The start of the 2003-2004 school year on 1 October in the Republic of Congo (ROC) has been marred by widespread absenteeism on the part of both students and personnel.

Ethiopia must boost routine child immunisation to combat deadly diseases, the United Nations said on Thursday as the country began a major house-to-house polio campaign. Abdelmejid Tibouti, deputy head of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned that immunisations were vital to “protect each child” from easily preventable killer diseases.

The government has approved the creation of 10 more Internal Displaced Person's (IDP) camps in Kitgum district. By July there were over one million people in the camps in north and northeastern Uganda.

WITNESS is seeking a PROGRAM ASSOCIATE who would have a primary focus on supporting partnerships in Africa and in the Islamic world. WITNESS advances human rights advocacy through the use of video and communications technology. In partnership with non-governmental organizations and activists, WITNESS strengthens grassroots movements for change by loaning video cameras and assisting its partners to create and use video as evidence before courts and the United Nations, as a tool for public education, and as a deterrent to further abuse.

As the 54 meeting of the Commonwealth Heads of Government converges in Abuja, Nigeria for an annual meeting, and the Commonwealth Foundation hosts the Commonwealth Peoples Forum (CPF) between December 1-7, 2003; the Commonwealth Association of Non-Governmental Organisation (CANGO) will enlarge the frontier of participation at the forum and invites civil society actors, non-governmental organisations, intergovernmental and government representatives operating in any of the 54 member nations, to participate at its inaugural conference at the forum.

Reporters sans frontières (RSF) has urged the Mauritanian authorities to lift a suspension order against the weekly "Le Calame". The Ministry of the Interior, Posts and Telecommunications, which regulates the press, suspended issue 414 of the weekly on 19 October 2003, citing Article 11 of the Press Law, which allows for censorship without explanation.

Timberwatch, a coalition of Environmental NGOs and individuals, has called on the South African government as well as the timber industry, to halt the planting of new industrial timber plantations in naturally vegetated areas, especially grasslands.

The Committee to Protect Journalists has condemned the October 17 arson attack on the offices of the private, biweekly Independent newspaper, located in a suburb of the capital, Banjul.

A minimum of 3 years experience in senior level management, a deep understanding of HIV/AIDS related issues, excellent leadership and management skills, analytic and strategic skills, and fluency in both French and English is a must. Additionally, your experience in promoting and supporting networks, monitoring and impact assessment will be an asset.

We are once again announcing calling for interested individuals to register and or submit abstracts to the 1st International Students Conference on AIDS, scheduled for 2nd-6th of February 2004. The conference is organised by the steering committee of students from the Universities of Dar es Salaam, the Hubert Kairuki Memorial University and the Muhimbili University College of Health Sciences and is going to be held at the University of Dar es Salaam Nkrumah and Nyerere halls.

A groundbreaking study by the Ministry of Education on the effect of child abuse paints a disturbing portrait of the state of the Swazi child today, suggesting that up to 38 percent of children might be abuse survivors.

According to the first post apartheid national Census in 1996, 8.5% of South African children between the ages of 7 and 15 were not in school while approximately 16% of learners in Grades 1 to 7 were out of age (in school but older than their grade cohort by at least three years). From an educational point of view, these two groups of learners represent important lenses for marginality - children, who for whatever reasons, are unable to keep average pace with basic schooling.

The Fourth World Social Forum will be held in Mubai, India on 16-21 January 2004. The Indian Organising Committee together with the International Council of the WSF is preparing this event of great international importance with an expectation that it will bring together some 70.000 participants from all over the world. With this letter we would like to share with you information about the World Social Forum. Please find attached a two-page brief by Heinrich Böll Foundation. The web-site of the event is http://www.wsfindia.org/ where more information can be found. Further, we would like to extend an invitation to representatives of social movmemnts and people's organisation from Africa, Latin America and Asia to the WSF.

To replace a staff member on leave of absence, IDEA seeks a temporary Project Manager to contribute to the general development of its activities in Africa, with specific reference to the West Africa region. (S)he will be located primarily in West Africa, reporting to the Head of the Africa Team based in Pretoria. (S)he will work in cooperation with the other members of the Africa Team and with IDEA's staff at HQ in Stockholm.

The Eduardo dos Santos Foundation (FESA) handed over on Wednesday to Uije provincial government about four tonnes of various medicines and other first aid items.

The Campaign for Female Education (CAMP FED), has spent over 400,000 pounds sterling on projects undertaken in the Northern region, supporting over 6000 female students at the various senior secondary schools and another 500 females in vocational and micro projects.

Media organisations on Thursday asked the Hefer Commission to withdraw a subpoena against the journalist who was a source of the allegation that Director of Public Prosecutions Bulelani Ngcuka was an apartheid spy. Veteran journalist Raymond Louw told the commission that forcing former Sunday Times journalist, Ranjeni Munusamy, to testify would endanger 13 years of negotiations between media organisations, the department of justice and the South African Law Reform Commission about the removal of Section 205 from the Criminal Procedure Act. The section can be used to call on a person to reveal their sources of information to a judicial officer or face imprisonment.
Related Link:
* Commission says it will subpoena more journalists
http://www.africapulse.org.za/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=16…

While recognising the progress Angola has made since the end of the civil war last year, the European Union (EU) has called for an improvement in transparency in public sector expenditure.

The World Trade Report 2003 takes up three issues of topical interest in international trade. These include developments in South-South trade, trends in non-oil commodity markets and the growth of regional trade agreements.

One of Nigeria's oldest and biggest universities has been closed indefinitely over non-payment of teachers' salaries, officials at the institution said on Wednesday. Authorities of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) in the northern city of Zaria on Tuesday announced the closure of the institution following a rift between the teachers and the university administration over unpaid salaries, they said.