As investors turn to land-based assets and commodities, large areas of fertile land are being acquired around the world to produce biofuels, food commodity crops, timber and develop extractive industries. Where land governance is weak, new risks are being created. These include, on one hand, the security of local people, their access to food and water, and conflicts associated with forced evictions. A report, 'The Land Security Agenda', from the Earth Security Initiative, outlines the security and risk implications of the growing wave of investments in farmland and commodities.

The Sixth World Water Forum taking place between 12-17 March in Marseille, France costs $1,000 for participants from wealthy nations, and about $450 for participants from the ‘under-developed countries,’ making the the forum inaccesible to those who come from the countries of the Global South, writes Marcela Olivera for Climate Connections. 'And so it is that every three years those of us who believe this Forum to be illegitimate gather together to denounce it. And every three years, over the course of many months, organizations and movements from around the World come together to hold the Alternative World Water Forum.'

Global greenhouse gas emissions could rise 50 per cent by 2050 without more ambitious climate policies, as fossil fuels continue to dominate the energy mix, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said. The global economy in 2050 will be four times larger than today and the world will use around 80 per cent more energy.

In this week's edition of the Emerging Powers News Round-Up, read a comprehensive list of news stories and opinion pieces related to China, India and other emerging powers...

The Horn of Africa is one of the least connected regions in the world. Nevertheless, digital media play an important social and political role in Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Somalia (including South-Central Somalia and the northern self-declared independent Republic of Somaliland). This paper from the Open society Foundation shows how the development of the internet, mobile phones, and other new communication technologies have been shaped by conflict and power struggles in these countries.

REDRESS, an award-winning organisation that helps torture survivors seek justice, will be marking its 20th anniversary with a Literary Evening and a drinks reception on 24 April. The Literary Evening will take place at The Tabernacle, Notting Hill, and will feature readings from prominent writers that have canvassed the topic of torture and human rights in their work. Roma Tearne, Haifa Zangana and Patricio Pron will be among the authors participating and Lindsey Hilsum, Channel 4 News International Editor, will chair the event. In addition, a number of our clients who have undergone torture will present readings during the evening. The readings will be followed by a discussion with the authors, other panellists and the audience.

This latest issue of the South Bulletin (12 March 2012) focuses on several events linked to the South Centre’s Board and Council meetings and held on 31 January – 3 February 2012 in Geneva. The main article briefly reports on the South Centre’s Seminar on the Global Economic Downturn and Current Multilateral Negotiations, held on 2-3 February in Geneva. Conference speakers warned that developing countries had not de-coupled from the advanced economies and would be adversely affected in different ways by the new global economic slowdown.

The Democratic Left Front (DLF) is supporting the call by the Ad-Hoc Defence Committee of the Zimbabwean six for a protest against the unfair trial and possible heavy conviction of six political activists who are facing trumped-up charges ('conspiring against the state') in Zimbabwe. The protest will take place on Tuesday, 20 March 2012 in front of the Zimbabwean Consulate and Visa Office in Johannesburg.

During part I of this two-part special from SOAS radio, presenter Robtel Pailey deconstructs and dissects the conventional story told about Somalia with studio guests: Quman Jibril, a Somali independent research consultant who has a special interest in international refugee protection and advocacy; Mary Harper, BBC Africa Editor and author of the new book, Getting Somalia Wrong? published by Zed Books; and Mohamed Haji Ingiriis, a Somali researcher currently pursuing a Masters degree at the London Metropolitan University.

The Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) Environmental Politics Institute is an interdisciplinary forum which brings together African scholars undertaking innovative research on topics related to the broad theme of environmental politics. The aim of the Institute is to promote and sustain the development of coherent social sciences engagement with environmental issues in Africa. The Institute will promote research and debates on issues related to environmental politics especially as they relate to democratic decision making in climate change adaptation and mitigation policies and programs on the continent. The Institute will be launched in 2012 and subsequently held annually in Dakar, Senegal.

