This report includes a comprehensive review of existing research, both published and unpublished, on the old in South Africa. The reports looks at the extent of poverty, saying South Africa has one of the most rapidly ageing populations in Africa, with a particular increase in the 64-73 year age category, from 25.8% of the total population of older people in 1996 to 26.5% in 1999.

Health authorities resumed on Monday the immunisation of children in the northwestern Central African Republic towns of Bozoum, Paoua, Bocaranga and Ngaoundaye, which had been cut off for a year by war and insecurity, state-owned Radio Centrafrique reported. "Children who were born between October 2002 and now were not vaccinated," Xavier Tomanga, the area's chief medical officer, said on the radio from Bozoum.

Africa must “seize” the opportunity offered by controversial genetically modified food, a conference in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa heard on Tuesday. Biotechnology can boost food production and cut back environmental degradation, Kingsley Amoako, who heads the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), told a three-day conference on sustainable development.

South Africa's first "Drive for Charity" event - initiated by the South African Guild of Motoring Journalists (SAGMJ) - is gaining momentum. A prizefund-raising campaign has just been launched, celebrity and charity competitors will be announced on 28th October 2003, and on Valentines Day, 14th February 2004, at least 16 top South African celebrities and their benefiting charities will vie for the largest portion of a R1m plus pool of prize money.

As children go back to school after a year of disrupted classes, Cote d'Ivoire is calling on donors to help rebuild the war-ravaged school system. On Monday, tens of thousands of primary and secondary school children returned to their classrooms in government-held areas.

So far, during the current financial year, the Lottery has generated R1.6bn for "good causes". The bulk went to charities, with the arts and culture sector as the second largest recipient and sports and recreation as the third.

BuaNews reports that the National Development Agency (NDA) has earmarked R67 million for poverty alleviation projects in KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape and Limpopo, funded by the European Union (EU) as part of the European Programme for Reconstruction and Development.

Public university lecturers want a salary increment of more than 2,000 per cent. Under the new demand, professors want their monthly pay raised from about Sh40,000 to Sh895,000 while ordinary lecturers want Sh232,000, up from the current Sh12,000. Assistant lecturers, on the other hand, want Sh120,000. The University Academic Staff Union, (Uasu), representing about 6,000 members, says the lecturers want the new demands effected immediately.

Are you ready to act with poor people as a force for change in addressing the causes of poverty, suffering and injustice, and alleviating their symptoms? We are looking for someone like you to fill the position of Country Director in Ethiopia.

President Mwai Kibaki had to contend with an unflattering CIA report about his nine-month-old administration when he arrived in the U.S. last week. The Central Intelligence Agency says Kenya's potential for growth is being constrained by massive corruption. The re-emergence of graft in the new government, which came to power on an anti-corruption platform, is seen as threatening the stability of the country and scaring off potential investors.

Reporters sans frontières (RSF) has condemned the recent closure of the newspaper "Al-Azminah" and the continued harassment of the independent daily "Alwan" by the state prosecutor in charge of subversion cases. "We call on the authorities to respect the presidential decree giving the National Press Council the responsibility to oversee press matters, rather than the subversion prosecutor, who continues to shut down newspapers," said Robert Ménard, the organisation's secretary-general.

The police in Harare charged six journalists from the Daily News and The Daily News on Sunday on 1 October for practising without accreditation from the Media and Information Commission (MIC). The six journalists are Philemon Bulawayo, Margaret Chinowaita, Kelvin Jakachira, Sydney Saize, George Muzimba and Lawrence Chikuvira.

The lack of an identity document (ID) or birth certificate has denied many Mozambican children access to social services. Eighteen-year-old Manuel Fernando is one of them. Like many youths in Mozambique, his life has been a struggle from birth. And, like many other children, the basic right of receiving a birth certificate has been denied him.

The Ugandan government must immediately investigate the reported recent execution of four detainees by state security agents, Human Rights Watch says. The authorities should also reveal the whereabouts of 10 others arbitrarily detained, and must charge or release them. The four men reportedly executed were among 14 detained in August by the Joint Anti-Terrorism Task Force (JATF), a joint unit drawn from several state security agencies. The men were apparently executed because they were accused of having links to a rebel group.

Membership programs can help nonprofits build a constituency, educate the public, raise funds, increase visibility and provide a constant cash flow, according to the latest Association of Fundraising Professionals Audioconference.

In a paper released last week at two major AIDS conferences in Kenya and the United States, the United Nations World Food Programme demonstrates how food aid can bring hope to a generation of orphans and other vulnerable children whose lives are scarred by HIV/AIDS.

The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Angola on Wednesday called for further support from donors for its health and education programmes, warning that the critical shortage of funds was seriously hampering its operations. "Now, more than at any time since independence, Angola possesses enormous potential for recovery and prosperity. But with funding for programmes in health and education floundering at below 10 percent, UNICEF warns that it is fighting to meet the enormous demand created in post-war Angola," the agency said in a statement.

From the 14th to 17th October 2003, Avocats Sans Frontières - ASF (Lawyers Without Borders) will organise in Bujumbura, Burundi, a seminar on the International Justice to the attention of lawyers of the Bar of Burundi. The program of the seminar is available on the ASF's web site.

The Mano River Union Peace Forum is a joint initiative between International Alert, Conciliation Resources, and local partner organisations in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. The position of Director is available.

As a result of the relocation to Nairobi and the restructuring of our Head Office, ACORD is looking for an experienced English and French or Portuguese speaking Human Resource Manager to be based in our Nairobi office.