The – an Afro centric internet networking and information exchange platform, calls for submission of poems for its forth-coming book ‘African Reflections’, a collection of poetry & prose by African Authors Its aim is to encourage and promote the writing of emerging as well as more experienced African creative writers, as such, entrants will be judged on ability rather than experience.

An experienced (field) researcher that can undertake practical assessments of community pastoral and security issues in Eastern Africa (focusing on the five project countries). He/she will work in close collaboration with government agencies and officials to improve inter-departmental and eventually regional cooperation on border control in pastoralist areas.

An experienced community/civil society coordinator with expertise in community engagement and liaison, conflict management, media, civil society, and dealing with pastoral communities, especially in Eastern Africa. The successful candidate will, among other tasks, coordinate and manage intra and cross community/border peace meetings in the pastoral area.

An experienced senior legal analyst to develop a regional legislative and law enforcement strategy to counter, prevent, combat and eradicate cattle rustling and illicit cross border activities in Eastern African region, working with national governments, international partners and regional organizations.

An experienced trainer, with expertise in human resource management, curriculum development, development and writing of manuals, training modules and ability to develop and present training to local, national and regional organizations. The training coordinator will build the anti cattle rustling capacity of EAPCCO member states through the development of training modules, coordination and provision of training.

The successful candidate will be expected to manage and oversee the execution of the project in all its aspects, including: financial and research management; reporting to EAPPCO, ISS, the steering committee and donors; managing donor and partner relations; overseeing and building the project team in terms of project design, quality control, methodology, capacity building and dissemination of results through publications, briefings, media and seminars

Pambazuka News is a prize-winning electronic newsletter on social justice. It is produced by a pan-African community of some 300 citizens and organisations - academics, policy makers, social activists, women's organisations, civil society organisations, writers, artists, poets, bloggers, and commentators. We are seeking an a dynamic and energetic editor whose primary task will be leading on the development of Pambazuka News as the principal platform of progressive and critical political analysis in Africa.

For further details see the link below.

CARE Danmark is seeking a technical advisor to the programme in Niger focused on community based natural resource management and civil society strengthening. The programme aims to increase livelihood security through a range of initiatives that builds the resilience of the population to high climatic variations including; access to water and pastures, diversification of livelihood strategies and support to the decentralisation process. The programme is funded by CARE Danmark, Danida and the EU with a budget of 2 million euro per year. Deadline: 5 November 2007

The Researcher will be based in Goma, eastern DRC, and responsibilities will include, but are not limited to, monitoring violations of human rights and international humanitarian law; curbing abuses through monitoring, investigating and documenting human rights violations in DRC (with a focus on the eastern provinces); applying sound judgment to investigation, reporting and advocacy work; writing and publicizing concise and accurate reports, briefing papers, letters, press releases, op-eds and submissions to international bodies as needed, with a quick turnaround time; developing and implementing local, regional and international strategies to bring violations to the attention of the government and the international community and change abusive laws, policies and practices. Apply immediately.

The International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT) seeks a Project Co-ordinator for Middle East and North Africa (MENA) to be based in the Secretariat in Copenhagen as part of the Programme Unit. As Project Co-ordinator your key role will be to assist and communicate with the network in MENA, to develop and implement a strategy for the work in the region, and to collect and pass on the knowledge and experience in the region within the field of torture rehabilitation so that it furthers and supports the international work against torture. Deadline: Friday, 26 October 2007

The Detention Monitoring Advisor will: Provide advice and training on effective visits to places of detention which have the purpose of preventing torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. In the context of the implementation of the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture (OPCAT), analyse existing or proposed visiting mechanisms to provide advice on their strengths and weaknesses as preventive bodies. Develop the in-house expertise on National Preventive Mechanisms emerging from the OPCAT. Deadline for application: 11 November 2007.

"In this fascinating history of the Guardian, South Africa's famous anti-apartheid newspaper, James Zug tells the story of a political publication that not only reported events but also helped to shape them. Between 1937 and 1963, the Guardian was the sole voice of dissent in the South African media, and Zug shows us how it played an essential role in the struggle to end apartheid."

The Johannesburg Pride week took off at Constitution Hill, Johannesburg, on Monday 01 October with educational workshops by gay and lesbian organisations such as OUT LGBT-Wellbeing (OUT), Forum for Empowerment of Women (FEW), Behind The Mask (BTM) and some other affiliates. Sexual and mental health, sexually transmitted infections (STI’s) within the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex community and voluntary testing were central issues of discussion leading to the Johannesburg Pride Parade.

The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) seeks a Postdoctoral Fellow for a two year, fixed-term, renewable appointment with its Environment and Production Technology (EPT) and International Service for National Agricultural Research (ISNAR) divisions.

The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), with headquarters in Ibadan (Nigeria), is seeking candidates for a Manager of the project “Promoting Sustainable Agriculture in Borno State” (or PROSAB) funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), and is implemented with a broad range of local stakeholders and regional partners. The position will remain open until a suitable candidate is found.

