Political violence has characterised the run up to the parliamentary by-election to be held in Kuwadzana over the weekend of 29 - 30 March 2003. The imposition of an unofficial curfew by ZANU PF supporters in Kuwadzana, following the death of ZANU PF member, Tonderai Mangwiro, in a petrol bombing, has stepped up organised violence and torture in the area.

Asserting that tens of millions of urban children around the world are living in poverty and life-threatening environments, UNICEF says that municipal authorities need to place the best interest of the child at the forefront of their decision-making. At the launch of the report, "Poverty and Exclusion among Urban Children", released by UNICEF's Innocenti Research Centre (IRC), UNICEF Deputy Director Kul Gautam stated: "The tens of millions of urban children who are denied basic social services - such as education and health care - are living proof that the world has systematically failed to protect them."

The phenomenon of street children is nothing new. As many as 30,000 children were living on the streets of London in the 1850's, for example. In comparison, it's a relatively recent problem for South Africa, but with numbers steadily rising and the HIV epidemic set to make things worse, it is becoming a pressing issue.

FDI is not a magic bullet for development in the SADC, says research from the University of Oxford’s Centre for the Study of African Economies and the London School of Economics. The research warns that the developmental benefits of capital flows are not automatic and that mechanisms are needed to ensure the equitable distribution of the expected benefits of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).

Calling Eritrea the number one jailer of journalists in Africa, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) delivered more than 600 petitions last week to the Eritrean government urging authorities to release journalist Isaias Afewerki and 17 other colleagues being secretly held across the country.

The Municipal Services Project (MSP) is looking for an experienced Project Coordinator to manage research and administrative activities in the second phase of the project.  This is a three-year contract position from March 2003 to March 2006.  The Coordinator will ideally be based in Cape Town at the International Labour Research and Information Group Trust (ILRIG) offices, affiliated with the University of Cape Town, although candidates located in Johannesburg or Durban will be considered. 

Amnesty International is a worldwide organization campaigning on human rights issues. The International Secretariat in London is the movements centre for international research, campaign action and policy making. It employs over 400 staff across international, regional and resource programs. As part of an extensive change process the International Secretariat has been reorganized and the management system is being restructured to strengthen leadership, delivery and accountability of all staff. To this end, Amnesty International wishes to appoint two new Senior Directors, who together with the Secretary General and the Executive Deputy Secretary General will form the senior leadership team.

The job includes devising, in collaboration with the members of ICG's Central Africa team and the Africa Program Co-Director, a detailed schedule of field research and writing tasks to be carried out; Conducting field research into prevailing security, social, political and economic conditions in Central Africa and; Analysing specific issues linked to the political stability, economic regeneration and the prevention of further conflict.

We're looking for an experienced and motivated individual to represent Christian Aid in Burundi. With responsibility for Christian Aid's Burundi programme, you will manage the staff and field office, develop Christian Aid's policy and programme, and contribute to the strategic planning of the wider team.

Ugandan public primary schools will now offer free education to all children of schooling age, instead of just four per family, President Yoweri Museveni announced here last Friday. Museveni told journalists at the State House here that government would pay school dues for 6,57 million children in its schools.

Public Enterprise Minister Jeff Radebe and his director general said on Saturday they were "outraged" at media reports blaming them for the bungled privatisation of Transnet's production house to an allegedly ANC-linked company.

On Monday 250,000 Angolan children will return to school in the biggest education campaign in the country's history, backed by the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the Angolan government. The size and scope of 'Back to School' "underlines the fact that education is being unswervingly endorsed as the engine to drive Angola's long-term recovery" after three decades of civil war, UNICEF said in a statement.

The United Nations has denounced the widespread recruitment of child soldiers by Thomas Lubanga's Union des patriotes congolais pour la reconciliation et la paix (UPC/RP), a largely Hema ethnic militia based in the northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) city of Bunia.

Free and compulsory primary education for Kenyan children was one of the key pre-election promises that led the current government, led by President Mwai Kibaki, to power in December 2002. Since then an estimated 1.5 million children, who were previously out-of-school, have turned up to attend classes. "We will not be content until every child of primary school age is enrolled…By educating the children we are investing in the future of this country. In the long term, educating children is one way to eradicate poverty," said the Minister for Education, George Saitoti, last week. Parents and children alike have greeted the move with euphoria.

Two thirds of the population of Eritrea are facing food shortages and 10,000 children are severely malnourished, the UN said last Friday. Musa Bungudu, head of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Eritrea, said that children were already starting to die in the tiny Red Sea state.

A social statistic map with and over-riding focus on poverty has been produced by the International Food Policy Research Institute. The spatial patterns seen in the atlas provide insights into key geographic factors associated with poverty, thereby assisting in the development and in the geographic targeting of programs designed to reduce it.

Are you working in a hospice or palliative care unit in Africa? The UK forum for hospice and palliative care worldwide is looking for new members from Africa. The forum works to facilitate twinning and information exchange between hospices in the UK and overseas and to assist members in understanding the latest issues in the changing world in which they operate to enable them to adapt appropriately.

The Finnish government has donated R9 million to the KwaZulu-Natal Christian Council. About R8 million will be used to further develop democracy and peace in the province, while the remaining R1 million will be used in the fight against HIV/Aids. Despite the row between national government and KwaZulu-Natal based agencies over the recent UN Global Aids funding, the churches do not expect a conflict with government.

African leaders and international organisations begun a three-day conference in the Ethiopian capital to declare, “zero tolerance” of the widespread practice of female genital mutilation. The conference, also to be attended by African first ladies, intends to declare 6 February a “World Day for zero tolerance for female genital mutilation,” said the Inter-African Committee on Traditional Practices, the organiser of the conference.

The Daily Dispatch reports that a centre for mentally disabled in East London is still waiting for funding which was alledgedly promised by the National Development Agency (NDA) in 2000. Mfesane Training Centre was allocated R73 000 on 2 October 2001 but only received the funding agreement for signature in September 2002. The grant is currently being processed by the NDA's finance department, and the NDA programme administrator says it is likely to be transferred to the Centre by the end of February 2003.