The role of information and communication technologies (ICT) in improving education throughout Africa has been in the spotlight over recent days at the e-Learning Africa Conference. An annual event, the gathering was held in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi this year (May 28-30), bringing together participants from across the globe.

Human Rights First seeks a PROGRAM ASSISTANT in its Law & Security Program. Based in New York, the Program Assistant will provide comprehensive administrative, organizational, and communications support for the Law & Security Program. Managing the infrastructure of the Law & Security Program requires managing administrative and financial paperwork for the Program, photocopying, coordinating meetings for the entire Program and other duties explained on their website. Closing date: June 11, 2007.

ACDI/VOCA is currently seeking a Chief of Party for an upcoming three- to five-year agribusiness program in Burundi, involving issues of productivity, policy and market access. Possible start date is August 2007.

The Education Coordinator will lead a dynamic team of professionals dedicated to the education of vulnerable children. S/he will develop an innovative curriculum for the children in Amani's non-formal education program (school at Amani), ensure that each child's education is prioritised in his/her care and follow-up, and make certain that consideration is given to each child's individual needs, interests, and abilities.

Under the guidance and direct supervision of the Country Director, the Communications Specialist implements the corporate communications strategy; designs, manages and facilitates the implementation of the Country Office communications and publication strategies with a view to influence the development agenda, to promote public and media outreach and to mobilize political and financial support for UNDP. Closing date: 25 Jun 2007.

The review of African blogs has been running in Pambazuka News for almost two years. I believe the reviews form an important part of Pambazuka News as they provide readers with a 'third voice' within the mediascape. From time to time, I would like to open up the weekly reviews to other African bloggers either on the continent or in the diaspora to contribute as guest reviewers. If you are interested in being a guest reviewer please contact me by email:

with BLOG REVIEW in the subject line.

Sokari Ekine - online editor.

We continue to receive excellent articles for publication in Pambazuka News. If you wish to submit articles for consideration, please make sure that you place the word 'SUBMISSION' in the subject line and send the article to . This will help us make sure that your submissions don't get lost in the thousands of other mails that comes to that address.

The editors

Uganda is one of the ‘highly indebted countries’ that had its debts cancelled after the Gleneagles G8 summit of 2005. It recently stepped up school spending - introducing free secondary education – but the future is looking doubtful, contends Collins Vumiria, for Panos.

The Ministry of Education has accepted to admit hundreds of students with disabilities who have been pressing for university admissions. Certainly, the decision is a great step in education. It makes a lot of sense when the Education Minister, Jean d’Arc Mujawamariya, accepts that the students were excluded from mainstream education. A lot of students with disabilities were forgotten and denied their right to education for the last years.

MISA reports that on May the 23rd 2007, Caroline Somanje, a senior reporter working with Blantyre Newspapers Limited was fired from her job for writing a story that implicated a Catholic priest and a bank manager. Somanje was summoned to a disciplinary hearing after she wrote a story on the front page of one of Blantyre Newspapers publications, The Daily Times, on May 14 which implicated the two as having an affair with a married woman.

The Mail & Guardian, FXI, the South African Chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA-SA) and the South African National Editor's Forum (SANEF) are delighted by a ruling in favour of open justice and media freedom in the Pretoria High Court today. This follows an effort by the State to gag a vital nuclear smuggling case in which two individuals and a linked company are charged with smuggling components to an international syndicate.

Zimbabwe National Students’ Union (ZINASU) commissioned research to assess how the fees charged at Zimbabwe’s tertiary institutions of Harare, Mashonaland, Manicaland, Masvingo, Midlands and Bulawayo have impacted on the welfare of students and to establish the patterns and effects of student victimization.

The successful candidate will: Lead CHF International assessment of girls education in Nigeria's Delta Region; Lead writing of report summarizing field assessment findings; Conduct field assessment for approximately one month in summer 2007 (in collaboration with CHF personnel); Conduct interviews with key individuals, including government leaders, to inform assessment findings; and Potential participation in program development activities.

The Editor/Writer will be responsible for the editing and drafting of numerous documents such as Sudan UN and Partners Work Plan (2007 Mid Year Review and Work Plan 2008); Sudan UN and Partners documents; Key correspondence related to the Work Plan and assist with presentations on the Work Plan process to key stakeholders such as Government, Donors, NGOs and UN Agencies. It will also entail field travel to Juba and to key locations with a large concentration of Agencies. Reference Code: RW_73PL5W-93. Deadline: 10 June 2007

The Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) is pleased to announce the second edition of its new initiative designed to bring the deans of faculties of social sciences and humanities of African universities together for an annual conference organised around a scientific theme of common interest. This programme is one of the new activities being launched by the Council as part of its strategic objectives for the advancement of the frontiers of the production and dissemination of knowledge.

The Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) is pleased to announce the sixth session of its Annual Social Science Campus, and invites applications from African scholars for participation in the programme scheduled to hold in November 2007 in Dakar.

Hans Zell Publishing launches a new second, fully revised and greatly expanded edition of a classic African studies reference resource.

First published in 1993, John McIlwaine’s Africa: A Guide to Reference Material, evaluates the leading sources of information on Africa south of the Sahara published in English and French, and a number of other European languages.

The new 2nd edition contains 3,600 entries, covering encyclopaedias, dictionaries, directories, handbooks, atlases and gazetteers, almanacs, yearbooks, topographic reference sources, directories of organisations, and biographical and statistical sources.

Each title is described and analysed for content. Following a general section on Africa as a whole, with sub-divisions by special subjects, material is arranged under broad regions of Africa, and then by individual countries.

Additional to including a diverse array of new reference material that has appeared in print format since 1992, this new edition now also lists a substantial number of electronic resources, critically reviewed and evaluated. Entirely new sections include a selection of the principal reference sources in the biological and earth sciences, especially on flora and fauna, and on biology, habitat, and geology.

Another new feature in the 2nd edition is the citation of a wide range of reviews from over 80 journals.

The book is extensively cross-referenced throughout. It contains an author and title index, and a separate subject index with expanded coverage to accommodate the increased subject range of this new edition.

More details about the book, and the complete table of contents, can be found at

Chief Executive Officer
Chief Commercial Officer (CCO)
Human Resources Training Manager

To Apply: Please email your cover letter, resume, and three references to Katie Bouton at [email][email protected] Please put the job title in the subject line and your salary requirements in the cover letter. ACCION International is an equal opportunity employer. To learn more about ACCION International, visit their website at www.accion.org

Reporters Without Borders has called for the release of Bosange Mbaka, a reporter with the Kinshasa-based publication "Mambenga", who was arrested six months ago in a round-up of presumed sympathisers of former presidential candidate Jean-Pierre Bemba. Nicknamed "Che Guevara," Mbaka is from Equateur province, a Bemba stronghold. He was charged with stealing military property for picking up a mobile phone dropped by a soldier.

Thousands of civilians who were forced to flee their homes several years ago after incursions into the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) by armed groups from southern Sudan, should be resettled, the administrator of Dungu territory in northeastern DRC has said. "These people have not been able to return to their villages since 1999," Leandres Bwiulu said.