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/323/43668-GALCK.jpgA few months ago the leading dailies reported an event about unknowingly gate crashing a conference on various health issues surrounding the gay population in Mombasa. Apparently, a reporter took a fancy to one of the participants until he realised that ‘she’ was indeed a ‘he’. The media where around to cover some other talk shop in the same hotel and ‘coincidentally’ bumped into this closed door session. Of course this gave rise to much more interesting reportage and the next day an article appeared with the journalists stating their homophobia and reinforcing the Muslim Council’s views that Mombasa should be purged of these mutant humans.

It is no secret that our coast is not only well known for its white sand and plethora of sexy commercial working girls but also for its time immemorial reputation of being a hub of male sex workers (I have been informed that the term, ‘prostitute’ is no longer politically correct as it is too loaded with negative connotations – I wonder when and what they are going to replace ‘CEO’ with). It is also no secret that homosexuality has always been present in all societies for as long back as we have historical documentation but until very recent, eyes, ears and mouths have been shut in Kenya with an attitude that we know exists (big surprise?!) but it’s illegal (bigger surprise?!!) so we’ll just pretend that it’s not there.

Then came HIV and AIDS. People starting dropping dead; mortality rates shot up; orphans increased by the dozen and the President finally declared it a national disaster. The donor dough started to pour in and 4wd sales rocketed.

CODE ECHO: We now have yet another donor epidemic on our hands and many stand to die while others stand to thrive. Proposals are being churned out at unprecedented rates as the body count ticks away. Time is of essence…

While in the northern hemisphere the virus entrenched itself predominantly in minority populations, particularly intravenous drug users and the homosexual population, the virus in our part of the world hit hard and straight at the majority – the heterosexuals. Nobody was immune.

And until recently, not many people were liberal minded or brave enough to talk about sex but this time we had to; for the sake of our sons and daughters. The campaign took all sorts of forms with the cool and famous stating they use protection, to the rich and infamous holding hands and stating that we need to fight this together.

And the dollars continued to flow in...Hold on for a second: donors are always looking for new, unique and creative ideas to throw cash at, and what could fit the tick box more than a homosexual population in a politically and social hostile environment. After all (and rightly so), they too needed public health attention, they too are at risk and perhaps even more at risk. Some have even been brave enough to publicly address this issue and projects and programmes were formed to increase sexual awareness issues amongst homosexual populations and investigate what the rate of incidence might be. Some organisations have even gone as far as to open public drop-in centres. Hands down to them!

Let’s go back to the beginning: until recently, the gay population lived in closets and still continue to; but with an additional extension that is a little more exposed – it’s called, “homo health matters too.” Initially, I was elated to know that even in Kenya where certain populations are persona non-gratis, that at least, they can get the occasional human right.

So out our fellow citizens come to talk about their problems and of course the first thing that happens is the equivalent of a fatwa. Regrettably, this sort of thinking is expected - but what I am really concerned about is the thinking behind those that are supposed to be helping with health issues but also feel that this is a golden opportunity to launch a salvation crusade and not only reduce people’s risk of HIV but also help them to become ‘normal’ again. Unfortunately, I have been privy to several statements from all sorts of medical professionals who ‘feel sorry for them’ because ‘they are not normal’ and ‘if we can just help them to become normal again’ then ‘we might sleep better.’ God, I am told never intended for same sex creatures to indulge in lascivious acts (I can’t quite seem to get that into my cat’s head though who hasn’t quite figured out what to mount, let alone which sex). Perhaps, our dear do-gooders might want to start with their own attitude change before they commence dealing with other people’s medical matters.

Some 500 participants are expected to attend the Connect Africa Summit. Participants include the patrons of the initiative, Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame and Ghana’s President John Kufuor, who is also the African Union Chairman. High-level participants include International Telecommunication Union Secretary-General Hamadoun Touré; Chairman of the African Union Commission Alpha Oumar Konare; President of the African Development Bank Donald Kaberuka; and Intel Corporation Chairman Craig Barrett, who is also the Chair of the UN Global Alliance for ICT and Development.

We are pleased to inform you that, for the third consecutive year, Pambazuka News has been voted by subscribers and voters around the world to be amongst "The Top 10 Who Are Changing the World of Internet and Politics" in an award organised by PoliticsOnline and World E-Gov Forum.

The judges stated: "This prestigious award seeks to recognize the innovators and pioneers, the dreamers and doers who bring democracy online. This year marked the toughest year ever in choosing the 20 finalists."

Thank you to all of you who voted for Pambazuka News, our readers, writers and contributors. This is your award. Congratulations to you all.

Pambazuka News is a prize-winning electronic newsletter on social justice. It is produced by a pan-African community of some 300 citizens and organisations - academics, policy makers, social activists, women's organisations, civil society organisations, writers, artists, poets, bloggers, and commentators. We are seeking an a dynamic and energetic editor whose primary task will be leading on the development of Pambazuka News as the principal platform of progressive and critical political analysis in Africa.

For further details see the link below.

The Leadership and Advocacy for Women in Africa (LAWA) Fellowship Program was founded in 1993 at the Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C., in order to train women's human rights lawyers from Africa who are committed to returning home to their countries in order to advance the status of women and girls throughout their careers. Over 50 women's human rights advocates from across Africa have participated in the LAWA Program, and we hope to include Fellows from additional countries in the future. The application deadline for the 2008-2009 LAWA Fellowship Program is November 30, 2007.