African Research Institute Christmas party at St Stephen's Club, Tuesday 15 December, 34 Queen Anne's Gate, London SW1H 9AB

Live Congolese music from Grupo Lokito
Wine and canapés will be served

RSVP essential
[email][email protected] or 020 7222 4006

In this week's emerging powers watch, Stephen Marks reports back on the proceedings of Fahamu's two-day CSO FOCAC workshop in Nairobi on 26 and 27 November, 2009.

Abahlali baseMjondolo (AbM), a shack dwellers’ movement in Durban has contributed tremendously to the protection of the right to adequate housing by mobilising shack dwellers to resist and challenge forced evictions and insist on in-situ upgrading of their areas as the only acceptable solution.

Amnesty International exposed the shocking level of unlawful police killings in Nigeria in a new report. “The Nigerian police are responsible for hundreds of unlawful killings every year,” said Erwin van der Borght, Director of Amnesty International’s Africa Programme.

Three editors of independent Amharic-language weekly Addis Neger have fled Ethiopia, saying that the government intends to prosecute them under Anti-Terrorism Proclamation No. 652/2009, promulgated on 28 August 2009. The last edition of the newspaper, which has been closed down, appeared on Saturday, 28 November.

The Ethiopian government has re-opened the trial of four major newspaper publishers in connection with the 2005 post-election violence in the East African nation. The ruling Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Front (EPRDF) has successfully lodged an appeal against the Ethiopian Supreme Court's decision to pardon the four publishers, Siday, Zekarias, Fasil and Serkalem, in connection with the 2005 elections.

The Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy is announcing a call for paper proposals for its upcoming conference, U.S. Engagement with the Muslim World: One year after Cairo. The deadline for submitting paper proposals is December 10, 2009.

Researchers on Northern Kenya severely contest the Cultural Survival Report to the UN Human Rights Council on the Samburu: The truth will only be known by an Independent Investigation into the Violence in Northern Kenya, says watchdog Mars Group Kenya.

FAHAMU has joined the International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA). ICVA is concerned with refugees around the world and is headquartered in Geneva where it works with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. Membership of ICVA has been largely confined to agencies delivering humanitarian assistance but since 2005, NGOs concerned with refugee rights have begun to join ICVA. FAHAMU wants to encourage this shift in direction towards a concentration on refugee rights.

ICVA maintains targeted e-mail distribution lists to share information and analyses of on-going policy processes and debates and to maintain and foster active links and alliances with, and among its members. These lists are also used to solicit NGO input to help ensure a more adequate representation of NGO views on the international level.

One of its targeted mailing lists is open to NGOs who are not members of ICVA. FAHAMU therefore encourages refugee/human rights organizations to subscribe to this list by writing an email to [email][email protected] What you will receive is detailed below. Please indicate that you heard of this invitation through FAHAMU or Pambazuka News.

· Refugee/IDP Issues: ICVA is the focal point for coordinating NGO statements and other input to UNHCR’s governing bodies: the Executive and Standing Committees. ICVA uses this list to ask for volunteers to both draft and provide substantial input to the NGO statements for the two Committees or other meetings UNHCR may hold, and to consolidate NGO input for the Executive Committee’s Conclusions and Decisions. ICVA co-hosts UNHCR’s Annual Consultations with NGOs, and uses this list to engage NGOs in the preparations. Members on this list will also receive messages on Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and other issues related to forced displacement, which come up in the context of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) or other international policy and coordination bodies like the clusters.

Chenjerai Hove is considered to be one of Zimbabwe´s foremost writers, and a volume of critical essays on all aspects of his work is being planned for publication by Africa World Press in association with Weaver Press. this is a call for proposals for contributions towards this planned critical volume.

The consequences of the Doha Round of trade talks for larger developing countries in sub-Saharan Africa could include job losses and deindustrialisation if a new study forecasting how Kenya is set to be affected is anything to go by.

Professor Ben Cousins of the Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS) at UWC has been awarded the South African Research Chair in Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies (funded by the Department of Science and Technology and administered by the National Research Foundation.) This will allow him to support and supervise a number of post-doctoral fellows and masters and doctoral students, who will undertake field research in the Eastern Cape, Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo provinces. Applications are invited for these positions.

Education ministers from member states of the African Union (AU) have converged in Mombasa, Kenya, for two-day meeting on the continent's progress and prospect in education, the AU has said.

The Durban International Film Festival's 31 st edition will take place from 22 July to 1 August 2010 and will present over 200 screenings of films from around the world, with a focus on films from South Africa and Africa. Screenings will take place throughout Durban including township areas where cinemas are non-existent.

The Congress of South African Trade Unions dips its banners in honour of one of our greatest heroes – Chris Dlamini - who passed away on 19 November 2009 between 21h00 and 22h00 after a brave battle with a ruptured ulcer. We send our condolences to his wife, Busi, seven children, seven grandchildren, two brothers, two sisters, and his many friends and comrades.

Universtiy of Johannesburg’s Professor Peter Alexander has been awarded the South African Research Chair in Social Change (funded by the Department of Science and Technology and administered by the National Research Foundation). This prestigious chair will enable him to support: three post-doctoral fellows, three doctoral students, three masters students and two honours students. Applications are invited for all of these positions.

The FitzGerald Prize is a scholarship set up by Reuters outgoing Board to honour Niall FitzGerald, its Chairman, and now Deputy Chairman of Thomson Reuters. Niall has a long-standing interest in Africa, having served as CEO of Unilever’s foods business in South Africa in the early 1980s. He also co-chairs the Investment Climate Facility for Africa

Africa and Middle East Refugee Assistance (AMERA), a UK-registered refugee rights organization assisting refugees who seek asylum in Egypt, is seeking a dynamic team-builder with a background in social or community health work to serve as Psychosocial Team Leader. AMERA requires an intelligent, hard-working person with a commitment to service for vulnerable people, and an interest in finding innovative ways to integrate psychosocial, community and legal aid approached to improving refugees’ access to human rights.

Many Kenyan children are in school, but enrolment in the north has been adversely affected by insecurity, food scarcity and traditional attitudes, residents and teachers said.

Interarts, a non-governmental organization based in Spain (www.interarts.net) , will be undertaking research to map the creative sector in seven countries in Western Africa: Benin, Cape Verde, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali, Niger and Togo. The aim of the research is to determine current trends and development opportunities within the cultural field, as well as to identify potential partners for collaboration.