With journalists and protestors in Kenya facing brutal arrests as they challenge governmental efforts to curb media freedom, Cenya Ciyendi laments the repression of groups merely demonstrating for the right to freedom of expression. At a time when the world celebrates the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the author condemns the persistence of political self-service and the use of draconian, quasi-colonial measures to quash peaceful protest.

Exploring Somalia’s fate under the Bush administration’s war on terror, Matthew Blood argues that the US has simply taken an already brutalised people and brutalised them even more. With warlordism, criminality, and piracy ever increasing, the author ponders whether the marked anti-Western sentiment and greater radicalisation of Islamic authority in the country will lead to violent future backlash within locations in the West from disaffected Somalis.

Reviewing the efforts of the acclaimed US playwright Eve Ensler and the former UN special envoy for AIDS in Africa Stephen Lewis to sustain international attention on the DRC crisis, Stephen Leahy highlights the centrality of women and girls’ rights in the ongoing conflict in the east of the country.

Since the release of the Waki Report, the political uproar amongst Kenyan parliamentarians over who is on the "secret list" of individuals responsible for crimes against humanity during this years post-election violence, has since sobered up to a new reality. Kenya's once untouchable political elite now stands accused of impunity. Whether recently legislators voted for tax exemptions on their already gluttonous salaries or if they displayed remorse or not over a worsening food crisis, their every action is becoming subject to public scrutiny. Many of the older breed of the Kenyan elite may have begun to feel the pangs of nostalgia for older days when politics was about caring for the patrons and not the clients.

The trauma of displacement that faces refugees all over the world frequently manifests itself in negative ways. Young Sudanese refugees living in Cairo find themselves on the margins of society and are drawn into a life of violence. Natalie Forcier examines the gang culture that has emerged. Looking at two such groups, Outlaws and Lost Boys, based in Northern and Southern Cairo, and how the politics of their home country combined with the harsh existence in Cairo plays itself out violently. She concludes that programs should focus on addressing the underlying issues of lack of structured activities and limited access to educational and skill training opportunities in order to quell the violence

On the 60th anniversary of the UN Genocide convention, Henning Melber looks back at the progress that has been made to safeguard against the occurrence of genocide. In 1998, the International Criminal Court was formed and since then there have been significant advances and mechanisms set in place to prevent genocide as well as bring perpetrators to justice. What is required is the political will to act against genocide and those who perpetrate it, while safeguarding the rights of those at risk.

Shailja Patel ponders what lies behind the recent attacks in Mumbai. Pointing to the stark inequalities that exist in India and elsewhere in the world, she asserts that the same violence could play itself out in any other city where the poor and oppressed are daily confronted by the opulence and arrogance of the wealthy globalized elite. Why, she asks, should the privileged classes of any society be exempt from fear in a world where war is the corporate strategy to open markets?

Emphasising the centrality of consolidating links within the women’s movement in Africa, Carlyn Hambuba underlines the importance of involving grassroots women to ensure their voices be heard. With grassroots women increasingly sensitive to their own needs for representation, the author urges NGOs to refrain from simply speaking on behalf of others and to work towards the effective incorporation of local women into development debates.

Following the unveiling of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) Protocol on Gender and Development in August 2008, Rachel Kagoiya reviews the new responsibilities for governments across the region to ensure women occupy 50 percent of all government positions by 2015. The author also discusses women’s prospects under the SADC Free Trade Agreement, and argues that moves towards the freer cross-border movement of goods must be implemented in a way that is of genuine benefit to the region’s majority female traders.

With examples of the considerable risk of sexual violence faced by Somali women from a range of military organisations including the Somali Transitional Government, Ethiopian troops, and local militias, Nada Ali argues that much more needs to be done to ensure that those vulnerable within some of the African continent’s most conflict-torn areas receive adequate protection from abuse. The UN Security Council’s formation of an international commission of inquiry focussing on sexual violence, Ali argues, represents a key step if perpetrators are to begin to be effectively held to account.

During the 16 days of Activism against Gender Violence, 114 gender activists from Kenya, Malawi, Zambia and Uganda, the majority of them men, travelled to remote areas of Kenya by bus, urging people from all walks of life to take action on gender violence.

