An UN inter-agency effort in the Republic of Congo (ROC) has so far trained 1,939 teachers on HIV/AIDS- prevention education methods involving the active participation of students, Brenda Bowman, the project administrator, has told IRIN.

Interference in the judiciary and an increase in the alleged harassment of journalists in Malawi are issues that the Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC) aims to address in a plan to promote and protect human rights in the country. The plan being drafted in consultation with civil society and the government, would study rights that include civil, political and economic, and compare "gaps" between what the constitution enshrined and the government's performance.

Ethiopia was criticised on Friday for ignoring an order by the international Boundary Commission to remove resettled Ethiopians from Eritrean territory. The Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission (EEBC), which met the two sides in London last week, said the Ethiopian government had “not complied with its obligations”.

Nigeria’s Supreme Court has unanimously thrown out several guidelines used by the country’s electoral body to deny registration to five political parties. The court's seven judges, led by Chief Justice Mohammed Uwais, ruled that 11 of 18 conditions imposed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the registration of political parties were unconstitutional.

At least 12 people have died and 337 are infected in a cholera epidemic in Bunia, Ituri District, northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, where rival ethnic militias have been fighting for control. "These figures should drop following the intervention of health teams," Doudou Luemba of the UN Children's Fund's (UNICEF) emergency department, told IRIN last Thursday.

Office of the President minister Joseph Nyaga has resigned from the Cabinet and defected from Kanu, rocking the party as it prepares for crucial nominations. He announced the move as former presidential trouble-shooter Mark Too also declared he was joining the opposition to contest the Eldoret South seat.

The government was still investigating on Tuesday whether there was any truth to claims that South African mercenaries were helping the Ivory Coast army counter a rebellion. "Our mission in the Ivory Coast is following the matter closely," foreign affairs department spokesman Ronnie Mamoepa said.

In a move reminiscent of taking the fight to the lion's den, the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), has visited President Olusegun Obasanjo in the State House, and told him that his decision to seek re-election would impair the nation's unity.

The Lake Victoria Region Local Authorities Co-operation (LVRLAC) is to expand to include Rwanda and Burundi, in a bid to protect and conserve the waters and surrounding areas of Lake Victoria. Dr. Julius Odongo, LVRLAC's secretary general, says the organisation took this decision because both Rwanda and Burundi partly share the waters of the lake. "What these countries do in regard to their environment ultimately affects Lake Victoria and its surroundings," he says.

Artist Beezy Bailey has organised a fundraising auction that will take place on November 19 at the Good Hope Suite, GrandWest Casino, Goodwood. Fifty-five of South Africa's top artists, including Marlene Dumas, will donate their work. Patricia de Lille will be the key speaker and she will talk on the issue of AIDS orphans. The Night of 100 Stars and the Adele Searll Memorial Trust will administer the funds.

This week marks the beginning of the Giving and Sharing week. This initiative is geared towards mobilizing people and spreading the spirit of philanthropy and volunteerism throughout South Africa.

* The African National Congress and the policy of non-racialism: a study of the membership issue p. 133, Nhlanhla Ndebele
* Judicial decision-making and the use of panels in the South African Appellate Division, 1950-1990 p. 147, Stacia Haynie
* Political culture and democracy: the South African case p. 163, Carlos Garcia-Rivero, Hennie Kotzé, Pierre Du Toit
* Communitarian deliberative democracy and its implications for political discourse in South Africa p. 183, Yusef Waghid
* What price truth? South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission in critical perspective p. 209, Christian M. De Vos

This report is adapted from a presentation for a workshop between Christian Aid and South African partners, held in Durban during October 2001. The report argues that knowing the difference development workers make is in itself a part of good development practice. In order to achieve this competence, certain processes and skills are required of organisations and individuals in development.

Since Friday, media in Cape Town and on national television and radio have been covering Housing MEC Nomatyala Hangana's resolution to crackdown on members of the Khayelitsha Anti-Eviction Campaign. This resolution comes after communities within the Greater Khayelitsha area have consistently defied banks and returned evicted people to their houses. The coverage from the Cape Times, E-TV and the SABC is notable for its one-sidedness on this issue. AEC members are portrayed as common criminals, and MEC Hangana continues to avoid the very real issue of the housing crisis in the area.

The situation for Rwanda's estimated 1 million children orphaned by HIV/AIDS and decades of civil conflict is aggravated by the disruption of traditional structures, including the extended family system and community solidarity, UNICEF says.

