The blueprint for Africa's development could be jeopardised by a lack of clear communication on key issues, an analyst told IRIN. Press reports this week suggested that US $6 billion in international aid could be jeopardised by the lack of a coherent and clearly communicated commitment to a political governance peer review mechanism under the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD).

Only people with Zanu PF cards were allowed to buy maize meal at the Sunningdale community centre in Harare this week. This was despite government denials that food is being distributed or sold on partisan lines. Baton and whip-wielding police officers and “Green Bombers” manned the gates at the centre while hundreds of people crowded outside the perimeter fence.

The Democratic Alliance has recently 'unveiled' a campaign around the Basic Income Grant, which it intends to be part of its election platform. But the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) says the DA is only making a big song and dance in an attempt to create the impression that it really cares about the poor.

More than 250 senior citizens marched to the Prime Minister's office this week to voice their grievances on their evictions from their houses, after they failing to pay municipal bills.

Grass Incorporated Manufacturing Artists (Gima) employees collect lengths of rope and cart them back to a factory and shop at Casterbridge Farm, an upmarket shopping and dining centre in White River. Gima creates employment for about 500 grass collectors and pays them for the rope they produce. The company employs another 60 people at the factory, where the rope is made into mats, blinds and furniture. These products are sold to 27 shops around Africa and to passing tourists. The Department for International Development gave funding to start the project.

The United Nations has launched a new initiative aimed at providing assistance to help more than 50 million people in 30 countries and regions of the world that are ravaged by armed conflicts and other crises. The United Nations is calling on the international community to provide over US$3 billion to help aid some 50 million people in "failed states" or in counties facing civil war or devastated by armed conflicts.

The humanitarian community launched an appeal for the Democratic Republic of the Congo on Tuesday, requesting US $268.65 million in aid for 2003.Most funding in 2002 went to food aid and multisector assistance to refugees; with health, agriculture, and coordination and support services receiving lower levels, OCHA reported. Economic recovery, education, family shelter and non-food items, mine action and water and sanitation were largely under funded, or received no funding.

The Zambian government has thwarted attempts by the Zambia Independent Media Association and six opposition members to table three bills, that ensure greater freedom of the press. Instead it is deciding to introduce its own media freedom bills instead.

The government drought food relief has yet to reach over 345 000 people, who face starvation, due to bureaucratic and logistical delays. Hundreds of tonnes of maize meal, cooking, oil, sugar and fish have now been delivered to several warehouses nationwide. Those severely affected by drought in the Caprivi, Otjozondjupa, Oshana, Omusati and Ohangwena regions are still waiting for the food to reach them.

The African Social Forum surfaced in January 2002, and started fulfilling the objectives that it was entrusted with : laying the foundations of a space of convergence, democratic debates and mutual guidance, on the one hand, and promoting African participation in the world social movement, on the other. The ASF organising committee expects the participation of 200 representatives of all the components of the African social movement. However, this number will be adjusted in mid-November, based on the resources mobilised. In any case, 150 participants will be necessary to achieve the critical mass required for a sufficient representation of the African social movement.

Traditional, indigenous knowledge and modern land management techniques will be wedded in a new $50 million program to heal dying and degraded lands on the margins of Africa's deserts. These lands account for about five percent of Africa's land area and are home to an estimated 22 million people.

The Botswana government has denied that diamonds were behind the controversial relocation of the Basarwa bushmen from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, and has accused British advocacy group Survival International of a "campaign of deception." The Botswana human rights group Ditshwanelo, which is part of an NGO negotiating team on the future of the Basarwa, has distanced itself from Survival International's campaign which has focused on the alleged role of diamonds and the firm de Beers. Ditshwanelo said this "confrontational" intervention had stalled talks between the government and the negotiating team.

Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila has suspended a number of top government officials accused by the United Nations of stealing billions of dollars in public funds. Security Minister Mwenze Kongolo, Minister of the Presidency Augustin Katumba Mwanke and State Security Chief Didier Kazadi, were among the group of officials suspended. All have denied the charges.

What is the impact of trade on women's lives? How can we assess – or even predict – it? This research analyses the effects of changes in economic policies on women in Bangladesh and Zambia. It concludes that complementary policies are needed to enhance women’s ability to respond to economic incentives; reduce the many competing demands on their time; and improve their overall well-being and social welfare, which are not necessarily increased by economic gains.

Why don’t more women set up their own businesses? Are programmes aimed at encouraging entrepreneurship among women getting it right? How do cultural ideas about men, women and money affect would-be women entrepreneurs? A recent paper draws on experience with entrepreneurship training for women in Zimbabwe. It found that women face a number of barriers to becoming entrepreneurs, such as their lack of access to education and capital. However, cultural attitudes may be even more important in holding women back. To get more women in business, training programmes need to recognise and challenge restrictive gender norms.