In a country where close to 1 in 2 women has experienced violence, responses were varied and complex – with many people coming out to report cases or explaining how they take action to curb violence, and others pledging never to give up on their power over women.

As 36 activists disembark from a bus branded with messages on the role men can play in ending gender violence, people around the central market place in Machakos town turn to watch, interrupting their normal business. The group quickly gets organized, forming a circle, and moving around dancing and singing, while hundreds of curious people, gather around them – and the scene is set. The Men for Gender Equality Now (MEGEN Kenya) drama group, with assistance from Malawian and Zambian activists, does its first skit, on the theme of gender-based violence.

As they perform, people trading at the market place, people coming to do their shopping and passers-by join the show, laugh, get surprised, comment loudly on the happenings, or just look on quietly. Afterwards, one of the leaders introduces the group, and talks about gender-based violence, what it entails, what people’s rights are, and how survivors can seek redress. Many stay on to discuss issues on a one-on-one basis with members of the group, all easily identified in their red t-shirts with messages on domestic violence, after the session is over. Several people report on cases of gender-based violence, which the Rapid Response Team of MEGEN, are tasked to follow-up, then the group gathers to move on to the next destination.

The market place session is one of the strategies utilised during the “Men’s Travelling Conference” (MTC), that has been organised by FEMNET, through its project Men for Gender Equality Now (MEGEN) since 2003, during the 16 days of Activism against Gender Violence. This year, the MTC lasted for 5 days, with buses carrying a total of 114 activists travelling on 3 different routes from Nairobi: to the Western and Nyanza provinces, to Coast province and to Central province. The team included gender trainers, counsellors, police officers and artists. The aim of this initiative is to extend the discussion on gender-based violence during the 16 days of activism beyond conference halls, TV-shows and newspapers, which rarely reaches to grassroots men and women residing outside of the major urban centres.

Malawi is a land-locked country in southern Africa. With a population of between 11.5 to 12.5 million and is among the poorest countries in the world. Like many other sub Saharan countries, Malawi is grappling with the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Women are most affected by the pandemic - out of 809, 833 persons living with HIV in the country, 473, 000 are women.

The civil service is the worst hit sector in the country. The Malawi police service has a high HIV prevalence rate among its service women; an update on the Malawi National Response to HIV/AIDS indicates that 32 percent of female police officers are currently infected with HIV.

There has been marked success within development organizations that are able to design HIV/AIDS mainstreaming strategies in an effort to prevent, and mitigate the effects of HIV/AIDS. These lessons along with the strategies employed by a handful of dedicated individuals have the potential to make real change in ho Malawi and other African countries address HIV/AIDS.

As the world commemorates World AIDS Day, The African Women’s Development and Communication Network (FEMNET) celebrates the role of dedicated women in Africa who work tirelessly to fight HIV/AIDS. Eluby Jere, a policewoman based in Malawi’s commercial capital Blantyre, is one such person who has worked hard, with little recognition.

If men want to join Sikhula Sonke, a women-led trade union for South African farm workers, they must sign a declaration saying that they will refrain from violence against women. Union members have also vowed to intervene within their communities whenever violence against women occurs.

Wendy Pekeur, Secretary-General of Sikhula Sonke, explains that these and other innovative strategies, which do not focus squarely on labour issues, but address major social needs of the members, are part of the success of the small but growing union. For many of Sikhula Sonke’s 4 000 members, a large part of them women seasonal workers or unemployed women, violence is often a part of life.

“Women are very dependent on men in the farmlands. Most women are employed as seasonal workers, and depend on substituting for male farm workers, whereas most men have a full-year employment. Women therefore often only access housing through a man. This is one reason why women tend to stay on in violent situations, because otherwise they will lose their housing.”

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) has been caught up in conflict for more than a decade, with devastating effects on its civilian population especially women and children. Rebel militias led by General Laurent Nkunda and Congolese army troops are fighting for control of the mineral-rich Eastern Province. Proceeds from the sale of minerals are being used to fund the activities which prolong the conflict. Thousands women and children have been displaced from their homes as a result of the recurrent war in Congo.