Gerry Jackson, the Station Manager of SW Radio Africa, a community radio station based in the United Kingdom and broadcasting to Zimbabwe has vowed that the station will continue broadcasting regardless of a government ban prohibiting Zimbabweans working for the station from visiting the country.

This briefing paper by Human Rights Watch begins by giving an outline of the WTO's Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Agreement (TRIPS) and of the Doha declaration by WTO members, which states that countries can bypass patents in medical emergencies. The paper argues that countries in the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) should resist pressure from the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to adopt a TRIPS-plus patent regime that increases patent rights of pharmaceutical companies. They state that this undermines the Doha Declaration and constrains developing countries' efforts to promote the health and human rights of their citizens.

Southern Africa's rape statistics are ranked third highest in the world. With the advent of HIV AIDS, rape has become tantamount to a death penalty. One in three women are regularly battered. Widows are daily dispossessed of their property. Children, and especially the girl child, are daily abused: emotionally, physically and sexually. Schools are not safe. Even the workplace is not safe. Gender violence is a daily, costly and deadly reality for the people, and especially the women of our region. Is there anything that can be done about it? More importantly is there anything you can do about it?

Sierra Leone's war was neither 'rebellion', in the sense of it being an internal uprising, nor 'civil', in the sense of it being about clearly understandable and achievable political goals. Rather, it was part of a continuous narrative of escalating regional violence and terror driven largely by criminal economic interests. Now its recovery from decades of economic meltdown and political and social turmoil will depend, to a very large extent, on how it manages its vitally important extractive sector, especially the diamond industry. This is part of a new report released by Partnership Africa Canada. Related Links:
* http://www.actionaid.org/resources/pdfs/endconflict.doc
* http://www.actionaid.org/resources/pdfs/gatefold.pdf

While Malawi celebrates the onset of much needed rain, the government and a group of NGOs have started their assault against malaria by dramatically slashing the price of insecticide-treated mosquito nets. About eight million Malawians suffer from malaria every year, and up to 5,000 people die of the preventable disease which is spread by mosquitoes mainly during the rainy season.

Considered among the fist casualties of the four-year war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), demobilised child soldiers live anxious lives, despite hope of peace on the horizon. "I have been taken care of for nine months now, but I do not know what I will do [after the help stops]," Thomas Elongo, a demobilised child soldier in the DRC capital, Kinshasa, and chosen spokesman of his comrades, told IRIN recently.

The African Union would be ultimately responsible for a comprehensive peer review mechanism, but until the necessary structures were in place, this task would fall on the New Partnership for Africa's Development, government representative Joel Netshitenzhe said on Wednesday.

The people of the West Rand town of Carletonville now have the opportunity to learn valuable IT skills thanks to the establishment of a Communal Information Technology Centre (CITC). The CITC concept, the result of a government-private sector partnership, is aimed at providing skills development and income-generating opportunities for the unemployed.

The leader and last remaining member of the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) - a group that committed politically motivated crimes in the United States in the 1970s - was arrested in Cape Town last Friday. James Kilgore, 55, who had been using the name Charles Pape, had been on the run from the FBI for the past 26 years. An article on the South African Independent Media Centre web site notes that Pape is the third international leftist arrested in South Africa over the past three months and threatened with deportation. "This is clearly part of a campaign by the ANC-IFP-NNP centre-right government to demonise internationals working alongside the emergent social movements and by doing so to demoralise the movements," the article said.

A young and blonde Danish girl is shattering Nigeria's dreams of organising a world event of unprecedented beauty, estimated to produce millions of US$ of tourism revenues. Masja Juel, or Miss Denmark, is leading a boycott campaign in response to a Nigerian death-by-stoning sentence of a woman for having a child outside marriage.

Three Kenyan airports will receive equipment from the United States.The high-tech detection equipment, valued at over $750,000 (Sh60 million), will be used to improve security services at Jomo Kenyatta International and Wilson Airports in Nairobi; and the Moi International Airport, Mombasa.It includes modern baggage x-ray machines, walk-through metal detectors, hand wands and explosive trace detectors.

Members of the South Durban Community Environmental Alliance recently held a protest outside the Sapref plant in South Durban, South Africa and demanded to know why Shell MD, Richard Parkes had allegedly lied about a recent incident at the plant.