A hard-hitting report from the World Development Movement charts recent civil unrest in 23 developing countries directed against policies championed by the IMF. Citing evidence drawn from official documents that the free market policy model is failing, it points out that protesters in countries of the South come from across the social spectrum. Peasants, the unemployed and indigenous people are joining trade unionists, public sector workers, religious leaders, doctors, teachers, small businessmen and, in some cases, even policemen in venting their anger. Of the 23 countries documented, three quarters have IMF-sponsored privatisation programmes. In 2001 seventy six people, including a fourteen-year-old boy, were killed, and thousands injured and arrested in protests.

The post holder will strengthen, run and manage AMwA's Programmes for African women's organisations in the UK and assist with the implementation of AMwA's Strategic Plan.

Reporters sans frontières (RSF) has condemned the arrest by state security officials of Sidahmed Khalifa, editor-in-chief of the daily newspaper "Al-Watan", and his son Adil Sidahmed Khalifa, a journalist from the same newspaper, on November 9. The editor was arrested a few hours after criticising, at a press conference, the seizure of an issue of his own newspaper and those of two others published in Khartoum.

Every year 15 million people die from infectious diseases. 40 million people live with HIV/AIDS and the numbers are mounting. Most live in developing countries, many are children, and women are often worse hit. Much of this illness and death could be prevented if poor people had access to affordable medicines. But currently, one third of the world's population does not have regular access to affordable medicines, and only a tiny percentage have access to HIV/AIDS medicines. Take this vital chance to make sure that millions of people in the developing world have access to affordable medicines!

The OneWorld Radio CATIA Editor, based in Uganda, will be responsible for the development and high quality editing of OneWorld Radio CATIA website[s] in English. Editorial work will include regular updating of all text sections of the site[s], in-depth research about African broadcasters' needs and networking, report writing and membership recruitment/support. Closing date: 5pm Friday 29 November.

Beehives could help to protect African farms from damage caused by elephants by stopping them from eating crops, according to new research. Elephants can destroy whole fields of crops, especially where farmland borders reserves in countries such as Kenya. But they avoid beehives, and researchers have found that even empty hives are enough to reduce elephant damage, probably due to their odour.

A grouping consisting of members from the House of Representatives calling themselves the Democratic Vanguard Coalition (DEVACO), has leveled fresh charges against the Speaker, Umar Ghali Na'Abba, urging him to account for N2.4 billion said to be missing from the House's overhead vote.

We are looking for a Program Officer / Coordinator for our Amanitare program. This is an interesting position that requires, a well-organised and self-motivated person who is able to work independently as well as co-ordinate the efforts of the rest of the AMANITARE team and our Africa-based members of the partnership.

There is a very important meeting coming up with the intellectual property law commission in Abuja at the Hilton, on Nov 20-22, that will decide the legality of importing generic drugs for HIV/AIDS in Nigeria. The meeting is meant to finalize Nigeria coming into compliance with the TRIPS Agreement of the World Trade Organization in which Nigeria is required to change its intellectual property/trade policy to match new global rules. These global rules are flexible, but if not properly designed could mean that importing drugs from generic companies could become illegal in Nigeria, leaving little chance for PLWHA to ever access drugs in the future. The meeting is being organized and funded by the US Department of Commerce and the Nigerian private sector is tagging along. This will be the third time they have met, and this time, they will decide the final fate of the intellectual property law in Nigeria, before it is sent to the National Assembly. If the U.S. has its way, it will succeed in blocking the implementation of parallel importation laws (which allows for the importation of generic drugs) and make compulsory licensing (which allows for the local manufacturing of generic drugs) very stringent.

The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International has announced an action plan to halt a recent poaching spree that has left six mountain gorillas dead, one infant in temporary captivity and several others missing in Rwanda.

South African Deputy President Jacob Zuma on Sunday at a National Health Providers' Prayer Day gathering in eastern South Africa announced to an audience of approximately 5,000 people, including Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, that the South African Department of Health plans to take steps to address the shortage of health practitioners who are trained to provide care for HIV-positive patients, the South African Press Association reports.

Three years after the signing of the Lome Peace Accord, young people in Sierra Leone say they remain traumatized by their country's decade-long war and express frustration at the slow pace of recovery, according to a new study commissioned by the Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children. Six hundred Sierra Leonean adolescents and youth in the western and northern regions of the country who were interviewed say their experiences of adult manipulation and betrayal had made them distrustful.

Talks between Burundi President Pierre Buyoya and ethnic Hutu rebels ended last week without them agreeing a ceasefire. Regional leaders had imposed a deadline which expired at midnight last Thursday for a deal to be reached.

South Africa's Medicines Control Council will have to wait until the end of the year for a report from the United States which will guide its decision on whether to review the registration of nevirapine for the prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV.

The headlines from South Africa have been sneaking their way, ever more alarmingly, into our consciousness. The most recent – "White extremists set off bombs in Soweto" – came only last week, but the trend had been developing for months – "Ten charged with plot against Pretoria", "Afrikaner arms cache seized", and so on. In isolation, each might be shrugged off as part of the background noise of global strife. Together, they raise a question that the world never imagined would have to be asked again: is the ghost of apartheid stirring? Will a resurgent white right attempt bloodily to turn back the clock and destroy the dreams of Nelson Mandela's "rainbow nation"?