'Defanging' - that’s what one observer has called it. 'Wrecking' might be another term for what CIDA is doing to Canada’s once vibrant, once independent NGO sector. A survey of 158 organizations just released by the Canadian Council for International Cooperation (CCIC) and its seven provincial/regional counterparts has confirmed what many already suspected: that CIDA’s new rules of engagement have weakened the credibility and the capacities of NGOs, added to their costs, damaged or disrupted their overseas programs and put a chill on the advocacy work of those that were so inclined.

On Monday 12 March, the water justice movement met with United Nations special rapporteur Catarina de Alburquerque, as well as eight national governments and the deputy mayor of Paris, outside the corporate World Water Forum in Marseille, France to highlight the need to implement the right to water and sanitation worldwide. Later that afternoon, eight governments - the United States, Germany, Spain, Nigeria, Uruguay, Panama, Colombia and Bolivia - met with 60-75 civil society activists at a meeting organized by numerous groups. Speakers presented on the problematic nature of the World Water Forum, the negative experiences with water privatization, challenges related to the implementation of the right to water and sanitation, how the green economy would undermine these rights, and much more.

Thousands of people in the Sudanese border region of South Kordofan have fled their homes to the nearby mountains, fearing attacks by Sudanese forces that have left entire villages devastated. Al Jazeera's Peter Greste gained access to the remote region and documented evidence of villages and crops destroyed and spoke to people who said they had abandoned their homes out of fear that they would be killed if they stayed. Sudan's army has been accused of deliberately targeting civilians in South Kordofan during a months-long military campaign that has included air raids and allegations of soldiers razing villagers.

We, members of the Feminist Activist Coalition, comprising of over 40 civil society organisations promoting gender equity, social justice, human rights and the transformative feminist movement are outraged over the arrest of 16 activists on 9 February 2012 in Dar es Salaam and their subsequent indictment, purportedly for holding an unlawful assembly.

'We – the Black and white initiatives, organisations and institutions of the civil society signed below - welcome the conciliatory approach adopted by the German Federal Government as demonstrated by the visit to Namibia by the Director General of African Affairs from the Federal Foreign Office in early February 2012. We also welcome the resulting commencement of direct talks with the committees representing the descendants of the victims of the German genocide of 1904-08. We consider this overdue willingness to engage in dialogue with bodies of representatives of the affected peoples as a first indispensable step towards reconciliation between the peoples in Namibia and Germany.'

For his latest exploration into America’s socio-political landscape, Stephen Vittoria joins forces with Prison Radio producer Noelle Hanrahan to bring Long Distance Revolutionary, the story of Mumia Abu-Jamal, to the screen. Abu-Jamal’s case remains one of the most controversial and heatedly debated in American legal history, with participants on both sides either protesting his innocence in the murder of Officer Daniel Faulkner or his absolute guilt with equal passion and more often, great vehemence.

In this interview with the Real News Network, human rights activists Kambale Musavuli says that the focus on Kony 2012 covers up for US militarization and support for dictators.

The Anzisha Prize Tour is on a continent-wide search for Africa’s rising young innovators and the first stop is Lagos, Nigeria. On 17 March 2012, the African Leadership Academy’s Centre for Entrepreneurial Leadership will be hosting interactive information sessions at the Wennovation Hub in Lagos. On hand to conduct two interactive sessions with interested participants are Jamila Pyne, the Centre director, and Chi Achebe, the Azisha Prize program manager.

Lack of adherence to the full course of Artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) treatment is threatening the effectiveness of the drug recommended as first-line treatment for uncomplicated malaria in countries where the disease is endemic, according to recent studies. In Siaya district of western Kenya, where malaria is particularly prevalent (38 per cent incidence in 2010), a study revealed that only 47 per cent of participants reported completing the given doses.

The trend of privatisation and commercialisation of water services, which set in in the 1980s and continued throughout the 1990s, has come to a halt due to the process’ own failures, and has given rise to a return of those services into efficient public management, according to a new book. Released on 11 March, 'Remunicipalisation: Putting water back in public hands' was authored by several activists at the Amsterdam-based Transnational Institute (TNI) and the watchdog Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) in cooperation with several non- governmental organisations.