Women and Child Affairs Deputy Minister Marlene Mungunda, says Information Communication Technology, particularly the Internet and e-mail, could be used for women's empowerment. She said that ICT can enable women's groups or co-operatives to exchange information about the markets, prices, opportunities and experiences.

The drought distribution machinery, like a rusty, old engine, finally sprang to life delivering some food relief, though the majority of Namibians in need are still waiting, largely due to bureaucratic delays.

All of us involved in resourcing the work of voluntary sector organisations have an amazing opportunity to contribute to a better world. As catalysts in the process of raising awareness, and then converting our supporters' compassion into action, we have an enormous responsibility as well, writes Stewart Crocker, Chief Executive of the Resource Alliance.

Black history is increasingly being celebrated in Europe and the Americas. In the United States and the United Kingdom especially, specific months of the year - February and October respectively have been officially set aside to celebrate or commemorate Black History month. On the African continent itself, the celebration or commemoration of Black history is yet to enjoy the same status or significance it does in the diaspora. This is possibly because Blacks in the diaspora are under greater psychological pressure to fill the void in their history and assert their social worth as equals to non-Blacks. It is important to clarify here, that 'Black' in this write up, is used in its 'narrow' sense to describe people of African descent or identity, as opposed to its broader usage in say the United Kingdom to describe non-white persons of African, Asian or other distinctly non-white origins.

It is also necessary to stress here, that African descent and identity are of equal value. This is an important clarification as there are now hundreds of thousands or even a few million persons who may be able to trace their ancestry to Europe and Asia, but identify themselves firmly and unshakeably as Africans, and must be accepted and respected as such. (Some Africans argue that those not of African descent that exhibit a settler or colonial master mentality should be excluded from this definition. Whatever the merits or demerits of that position, it is the subject of another debate entirely)

Why celebrate black history?

Many people of various 'races' including Africans, especially those that reside on the African continent often wonder what is significant about Black history that necessitates its celebration or commemoration in the diaspora. Why for instance is it not important to celebrate White history? A school of thought advocates that it is absurd to suggest that White history is not already celebrated. After all, European history takes up a large chunk of the history syllabus of secondary schools and institutions of higher learning not just in Europe, but also in much of Africa and Asia and wherever else European colonialists reached in their quest for riches, slaves and colonies to exploit. Even non – European history is taught from a largely European worldview. European and more significantly African children are taught for instance that Mungo Park the European explorer discovered the river Niger. The subliminal suggestion being that Africans lived around the river, and utilised its resources for centuries but never 'found' it. Any responses to exam questions, which contradict this imparted wisdom leads to failure, and failure is equated with ignorance or at least, the inability to learn. By default, African children have been taught since colonialism, that Africa has no history. But again, why is all this of any significance? Why is there an increasing desire to assert that people of African descent and identity have a history, hence the celebration of Black history.

The answer lies in the potential of history to influence or control the perception of self worth of individuals, countries, continents and peoples or 'races'. No history equals no achievement. No achievement equals no pride. No pride equals no dignity and no dignity equals an inferiority complex. The reverse of this process, a rich history, many achievements, cause for pride and dignity may not result in a superiority complex, but certainly does not lead to an inferiority complex. An inferiority complex, and lack of self-belief as any psychologist will confirm, leads to lack of motivation, which in turn results in underachievement.

Conventional history and wisdom has it for example, that most if not all the great advances in and contributions to science, technology, industry, social and political organisation were made, and are still being made by non-Black people. In other words and in one sentence, the great strides in civilisation have been largely attributed to Europe and those of European descent. Africa (and Africans) in contrast, has been portrayed as the “dark continent” of savagery and barbarism that needed to be 'civilised', and in contemporary times is perpetually in need of support and handouts to save it from descending into the abyss of anarchy, hunger, disease and poverty. This image has a negative effect on Blacks in the diaspora, and somehow has provided the philosophical justification for slavery, colonialism and possibly, the incredible refusal of western governments at last year's world conference on racism, to accept that slavery was and is a crime against humanity.

The consequences of these are grave and raise many questions that demand answers. Why, is race an issue? Because there is racism. Why is their racism? Because there is discrimination. Why is there discrimination? Because it rationalises exploitation. Why is there exploitation? Because some people benefit from it. If you are said to be inferior, your life cannot be worth the same as that of someone superior to you. If your life is not of equal worth, then it is expendable, or at least exploitable and you can be a source of cheap or even free labour, hence slavery – hence Apartheid which as we all know, institutionalised gross violations of human rights, and was established to be a crime against humanity. If apartheid is a crime against humanity, why not slavery?

