African governance is improving but significant challenges remain. That's the message of a summary report released by the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA). "Striving for Good Governance in Africa," an overview of the state of governance in 28 countries covering 72% of Africa's population, says that while African political governance is improving, on some fronts such as tax evasion and corruption, there is still a long way to go. It proposes a ten-point action plan for reversing Africa's governance deficits.

This is the last call for applications for the coming workshop on Writing and Presentation of Scientific Research for IFPRI partners and colleagues. The workshop will be held at the ILRI campus in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 13-17 December 2004. We have very few seats available and the deadline for applications is 30 October. If you are interested in participating but did not manage to raise the necessary funds to cover the workshop fee, please send us a message. If we identified a sponsor we can indicate your name for the scholarship. If you want to receive additional information on this workshop or others, please do not hesitate to contact us.

The Sierra Leone Truth and Reconciliation Commission has just published its report. The report concludes that "it was years of bad governance, endemic corruption and the denial of basic human rights that created the deplorable conditions that made conflict inevitable." Sierra Leone saw some of the most horrific and cruel atrocities committed by people against each other. "The overwhelming majority of atrocities were committed by Sierra Leoneans against Sierra Leoneans. All the fighting factions targeted civilians. Women and girls became targets for abuse in the brutal conflict in Sierra Leone. They suffered abductions and exploitation at the hands of their abductions. Their ulnerability was exploited in order to dehumanize them. Women and girls were raped, forced into sexual slavery and endured acts of sexual violence. Many suffered mutilations, torture and a host of other cruel and inhumane acts. The Commission found the leadership of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC), the Sierra Leone Army (SLA) and the Civil Defense Forces (CDF) to be responsible for either authorising or instigating human rights violations against civilians; alternatively for failing to stop such practices or to speak out against them. Sierra Leone was systematically plundered and looted by all factions in the conflict. The Commission found the RUF to have been responsible for the largest number of human rights violations in the conflict." The report claims that the war was only partly to do with diamonds, which fuelled rather than caused the crisis. The report highlights the role of external parties in intensifying the conflict and "laments the fact that the international community, apart from the ECOWAS states, declined to intervene in the unfolding human catastrophe in Sierra Leone until at a very late stage." It recommendations include calling upon leaders to to respect human rights, the abolition of the death penalty, upholding freedom of expression, etc. On reparations, the commission proposes "a programme to address and respond to the specific needs of victims, rather than recommending cash handouts." The overview of the Commission's report can be found at the link below. The full report is due to be made available, we understand at http://www.ictj.org/