A Japanese business delegation has committed about R60 million towards upgrading two clinics in Tsolo in the Eastern Cape province. The delegation, led by Total Engineering Corporation general manager Yoji Ishikawa, made the announcement during a two-day visit to the province.

Somalia's various political factions and the Transitional National Government (TNG), attending reconciliation talks in the Kenyan town of Eldoret, have issued a joint statement calling on the international community to lift the freeze on the assets of the Al-Barakaat bank.

While Nigeria signed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in 1991, it is yet to establish a law making the convention's provisions enforceable in its courts. A bill prepared in 1993 could not be signed into law by the then military government due to objections raised by religious groups and traditionalists. A special committee was subsequently set up to harmonise the draft with Nigerian religious and customary beliefs.

Zimbabwean households already affected by HIV/AIDS and those headed by women, children or the elderly may have difficulty accessing food aid because of stigma, according to a recently released AIDS country profile.

The United Nations held a two-day conference in Johannesburg, South Africa, last week to discuss the relationship between Africa's severe food shortages and the HIV/AIDS pandemic, Xinhua News Agency reports. More than 50 people, including U.N. delegates and representatives from local and international non-governmental agencies, were scheduled to meet at the conference.

Responsibilities will include Strategic Planning, Program Implementation and Evaluation; Fund Raising and Grant Management; Policy Implementation; Human Resource Management; Security, Health & Safety; Communications and Authorizations; Financial Management and Representation.

Guns and gangsters hold a glamorous allure for many of South Africa's youth. The reality for young people in the townships, however, is far from glamorous. It's a life of poverty, inadequate education and a lot of violence. The South African government hasn't committed sufficient funding to address the problem, and so it's left to organisations like Khulisa to try to prevent youth crime and run programmes of rehabilitation.

Working with Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) staff in London and the region, the Human Rights Adviser for East Africa will be based in Nairobi and seek to promote greater respect for human rights in East Africa.

We are looking for a Program Officer / Coordinator for our Amanitare program. This is an interesting position that requires, a well-organised and self-motivated person who is able to work independently as well as co-ordinate the efforts of the rest of the AMANITARE team and our Africa-based members of the partnership.

The OneWorld Radio CATIA Editor, based in Uganda, will be responsible for the development and high quality editing of OneWorld Radio CATIA website[s] in English. Editorial work will include regular updating of all text sections of the site[s], in-depth research about African broadcasters' needs and networking, report writing and membership recruitment/support. Closing date: 5pm Friday 29 November.

The OneWorld Radio CATIA Project Manager, based in Uganda, will be responsible for planning, coordinating and delivering these activities throughout Africa. This will include coordinating training and networking events, developing strategic partnerships and supporting broadcaster members, and managing online outputs. Closing date: 5pm Friday 29 November.

The post holder will strengthen, run and manage AMwA's Programmes for African women's organisations in the UK and assist with the implementation of AMwA's Strategic Plan.

The African Social Forum surfaced in January 2002, and started fulfilling the objectives that it was entrusted with : laying the foundations of a space of convergence, democratic debates and mutual guidance, on the one hand, and promoting African participation in the world social movement, on the other. The ASF organising committee expects the participation of 200 representatives of all the components of the African social movement. However, this number will be adjusted in mid-November, based on the resources mobilised. In any case, 150 participants will be necessary to achieve the critical mass required for a sufficient representation of the African social movement.

The Curriculum Development Project, a non governmental organisation working in the field of arts and culture education teacher training, and the Wits School of Arts at the University of the Witwatersrand, have recently entered into a partnership to find ways of ensuring that arts and culture education programmes are implemented at school level in South Africa.

Tributes and pledges of money continued to pour in for Cancer Association of South Africa (Cansa) fundraiser Jacque Kinnear after she raised about R23000 for the organisation.

The Democratic Alliance has urged Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel to create a fund for the distribution of Lotto money allocated to the RDP and other miscellaneous projects. Non-governmental organisations are also worried by unallocated funds as many of them are faced with dire financial constraints.

The Nelson Mandela Children's Fund and the Diana, The Princess of Wales Memorial Fund will join forces to help reduce the suffering of Aids orphans, those dying of Aids and the bereaved they leave behind. The joint initiative aims to build on the existing work of both charities.

A November report summarising the status of farm invasions in various regions of Zimbabwe details ongoing theft from farms, harassment of farmers, and provides details of farmers still remaining on their farms.

Tanzania's payments to developed countries and the IMF ensures that Tanzanians pay heavily in terms of food shortages, poor health and education infrastructure. The result is that children are forced to live on streets or end up in prostitution.

Chairperson of the first South African AIDS Conference 2003, Prof Jerry Coovadia, says, "There is a complaint, probably justifiable, that there are too many meetings and conferences on HIV/Aids. While this may seem to be so, we in South Africa are exposed to a catastrophe of massive proportions. This conference aims at nothing less than providing a comprehensive, holistic and precisely relevant programme for all stakeholders, including community representatives, business and the media. There is no equivalent meeting serving such a purpose. This conference leads directly from the hugely successful and landmark AIDS 2000; and one has the organisers promise of a worthy successor to the 2000 conference."