Parents and educationists in Zimbabwe have warned that a rise of more than 1,000 percent in school fees will force larger numbers of children to drop out and preclude others from all education. Inflation has hit a new high of 913 percent, bringing a 12-fold rise in the cost of essentials. All schools, including those run by the government, said they would have to enforce the increases, effective from May.

A section of employees in the New Vision establishment are troubled by reports that a colleague has compiled and submitted a dossier detailing the political inclination of each member of staff. Sources within the government-owned New Vision printing and publishing company claimed that the "clandestine work" by an editor and columnist with the Bukedde newspaper, had been erroneously leaked into the "wrong" hands, which culminated in some editorial staff getting access to what was supposed to be a confidential document.

Chancellor Gordon Brown has said the UK will give $15bn (£8.5bn) in overseas aid for education in Africa and Asia. The 10-year funding plan is part of the pledge by the world's richest nations to help every African child have access to a primary school by 2015.

CivilSocietyBuilding.net is a network for exchange of knowledge, with mostly unique content provided by network members. Share your stories and experiences, or browse about for case studies, lessons, research or relevant events.

At a press conference in Casablanca on 6 April at the end of a visit to Morocco, Reporters Without Borders said it had noted “positive changes” but called on the authorities to remove the obstacles still constraining press freedom. Represented by its secretary-general, Robert Ménard, and the head of its Middle East and Northern Africa desk, Lynn Tehini, the organisation welcomed the fact that for the first time in 20 years it had been able to meet a member of the government, communication minister and government spokesman Nabil Benabdellah.

The Centre for Civil Society (University of KwaZulu-Natal) has committed funds to help defray the travel, living, and research costs of Visiting Scholars who would otherwise be unable to take up a visiting position due to funding constraints. Stipends at a maximum of R20 000 per applicant are available, though most will be significantly smaller. We now welcome applications for these funded positions.

AIDC seeks a committed activist to serve as the national organiser of our Right to Work Campaign which seeks to address the crisis of mass unemployment by amongst other things having the right to work entrenched in South Africa's Bill of Rights.

Participatory modes of governance are increasingly seen as crucial in achieving good governance, citizen empowerment, poverty reduction and human development goals. As one of CIVICUS' key programmatic efforts, the Participatory Governance Programme therefore seeks to enhance the capacity of civil society actors in developing and transitioning countries to participate in, and influence governance processes at the local and national levels.

The International Secretariat of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) has been informed by the ‘Ligue de la Zone Afrique pour la Défense des Droits des Enfants et Elèves (LIZADEEL)’, a member of the SOS-Torture network, of the rape of two young girls of 13 and 17 years of whom the names are not mentioned for confidential and safety reasons. OMCT is deeply concerned about the use of sexual force in Kinshasa of which an important part is reportedly done by organised gangs.

More than three years after war forced it to shut down, the University of Bouake in the rebel-held north of Cote d'Ivoire officially reopened this week, giving new hope to a generation of youth missing out on schooling. Hundreds of hopeful students and dozens of lecturers attended the opening ceremony on Tuesday, which many hailed as a major step towards a return to normal in the north. Several members of the administrative staff had already returned earlier this month.

Amnesty International needs a researcher to take the lead responsibility for initiating strategy and a program of human rights research and action on designated countries within Eastern Africa by providing country expertise, research skills and sound political judgement.

The violent death rate for northern Uganda currently stands at 146 per week, or 0.17 violent deaths per 10,000 people per day. "This is three times higher than in Iraq, where the incidence of violent death in the period following the allied invasion was estimated to be 0.052 per 10,000 people per day," claims a new report by a coalition of over 50 leading non-governmental organisations, Civil Society Organisations for Peace in Northern Uganda (CSOPNU). Almost two million people have been displaced by the conflict. A staggering 25,000 children have been abducted during the 20-year war. A quarter of the children in northern Uganda over 10 years old have lost one or both parents.

In the period 1995 to 2002 South Africa managed to make major policy changes in education. Almost everything about the education sector has changed. This paper focuses on policies aimed at resource distribution. It documents significant improvements in certain measures of resource inequality. It documents that, against perhaps excessively optimistic expectations, responses in learning outcomes have not followed automatically, but have instead required much managerial pressure and oversight.

The Coalition for Peace in Africa (COPA) Eastern Africa Regional office would like to recruit the Finance/Administrative Officer for the Applied Conflict Transformation Studies (ACTS) Programme. This is a two-year Masters programme in conflict transformation, which bridges the gap between academic research and the wealth of experience that exists on the ground.

More than 30 would-be migrants were missing and believed dead on Sunday after their boat collided with a fishing vessel as it set out from this African desert country toward Europe, according to officials and doctors who treated survivors. The boat was carrying 57 people and had been at sea for about 17 days before the accident late on Saturday, said Commandant Sidi Ould Ahmed of Mauritania's military police. He said 32 people were still missing.

The chairman of the University of Ghana's council, has disclosed that the University of Ghana is planning to cut down on the number of students at the university in order to instill discipline and monitor attendance of lectures. This according to him has become necessary because of the findings of the Mfodwo Committee set up to investigate cases of examination malpractices in the university.

Is a traditional tribal leader a government official, and could giving money to him be considered bribery? These questions, which oil and gas company executives grappled with recently during a workshop in Equatorial Guinea, are more than an academic exercise. Oil seems to have enriched Equatorial Guinea's kleptocratic leaders alone, as citizens sank deeper into poverty, disease and hopelessness. The country's critics said the unprecedented workshop on ethics and international law was at best a small step on a long road to reform.

The Rainbo Small Grants Project was started in 1995 to provide modest funds and technical assistance to African non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that might not otherwise have access to mainstream sources of funding. To date the project has worked with 76 grassroots organisations in 20 African countries.

CIVICUS is recruiting an MDG Administrative Officer who will report directly to the MDG Campaign Manager, and liaising closely with other Campaign staff. The MDG Administrative Officer is responsible for providing high-quality overall administrative and logistical support to the work of the MDG Department.

University authorities at the National University of Science and Technology have suspended 28 students. The students at the National University of Science and Technology, have been in perpetual protest at the college since the semester started, at the massive fee increments by government which students have termed "Operation Murambashasha", and have demonstrated at least 4 times this semester.