Slavery and colonialism played a great role in the erasure and marginalisation of African history. We know today, that history is told from the worldview of the 'conquerors'. If the Nazis had won World War 2, for example, world history would be told differently. The consequences of slavery, have therefore included decades of mis-education, Africans not to excel, but to service the clerical and administrative ranks of colonial governments, as most Black south Africans were denied the same standard of education as Whites in order to perpetuate an underclass of ignorant millions with nothing but a life of slavery to look forward to.

What is there to celebrate?

The celebration of black history in the diaspora, can therefore be seen as an attempt by Black people to show that they had a history before slavery and colonialism that they have contributed to the march of world civilisation, that Black people have and can make giant strides and are therefore not inferior. This poses the strong possibility of instituting self-belief, improving motivation, and restoring dignity, which after all is a key human right.

In the entire history of humanity - both written and unwritten - only Africa and Africans, have been subjected to centuries of full-scale slavery and colonisation followed by being the battle ground of cold war politics. No continent or people could have survived the forced removal for slavery, of over three hundred million of its people - mostly youth, followed by ruthless colonial exploitation. If Europe were to suffer the same fate today, and lost three hundred million people in their prime to slavery, had borders artificially broken up and redrawn to lay the basis for conflict, suffered colonial exploitation, and cold war interventions that created and sustained dictators of the likes of Mobutu of Zaire, it would resemble Africa today. Conversely, if Africa had the dubious benefit of millions of unpaid slaves to build up the continent over centuries, it would have led to an accumulation of wealth and capital just as was created in Europe and America, which created the basis for the industrial revolution.

If we agree that the main aim of slavery was the economic exploitation of slaves, it is easy to appreciate the fear by American and European governments and corporations that the admission that slavery is a crime against humanity will leave them open to massive claims of compensation, which is a tacit acknowledgement of the fact that the accumulated wealth of their countries owes much to slavery and colonialism.

The myth of racial superiority is built in part on promotion of the falsehood that Africa was civilised by Europeans. On the contrary, it is widely acknowledged today by the greatest scientific minds of all races that Africa is the cradle of human civilisation. What is not widely acknowledged is the implication of this on world history. Some people argue that there is no need to duel on the past - that we need to look to the future. This is wrong. We must dwell on the past because the contemporary mis-understanding of history serves to promote the myth of "white supremacy" and facilitate racism and gross violations of human rights. No serious person today underestimates the importance of psychology in anything - even in sports. If all available evidence suggests that Africans and "Blacks" have contributed nothing to human civilisation, the myth of racial superiority will remain and with it racism and the psychological damage inflicted on many people of African descent and identity.

If contemporary history did not recognise the contributions of past Greek, Roman or Chinese civilisations to human development, the perception of their place in world history today would be different. Similarly, what would be the reaction if two thousand years from now, if the contributions of Albert Einstein, Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud and other Jews to human civilisation were denied, or the contributions of countless and nameless Japanese persons to the development of science and technology? There would be a void in the history of these peoples and nationalities. Of course, not all of Africa attained the level of sophistication of the ancient civilisations of Egypt, Nubia or Ethiopia, or later the social and political organisation of Mali, Benin or Ghana "Empires". The same applies to China or Europe at the height of ancient Greek civilisation or the Roman Empire. Alongside advances existed backwardness. The Romans for instance had the barbarians alongside them who dealt them severe blows.

It therefore amounts to falsification of history not to clearly and openly acknowledge the contributions of "Black" and African civilisations and persons to human development. Contemporary accounts of popular history therefore need to be corrected. For instance, papyrus [paper], alphabets and ink, which are pillars of education, were used in ancient Egypt which contrary to the Hollywood version of history was at the time a "Black" civilisation. It is also historical fact, that the libraries of Egypt were torched by invading Roman armies of the Caesars during the decline of the ancient Egypt, which alongside its age, explains why most written ancient Egyptian History is lost. At the height of Roman civilisation, shorthand was famously taught in Rome by the African Tiro who opened a school to teach the scribes of the Roman Senate.

