The Charities Aid Foundation Southern Africa will be hosting a regional one-day working conference on governance and accountability in the non-profit sector on the 25th May 2004. Entitled: 'Governance and Accountability: Developing Guidelines for Southern African NGOs,' the conference is aimed at generating discussion on the need for Southern African NGOs to apply principles of good governance and accountability in their work, as well as to launch the process of developing a draft Code of Good Governance for the non-profit sector.

It was once celebrated as a rare African success story, an example of what committed leadership can do. Education for all was the policy Zimbabwean authorities pursued diligently for much of the first decade since independence, from Britain, in 1980. The goal was to extend education to the previously disadvantaged black majority. As a result, scores of schools were built and the training of thousands of teachers speeded up. Sadly, those classroom gains are currently in jeopardy, threatened by triple digit inflation and political impenitence.

This Forum, which is organised by the Consortium for Street Children in collaboration with the Hope Village Society, will be a mixture of field study,
plenary, and group sessions focusing on street children in the context of children's rights, poverty, and social exclusion. Key experts working with street children from the following countries will be attending: Algeria, Egypt, Jordan/Palestine, Lebanon, Tunisia, Morocco, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. For more information, contact: Consortium for Street Children, Unit 306, Bon Marche Centre, 241-251 Ferndale Road, London SW9 8BJ, UK; Tel:+44(0) 20 7274 0087; Fax: +44(0) 20 7274 0372; Email:[email protected]