Southern Africa (EKOWISA) has reached its mid-term milestone and the project team seeks an independent value judgement on the activities implemented so far. We would like to use the lessons learnt to inform the next phase of the project.

The Development Gateway Foundation is calling for nominations for its US$100,000 prize for outstanding achievement in the use of information and communication technologies to improve lives in developing countries. Sponsored in part by Intel Corporation, this year's Development Gateway Award is focusing on initiatives that empower or improve the conditions of youth.

A 23-year-old survivor of gun violence from West Pokot District set the tone for the UN small arms conference when he gave secretary-general Kofi Annan an international petition calling for an end to the illegal trade.

White and black farmers' organisations, corporate agriculture and government presented a united front in committing the country's farming interests to land reform and agricultural development efforts. A litany of commercial failures of farms transferred to new black owners, rising land prices and resistance from white farmers to the redistribution of land have slowed land reform. Central to government's approach to land reform is the development of a black farming middle class and the rural economy.

A number of trade-related issues could potentially lead to conflict. Also wider conflicts could spill over to affect trade. Conflict causes not just immediate trade losses, but also a loss of trust and confidence that affects social relationships and networks. Traders and other businesses can help to reduce conflict.