On the eve of a key United Nations Summit in Rio De Janeiro, Friends of the Earth International launched a new report exposing the increasing influence of major corporations and business lobby groups within the UN. 'Governmental positions have been increasingly hijacked by narrow corporate interests linked to polluting industries and business sectors seeking to profit from the environment, the climate and the financial crises,' said Nnimmo Bassey, chair of Friends of the Earth International. The report presents a number of cases that clearly expose how UN policies and agencies have been excessively influenced by the corporate sector.

Nobody can actually buy land in Mozambique. The government owns it all. But the government will give companies exclusive rights to land for 50 or 100 years, and it's really cheap. Mozambique's government, in fact, has been encouraging investors to come and take advantage of this land. Dozens of companies, both foreign and local, have lined up to seize the opportunity.

The Programme Officer, as member of Goree Institute’s programme team, will be responsible for the successful delivery of Goree Institute’s programme of work on conflict prevention and peacebuilding, and developing and establishing new areas of engagement for Goree Institute in West Africa. He/she will be responsible for conceptualizing and implementing projects and will work in close cooperation with partners to develop and implement Goree Institute’s programme and projects.

ARTICLE 19 has welcomed the unusual event of two reports concentrating on the same issue being presented at the twentieth session of the UN Human Rights Council on Tuesday 19 June 2012. The reports, by the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression and the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, both focus on the issue of impunity for violations of journalists’ human rights. Both reports urge relevant state and non-state actors to secure journalists’ rights by implementing international human rights law and monitoring this implementation.

This new South Centre research paper discusses recent negotiations in technology transfer, sustainable development and climate change. In terms of proprietary rights, the author categories technologies and related products into three domains: the public technologies; patented technologies and future technologies. After revealing the effects of patents on access to climate-related technologies, a number of measures are discussed to address problems arising should patents become a barrier to the transfer of climate related technologies.

Algeria's government has been paralysed by arguments over who should be anointed as favourite to be the next president, exposing divisions within the ruling elite that could shatter the country's fragile stability. The cohesion and control with which Algeria's establishment runs the energy exporting former French colony has kept it steady even as its neighbours were buffeted by the 'Arab Spring' upheavals over the past 18 months.

The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) has vowed to mobilise more communities to fight for quality health should the Gauteng Health Department not deliver on their demands. Angry TAC members marched to the office of the Gauteng Health MEC, Ntombi Mekgwe, this week, demanding an end to the drug shortage in health facilities. Health services in Gauteng have been dealt a severe blow due to drug stock outs which have been ongoing for months.

Abubakar Mohamed Mahamud has worked with Somali refugees in northeastern Kenya since the war in Somalia began more than 20 years ago. Originally a nurse specializing in nutrition, he is now Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)’s deputy field coordinator. 'MSF has continued to work in the camps with Kenyan and refugee staff, providing both primary and secondary health care to the new refugees. However, should there be an emergency situation like the 2011 malnutrition crisis, it will be very difficult to cope. The international community needs to find a solution for this desperate situation. They need to understand the complexity of the situation and the desperation in which people are living.'

Fixed-term contract of one year in duration
London
£41,124 per annum

If we’re to improve human rights in over 150 countries, we must always strive to improve ourselves. Our Organizational Development professionals make us more effective in the countries that need our help the most. And you’ll make sure those professionals are equipped to deliver the best solutions possible.

Thousands of Ivorians are are fleeing into neighbouring Liberia following claims of a failed coup attempt announced by the Ivorian authorities. The Ivorian government said it had foiled a plot to overthrow President Alassane Ouattara by a group of exiled army officers loyal to his ousted predecessor Laurent Gbagbo. In an interview on public television station RTI, Interior Minister Hamed Bakayoko accused pro-Gbagbo officers and former members of his administration of plotting to install a transitional military council.

The Ethiopian government is forcibly displacing tens of thousands from their land to make way for state-run sugar plantations, a campaign group has said. The displacements are happening in the country's Omo Valley, according to a report by the New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW). The valley, a World Heritage site, is also the site of a controversial dam.

Anger and rejection in Egypt followed the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) new constitutional declaration. The declaration grants back power to head of SCAF Hussein Tantawi, who is also the Minister of Defense. Egyptian activists are calling the moves a 'military coup' and the deceleration 'another step in cementing a lingering presence [of the military] and a hold over public life by the military'.

Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohamed Morsi has claimed victory in the country’s first post-uprising presidential election. Morsi’s victory will see Egypt have its first civilian president in more than 60 years, since a 1952 military coup ousted the King. Official results are to be announced later this week.

A petition backed by over 50 NGOs and charging Uganda's government with failing to prevent the deaths of expectant mothers was thrown out by the constitutional court on 5 June, but the petition’s supporters plan to appeal. The constitutional court argued that upholding the petition, which urges the government to boost health services, would have forced judges to wade into a political issue that was outside their jurisdiction. However, the petitioners said the court relied on outdated international law in making its decision and overlooked its constitutional obligation to protect Uganda’s mothers.

The United States military is expanding a secret network of air bases across Africa in order to spy on al-Qaeda and other such groups, a US newspaper said. The surveillance is carried out by small, unmarked turboprop planes with hidden state-of-the-art sensors that fly thousands of kilometres between air bases and bush landing strips across the vast continent, the Washington Post reported.

To what extent is China investing in experimental research? Which African countries have the most out-of-school children? How have graduation rates for girls in Latin America changed over time? The new UNESCO eAtlas series provides users with a powerful new tool to visualize data on critical policymaking issues in the field of education as well as science and technology. The three subjects covered are research and experimental development, out-of-school children and gender equality in education - an online companion to the print edition of the World Atlas of Gender Equality in Education.

In the latest of the Economic Justice Network's campaign to sensitize Ghanaians to why the Economic Partnership Agreements are bad for Ghana, here are two recordings of interviews that took place on EPAs. One discusses EPAs and Ghana's fuel subsidy and the other a 'face-off' with EU Ambassador to Ghana Claude Maerten.

A High Court judge claims he is ‘a bit constrained for time’ to deal with an urgent bail application by 29 MDC-T activists facing charges of killing a policeman. Asked by defence lawyers when he was going to deal with the bail application Justice Bhunu claimed he had a heavy workload and had not got around to dealing with the matter. This is despite the fact that the majority of activists charged in the case have been in custody for more than a year without trial.

ARTICLE 19 has welcomed the tabling of a proposed law on Internal Displacement for discussion in the Kenyan parliament and calls for its swift adoption by the Parliament, at a time when Kenya is heading into another election period. The Internally Displaced Persons Bill 2012, tabled by the Chairperson of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Resettlement, Hon Ekwee Ethuro on 13th June 2012, was developed under the leadership of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Resettlement. It was reviewed for consistency with relevant instruments and standards during a meeting of all major stakeholders including ARTICLE 19, UNHCR, the Refugee Consortium of Kenya (RCK), the Kenya National Human Rights Commission (KNHCR) and the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) in Mombasa in November 2011.

The UN Web TV Channel is available 24 hours a day with selected live programming of United Nations meetings and events as well as with pre-recorded video features and documentaries on various global issues. Videos for the Rio+20 event are available from the site.