Similarly the fundamentals of modern mathematics were taught to Greek scholars by "Black" Egyptians who worked with fractions, algebra, geometry and the value of Pi which were all deployed in the construction of the great pyramids hundreds of years before Greek civilisation and Isaac Newton. To this day, modern science is unable to crack the wonders of the ancient pyramids of Egypt, which remain the best showcases of ancient African architecture. In medicine, it is widely assumed that Hippocrates a Greek is the father of modern medicine hence the Hippocratic oath but this is wrong. Imhotep of ancient Egypt is now acknowledged as the father of modern medicine. The symbol of the medical profession - a winged staff entwined by serpents - was the insignia found on his temples two thousand years before Hippocrates. His ancient temple was a centre for experiments in anatomy, surgery and pharmacology.

To appreciate all this, the history of civilisations has to be placed in context. The ancient African civilisations of Egypt, Nubia and Ethiopia existed from around 2600 BC, the Chinese from around 1600 BC. By comparison, the City-states of Greece only came into existence around 650 BC and the Roman Empire around 149 BC. With the possible exception of the Chinese who only stumbled upon other civilisations around 126 BC the general pattern was that the Romans borrowed ideas from the Greeks who in turn had borrowed ideas from the Egyptians. It is therefore not very surprising, that a lot of modern thinking is attributed to the Greeks especially through thinkers like Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. It is also generally not known, that the Greek/Macedonian Army of Alexander the Great only reached Egypt over two thousand years after the pyramids were built and that Greek scholars had previously come to learn in Egypt. The rise and fall of civilisations also complicates much of history. For instance, the once great British Empire has shrunk while it is difficult to believe that the USA did not even exist a mere 300 years ago.

"Black" contributions to modern civilisation

In modern times, it is generally assumed that the inventions that have accelerated the growth of science and technology have been by "White" people. This perception exists in Africa, as well as in Europe and America where people should know better. But how are most people to know when the popular versions of history are misleading?

A variety of some popular everyday applications invented by "Black" people include: the railway signal; lawn mower; gas burner; automatic refrigeration system; traffic signal/traffic lights; fountain pen; motor used in engines; overhead conducting system for electric railway systems; vending machines that deliver tickets and return change to customers; and automatic street-sweepers. Other complex devices include the first lubricator or oiling device used for industrial machinery that allows machines to remain in motion while being automatically oiled. [The term the "real McCoy" refers to a question asked by buyers who wanted to know if the machines on sale were the "real McCoy" - after the maker Elijah McCoy]; the first automatic refrigeration system for long haul trucks which today allows the preservation of food in transit. This was, in turn, adapted to a variety of other carriers, including ships, railway cars, and aircraft. A self-starting gasoline motor; the railway telegraph that allows trains in motion to communicate with stations; and the carbon filament used in electric lamps. "Black" people also introduced medical innovations such as open-heart surgery and the blood bank. Most of these examples with the exception of the blood bank and open-heart surgery are over a hundred years old and exclude contemporary developments or other areas of human endeavour such as academia, art, literature, sport, music and so forth.

In other words, if presented correctly, history shows that racial superiority, which rationalises racism, is a myth. If all races are equal, then there is no basis for racism and economic exploitation just as there never was any basis for slavery and colonialism beyond greed. The correction of contemporary understanding of Black history has massive implications for people of African descent and identity, in relation to racism, human rights, dignity and self-respect. In other words there are serious sociological, psychological and political reasons for correcting the wrong perception of, and for celebrating Black history. It is not a White versus Black argument, its an argument for equitable recognition of the contribution of all peoples to the development of human civilisation.

*Sankore is Co-ordinator of CREDO for Freedom of Expression and Associated Rights. Send your comments to and we will consider them for publication in the Letters and Comments section.

The deputy commander of the Mozambican police, Jorge Khalau, has admitted that there is corruption exists in the force, but says it cannot simply be blamed on low wages and poor academic qualifications.

Victims of the tactics of two armed forces, Angola's four million internally displaced persons (IDPs) face a future as uncertain as their past. Throughout 2001 and the first quarter of 2002, UN figures indicate that the number of new IDPs in Angola fluctuated between 20,000 and 50,000 each month, the number rising to over 60,000 in September 2001 owing to a massive movement of people following UNITA rebel attacks in the north of Bengo province.

Since the mid-1990s, the northern and western districts of Uganda have been plagued by high levels of insecurity resulting from armed insurgencies and rebel attacks on civilian targets. The Acholi people of northern Uganda have borne the brunt of the violence, with some 500,000 people - roughly half the Acholi population - forced to remain in "protected camps" guarded by the Ugandan military.

