The Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society at The Graduate Center of The City University of New York is accepting applications for the spring 2010 Emerging Leaders International Fellows Program. This program provides nonprofit sector leadership training through seminars, applied research and mentorships. The program is designed for young scholars and practitioners from outside the United States who are interested in building Third-Sector capacity in their home countries or regions. The deadline for receipt of application materials is September 3, 2009.

The key aim of the Graça Machel Scholarship Programme is to help provide the female human resources necessary for economic, social and cultural development in the southern African region and to develop an educated and skilled workforce that can benefit the wider community. Scholarships that target women have long been recognized as an effective approach in addressing gender equality and eradicating poverty.

Review of Leadership in Africa (RoLA) is a scholarly journal that provides a forum for the rigorous – theoretical and empirical – examination of the ideas and practices of leadership in Africa in all its ramifications. It publishes original, high quality articles that promote the understanding of the theory, concept and practices of leadership in Africa. The journal invites different perspectives and positions on the leadership question in Africa that allow for a holistic examination of leadership in all its ramifications.

Moremi Initiative proudly announces the 2009-2010 MILEAD Fellows. The MILEAD Fellows were selected through a highly competitive selection process and criteria, including their outstanding leadership potential and demonstration of commitment to the advancement of women in Africa. The 26 selected fellows represent some of Africa’s most extra-ordinary young women leaders with the courage and commitment to lead/effect change in their communities.

The Community Education Computer Society (CECS), an ICT training NGO established in 1985 in South Africa, is conducting two-day workshops on free and open source software (FOSS) in five Southern African countries. Workshops will build awareness of FOSS and build capacities to conduct OpenOffice Writer courses in Lesotho, Malawi, and Namibia; and build partnerships with organisations and individuals in Angola and the Democractic Republic of Congo, to translate the FOSS portal to Portuguese and French.

Reporters Without Borders deplores physical attacks on journalists by supporters of the ruling Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) at Lusaka international airport. The facts of incident were not disputed by President Ruphia Banda, who condemned the assault. “The president’s comments are reassuring, but apologies are not enough and concrete measures are now needed,” Reporters Without Borders said.

Egyptian police shot dead an African migrant trying to cross the border into Israel on Friday, security and medical sources said, the latest killing in an upsurge of violence at the sensitive frontier. The man, who was shot in the chest and right leg, was announced dead on arrival at Egypt's Rafah hospital, a medical source said. His nationality was not immediately known.

The Vice Chancellor of the Dakar-based Cheikh Anta Diop University (UCAD), Abdou Salam Sall, said Thursday in Dakar that African universities might set up a Master's degree programme on the theme of the United States of Africa in a bid to contribute to the continent's political integration.

For the past three years, EISA has held an annual symposium, each of which focused upon a selected democracy and governance issue. The Fourth Symposium will be held this year with the theme Preventing and Managing Violent Election Related Conflicts in Africa: Exploring Good Practices. It will focus upon the problem of persistent, violent election related conflicts in Africa with a view to understanding their causes, magnitude and consequences for democratic governance. The conference will explore ways in which these conflicts can be prevented, managed and resolved and, in the process, share best practices from across the continent.

The CLEEN Foundation is inviting applications for the internship/training programme on police reform in Africa at CLEEN Foundation, Lagos Nigeria. The internship program is open to Programme level staff of non governmental organizations based in Africa who are fluent in written and spoken English; Nominees of NGOs working or interested in justice sector reform work in African countries.

The Coalition of an Effective African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the Coalition) was founded in 2004 and brings together a group of African human rights organisations, individuals and national human rights institutions. Its mission is to influence effective, efficient, independent and credible African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights. The Coalition was registered in 2007 in Tanzania and is headquartered in Arusha. The Coalition is recruiting an Executive Secretary to provide strategic and operational leadership.

Nearly ten years ago, the government of Uganda established the Universal Primary Education Program, designed to boost classroom attendance and increase literacy and education rates throughout the country. In less than a decade, the policy generated dramatic results, more than doubling the number of students enrolled in primary schools from 2.9 million to 6.3 million children.

Although the UK government’s new

As Liberia's Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) moves to address the country's troubled past, Lansana Gberie is entirely confused by the commission's direction and intent. With some US$8 million plus spent on the TRC over a two-year period, considerably more would have been expected from the commission's report than mere woolly, dull assertions. The report's dismissal of the views informing its findings undermines its relevance, Gberie argues, and is only saved from complete insignificance by the sheer outrageousness of its recommendations.

eBrain, the national ICT4D network in Zambia and IICD partner since 2002, will play a key role in organising the 2010 eLearning Africa Conference in Lusaka, Zambia. This annual international conference is the biggest event in digital learning in Africa.

As commercial sex workers in South Africa are fighting for the legalization of sex working, a report by Open Society Institute has revealed harrowing human rights violations inflicted to this minority group by society. Compiled by Open Society Institute’s Sexual Health and Rights Project together with Open Society’s Initiative for Southern Africa this report states that trans women sex workers faced not only physical and sexual violence from police but also public taunting and humiliation for their sexual orientation, gender identity and the kind of work they do.

Haroub Othman could have worked anywhere in the world, but out of a deep love for the country, 'he chose Tanzania as his station in life', writes his former student and friend Chris Miana Peter, in a tribute to the 'irreplaceable' professor. Othman was one of the most committed academics and civil society activists in Tanzania and Zanzibar, says Peter. His remarkable work through the Zanzibar Legal Services Centre established him as a local institution, while many of his students, whom he treated as equals and to whom he gave opportunities to excel, have gone on to 'hold high offices in governments all over the world'.

“The African Grantmakers Network will change the face of global philanthropy. And it will happen right here in Africa”, said Sarah Mukasa, Director of Programmes at the African Women’s Development Fund, at a meeting organized to establish a network of African grantmakers. After years of careful planning, preparations, consultations and meetings, the AGN was launched in Accra at a meeting convened by the African Women’s Development Fund, TrustAfrica and the Kenya Community Development Foundation—and attended by key African grantmakers.

The Institute of Development Studies in collaboration with the Directorate of Public Service (UDSM), Mwalimu Nyerere Chair, UDASA, University of Dar es Salaam School of Law, UDSM Philosophy Club and Educational Perspective UDSM Chapter, is organizing a memorial gathering in honour of the late Professor Haroub M. Othman. The event will be held on 18th July 2009 at Nkrumah Hall, at the University of Dar es Salaam, Main Campus starting from 10 am. This event is open to the general public and you are all invited.

Obituaries of the late Pan-Africanist Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem continue to arrive at Pambazuka, such was the stature of the man and the esteem with which he was held. In this article Okello Oculi discusses Nigeria's broader historical background in the immediate post-independence period and Tajudeen's many experiences of tumultuous times across different political settings.