How corporations and their allies celebrated their successful promotion of a ‘green economy’ at Rio+20.

The British-led process to replace the current illegitimate and intrinsically unrepresentative structure in Somalia with another equally illegitimate one is an affront to the best interests and rights of the Somali people.

Don't forget to oil your elbows and cornrows
the caking dryness of your cuts and bruises.
We mustn't reveal the true nature of things.
You cannot forget to put yourself together pretty,
dress up the scars and put on some lip-stick on your dry, peeling lips,
dye dying shoes, weather the changing tide fashionably,
who knew you had it in you?

Let's not forget to speak to things as if they were for them to become,
courage contained comes from the curious ravings of mad men,
sometimes called faith.

Umbrella on a sunshiny day,
waiting for the rain to clear, blue sky.
We cannot succumb to realism
Too harsh to face
we can hardly relate.

When the waiting becomes wanting,
Job's patience combined with David's courage,
Paul's letters reaching out from time past
I become the song of broken, desolate souls.

So until the rain shows up to quench this parched ground
and make the fruit sprout,
I arise each day to my routine and do my thing.
Wait.

Let the herald arrive with my revelation,
Erase the desolation.
He's not late or early,
Write on time.

*Dennis Dancan Mosiere aka Grandmaster Masese is a poet,musician,actor,writer/editor, human rights educator and a Fahamu Pan-African Fellow For Social Justice. Founder Member,Mstari Wa Nne Performance poets,

The United Nations is increasingly hiring Private Military and Security Companies (PMSCs) for its missions across the world, raising concerns over the use of firms known for participation in human rights abuses, as well as an overall lack of accountability structures governing these contractors within the UN system. Between 2009 and 2010 alone, the UN increased its use of private security services by 73 per cent (from 44 million to 76 million dollars), according to a new report by the independent policy watchdog Global Policy Forum (GFP).

SA's former ambassador to Iran will remain on full-paid suspension until the foreign ministry's investigation into allegations that he accepted bribe money from MTN is completed. Clayson Monyela, spokesperson for the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, confirmed that Yusuf Saloojee, currently SA's ambassador to Oman, has been suspended by the department, on full pay.

Southern Africa’s long-awaited regional infrastructure development master plan is now ready for approval by the SADC Heads of State and Government Summit set for Maputo, Mozambique in August. This follows the finalisation of the master plan by ministers responsible for infrastructure in the Southern African Development Community (SADC), who met in Luanda, Angola in late June. If endorsed by the southern African leaders, the master plan would guide development in key infrastructure such as road, rail and ports, and would also act as a framework for planning and cooperation with development partners and the private sector.

Na segunda-feira de 24 de janeiro de 2011, o Knesset, o parlamento israelense votara pela abertura de um inquérito parlamentar sobre a origem dos financiamentos às associações e às organizações não-governamentais em operação no território israelense.

Kenya is still in shock after hooded gunmen opened fire and lobbed explosives into two churches on 1 July in Garissa, north-east of the country, killing 17 worshippers and injuring over 60 others. Most funerals are taking place this week.

There's been a series of high profile gaffes by world leaders when referring to Africa. What is to be done?

Why are our Women leaders silent when children are being killed like animals in South Africa?

Since the end of the Cold War, the US and its European allies have enjoyed unfettered access to Africa. But with the rise of China and their own deepening economic crisis, they are once again determined to maintain sole control over Africa by any means.

The highest court in Egypt has overturned a decree by President Mohammed Mursi to recall parliament. Mr Mursi had issued the decree in defiance of a military council ruling that dissolved parliament. Members of parliament gathered for a brief session earlier in the day before the ruling of the Supreme Constitutional Court was announced. Thousands have gathered in Cairo's Tahrir Square to protest against the court's latest decision.

With the expiration of the seven-day ultimatum given to Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan and the country's Code of Conduct Bureau to provide information on the President's assets declaration, the Nigerian NGO Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) is heading to court to compel the bureau to comply with its request. 'Since the Bureau has so far failed to respond to our request after the mandatory period of 7 days; we have prepared the necessary court papers which will be filed before the court this week to compel the Bureau to discharge its constitutional responsibility,' SERAP said in a statement made available to PANA. SERAP had earlier sent a request to both the President and the Code of Conduct Bureau, arguing that the disclosure of the information requested will give SERAP and the general public a true picture of the assets of the President from May 2007 to May 2012, and will demonstrate the President’s oft-expressed commitment to transparency and accountability.

Arable land is vital for Africa, both as a key asset for farmers and, together with vegetation, to help store carbon that would otherwise be emitted into the atmosphere and contribute to climate change. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that by 2030 Africa will lose two-thirds of its arable land if the march of desertification. Luc Gnacadja, the executive secretary of the UNCCD, gave an exclusive interview to Africa Renewal’s Busani Bafana on the sidelines of the Rio+20 Summit, which can be accessed through this link.

A Ugandan legislator has proposed to penalise Ugandans who give birth to many children, saying the unchecked population growth was outstripping the country's resources. Uganda has an annual growth rate of 3.1 per cent, but legislators say this is too high and should be slowed down. Parliamentarian, Peter Claver Mutuluuza called for enactment of a policy that would limit the number of children produced by Ugandans.??

The United Nations has in a new report expressed grave doubts about the widespread practice of detaining migrants. States use a variety of reasons to justify this practice and some see irregular migration as a national security problem or a criminal issue, notes the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, François Crépeau, in his latest report to the Human Rights Council. However, he warns, there are a number of human rights issues at stake. Different categories of migrants are subjected to detention, including migrants who are undocumented or in an irregular situation, asylum-seekers awaiting the outcome of their asylum application and failed asylum-seekers awaiting removal.

The death of rare conjoined twins in Cameroon last week stirred debate about society’s perception of the disabled and children with birth defects. While the government and nongovernmental organizations offered support to the twin’s family, community members and local leaders vary on whether they call the rare medical condition a gift or a curse, reports Global Press Institute.

A former Zimbabwean diplomat has warned that the country’s massive international debt is a 'ticking time bomb', which threatens to destroy any hope of economic recovery. The country’s bill is believed to be hovering between 8 and 10 billion dollars, which Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono warned in May was 'a serious developmental constraint for the economy'. According to former diplomat Clifford Chitupa Mashiri, the lack of agreement on solutions to the staggering debt 'could trigger civil strife and instability in the not so distant future'.

Swaziland police fired tear gas and beat stone-throwing protesters, chasing some down into a hospital, after a demonstration held in support of teachers demanding higher wages. An Associated Press reporter saw the turmoil at the end of the march, in which about 2,000 parents and teachers wound their way from a park and bus station in Mbabane, the capital, to a labor court where judges were considering a demand by the government that leaders of a teachers' strike be arrested for contempt of court and disrupting education. It was unclear when the judges would rule.

Perched in an isolated spot some 30km (18 miles) outside Angola's capital, Luanda, Nova Cidade de Kilamba is a brand-new mixed residential development of 750 eight-storey apartment buildings, a dozen schools and more than 100 retail units. Despite all the hype, nearly a year since the first batch of 2,800 apartments went on sale, only 220 have been sold. Apartments at Kilamba are being advertised online costing between $120,000 and $200,000 - well out of reach of the estimated two-thirds of Angolans who live on less than $2 a day.