Workers with organizations campaigning against HIV/AIDS and other civil society groups in Côte d'Ivoire, where 10 per cent of adults are HIV positive, are acquiring professional skills to play a key role in the Government's efforts to decentralize the strategy against the deadly disease.

Nigeria and Cameroon will not go to war over the long-disputed Bakassi peninsula, Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo has said. The 1,000-square-kilometre (400-square-mile) area was recently awarded to Cameroon by the International Court of Justice, but Nigeria has refused to accept the decision.

The conference will be hosted by the Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research (WISER), and the Gay and Lesbian Archives of South Africa (GALA), and The Graduate School for the Humanities and Social Sciences, Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg from 22-25 June 2003.

Guns and gangsters hold a glamorous allure for many of South Africa's youth. The reality for young people in the townships, however, is far from glamorous. It's a life of poverty, inadequate education and a lot of violence. The South African government hasn't committed sufficient funding to address the problem, and so it's left to organisations like Khulisa to try to prevent youth crime and run programmes of rehabilitation.

Develop programs to improve the safety of female refugees and their children; implement programs aimed at reducing the incidences of sexual and gender based violence (SGBV); conduct in-service training; oversee the distribution of economic grant supplies and materials; maintain grant beneficiary databases and prepare statistical reports; liase with local officials and donors as well as other NGO's; prepare monthly reports on SGBV activities and indicators; supervision of national and refugee CSI staff.

The United Nations held a two-day conference in Johannesburg, South Africa, last week to discuss the relationship between Africa's severe food shortages and the HIV/AIDS pandemic, Xinhua News Agency reports. More than 50 people, including U.N. delegates and representatives from local and international non-governmental agencies, were scheduled to meet at the conference.

Despite the legal abolition of slavery in Mauritania twenty years ago, the government is yet to take practical steps ensure its abolition in practice, Amnesty International says in a report: 'Mauritania: a future free from slavery'. The report, published on the eve of the 21st anniversary of the decree which officially abolished slavery, shows that human rights abuses related to slavery persist in Mauritania, although the government denies their existence.

The Gauteng Anti-War Committee announces a march to take place this Friday in protest against the war-mongering coming from the US and British governments. We join millions of people around the world that have - in various ways - protested against the prospect of a US-led war against Iraq - whether a unilaterally-declared war or one sanctioned by the UN. Over the past few weeks, a million people marched in Italy, at least half a million in the US, 200,000 in the UK, millions in the Arab world and millions more in various other parts of the world. As the sabre-rattling continues in Washington, the Gauteng Anti-War Committee joins these millions of people around the world in raising South African voices in protest.

European Union Head of Delegation, Wiepk van der Goot, says Malawi can get out of its hunger situation and dependence on food aid through growing different types of crops and using irrigation practices during the winter season. Food security can also be diversified into income security through the growing of crops for sale and consumption, he says.

Opposition parties in the country are working out ways to contest together the forthcoming general elections, president of the Malawi Congress Party Gwanda Chakuamba says.

More than two years after African leaders and western donors pledged to halve the number of deaths from malaria, the disease remains one of Africa's top killers, UN special adviser Jeffrey Sachs said last week.

Since the beginning of November, 2002, several activities have been carried out both in Dodoma and Dar es Salaam. The most important achievement has been to engage members of Parliament, the media and general public to understand the bill and flaws embedded in it. We received good responses from a number of MPs regarding the campaign.

Bridges.org features a list of online reseources on their web site. Links are divided into the following categories: reports, research and position papers; policies and regulations; news and events; organizations and initiatives; regional digital divide resources and practical resources.

Dramatic evidence has been unearthed of such systematic British brutality in the former colony of Kenya that it may require the rewriting of imperial history. Hitherto secret files show that the then colonial secretary, Alan Lennox Boyd, sanctioned a policy of violence towards interned guerrilla suspects. A former colonial official, Terence Gavaghan, now living in London, was, according to a memo written by the governor, Sir Evelyn Baring, authorised to use force. Some detainees allegedly had their mouths stuffed with mud and were beaten unconscious by his men.

Three years ago, Arab raiders kidnapped Akwal from her home in southern Sudan along with her four children. During her captivity, she lived through frequent beatings and ill-treatment. "Sometimes we had no food for two days," she recalls.

At least 60 million children under five years of age in 16 West African countries are to be vaccinated this week against polio, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported on Tuesday. The world's largest vaccine manufacturer, Aventis Pasteur, has donated 30 million doses of oral polio vaccines to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative to facilitate the vaccination.

Somalia's various political factions and the Transitional National Government (TNG), attending reconciliation talks in the Kenyan town of Eldoret, have issued a joint statement calling on the international community to lift the freeze on the assets of the Al-Barakaat bank.