After suffering decades of civil war, recurrent drought and widespread inter-ethnic conflict, Sudan now hosts the largest number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the world - some 4 million people. The main cause of this unparalleled level of displacement has been, and continues to be, the civil war which has been fought since 1983 between the Khartoum government and southern rebels, including the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A).

In this participant's account, Víctor Dreke describes how easy it became after the Cuban Revolution to "take down the rope" segregating blacks from whites at town dances, yet how enormous was the battle to transform social relations underlying all the "ropes" inherited from capitalism and Yankee domination. He recounts the determination, internationalism, and creative joy with which working people have defended their revolutionary course against U.S. imperialism--from Cuba's own Escambray mountains, to the Americas, Africa, and beyond.

US defence officials have confirmed that they are planning to establish a military headquarters in the Horn of Africa to help in the hunt for suspected terrorists. The Horn of Africa has become a main focus of the Americans global war on terrorism and their hunt for suspected al-Qaeda members and their sympathisers.

Human activities are threatening to wipe out as many as one-half of the Earth's plant species, a new study suggests, with the demand for new farm land to feed a growing population in tropical countries being the biggest cause of global plant species extinction. "The natural forest is being cut down and burned and the land converted into pastures and fields for crops," said Peter M. Jorgensen of the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis.

Slowing the spread of HIV/AIDS in Malawi and preventing the nation's already high maternal mortality rate from climbing must be addressed as an integral part of the humanitarian response to Southern Africa's famine, the U.N. Population Fund has warned. Widespread hunger and a related cholera epidemic have caused maternal death rates to rise sharply this year.

Meeting recently in Lusaka, Zambia, south and east African debt campaign networks, together with partners from the North (including JDC), declared that HIPC is failing to meet the needs of the poor. The African campaigns called for debt cancellation under HIPC to refocussed on meeting the
UN's 2015 Millennium Development Goals, rather than meeting so-called "sustainable" debt service.

Gavin Hayman, campaigner with Global Witness, considers some of the lessons from the organisation's report on the exploitation of the Angolan civil war to loot state revenues from the oil industry. The missing money appears to be more than the entire international humanitarian relief effort and he argues that in countries such as Angola, transparency is necessary if international relief efforts are not to be endlessly undermined.

The Scorpions have arrested six senior Eastern Cape government officials at their offices in King Williamstown. This was apparently linked to government transport subsidies to bus owners.

Neighbouring farmers looked down at them as they were farmworkers who knew nothing about "running a viable, sustainable commercial farm". Lenders refused to give them a loan as they believed they would lose on the deal. Besides, they were ordinary farmworkers and had no experience in running a business. Today they are the envy of their neighbours in Ceres, their farm is a success and they have a Christmas contract worth millions of rands with a leading chain store.

The presidents of the national and lower level election commissions are to be "proposed by civil society" and the other members of the election commission are to choose their president from those proposals by secret ballot. It is remarkable and, for Mozambique, unprecedented to give such a role to civil society. This posting from the Mozambique Political Process Bulletin also contains information on local and national election processes in Mozambique.

Angelina Atyam, from Northern Uganda, was the only woman who officially addressed the Security Council at the Arria Formula on Women, Peace and Security on October 23. Atyam spoke about the conditions facing women in Northern Uganda, where civilians bear the brunt of fighting between the Ugandan government and the rebel Lord's Resistance Army.

In May and July this year, nearly 200 women from six countries in sub-Saharan Africa participated in human rights and leadership development workshops organized by WLP and its partners. The workshops took place in Zimbabwe and Tanzania as part of the regularly scheduled programming for the Women's Self-Promotion Movement (WSPM) and Umoja wa Akina Mama Fizi (UWAFI). The response from participants and facilitators to WLP's empowering, cooperative leadership strategies was very positive. The workshops' success was largely due to the excellent planning and organization of the NGOs, whose commitment to new models of leadership and consensus-building provided the workshops with real-life context and problem-focused content.

The GOAL Country Director is responsible for the management and ongoing development/expansion of GOAL's work in the Sudan. He/She will be responsible for ensuring that GOAL's work contributes effectively and efficiently towards meeting the short, medium and long term needs of the poorest of the poor, within the framework of the organisation's objectives.