As the war in Congo drags on, African women are grappling to find ways of stopping sexual violence in the war zone. The AWID international Conference held from 11th to 14th November 2008 provided an opportunity and space for women in the great lakes region to meet and find ways of address Sexual and Gender Based Violence in Congo. The discussion spearheaded by Eastern African sub Regional Support Initiative for the Advancement of Women (EASSI) under the theme "The role of women in Peace process in the Great Lakes Region." The outcome of this meeting was the formation of a working group tasked with visiting the DRC. The aim of the visit will be to highlight the situation in the DRC with special emphasis on issues relating to abuse of women. The working group comprises Women's NGOs in the Great Lakes Regions namely: African women’s Development and Communication Network (FEMNET), Urgent Action Fund, Women and Law in Development, EASSI and individuals committed fight SGBV in Congo.

Development must be people-centered! This was the specific re-assertion by the over sixty representatives from various governments, civil society organizations, NGOs and development partners attending the 2008 Civil Society Development Forum (CSDF) in Geneva last month. And in the words of Mr. Liberato C. Bautista, President of the Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CONGO), “the nexus between human rights and sustainable development is not so much as a venue for consensus-making, for such venues have been amply convened, and in many occasions, failed to stir imaginations. The nexus matters because at the junction where human rights and sustainable development meets, they coalesce, they collaborate, they cross-fertilize and they become one”.

The Forum reviewed progress and further developed the recommendations and conclusions outlined in the 20-point Outcome Document resulting from the CONGO New York meeting convened in June 2008. These recommendations will subsequently be submitted to the ECOSOC Bureau and the United Nations Secretariat (UN/DESA) as well as feed into discussions at ECOSOC, including into ECOSOC's reporting to the UN General Assembly. Ultimately, these recommendations will be valuable instruments for assisting us in civil society and non-governmental organizations in shaping our own strategies and in contributing to discussions and debates around development at regional and global fora.

As Africa continues to experience profound transformations, be it political, economic, cultural, social, or technological, we are witnessing the wider populace getting more and more aware of their basic human rights. In many cases where their rights have been denied or disrespected, we have seen men and women, young and old, come out to confront their government leaders and demand for their rights. For instance, a number of countries have experienced some form of ‘citizen-pressure’ for broader participation and inclusiveness in political and economic decision-making, thus opening up political spaces where citizens are demanding for social justice, good governance, equity, accountability, human rights and democracy. Such demands have given birth to new ways of ‘doing’, ‘knowing’ and ‘being’ that is totally different and altering the status quo.

In an article exploring the history of socio-economic inequality, Jacques Depelchin calls for an interpretation of the current food crisis over the historical longue durée. As a direct consequence of an entrenched, centuries-old capitalist system, the author argues, the market as a ‘modernising’ force has consistently enriched the lives of a few while impoverishing a poor majority. Understanding the food crisis, Depelchin contends, rests first and foremost on re-considering humanity’s relationship to nature and championing historical narratives true to the voices and experiences of the global poorest of the poor.

As Zimbabwe’s ministry of home affairs has become the centre of political attention in the tug of war between Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC and Mugabe’s ZANU PF, what has become of the countries health and education? Silence Chihuri reflects on why the police today matter more than doctors in a country grappling with a cholera epidemic and massive economic meltdown and why home affairs remain the gate keepers of Zimbabwe.

Patrick Bond in this essay argues that while Obama was elected on a platform of change, his cabinet and advisor picks point to a return to domestic Clintonian policy, and an extension of Bush’s foreign policy. Even though Bond acknowledges that “Obama may not run as extreme a militarist regime as Bush/Cheney or as McCain/Palin would have” still, being less militaristic while pursuing a neo-liberal economic agenda does not bode well for the third world.

Daniel Volman gives us the history and reasons for the creation of Africom, and why it will have disastrous consequences in and for Africa. He looks at Obama's likely support for Africom but also calls on us to engage Obama over the future of Africom.

Thinking through about how the American left has reacted to Obama's election, Amiri Baraka argues that progressives are in danger of being left behind the masses of people who voted for Obama. Arguing that the "task of the revolutionary is to lead the people by taking what they already know and giving it back to them with the focus of the present the past and the future" Baraka calls for a people's democracy through a new democratic coalition.