A fast growing NGO is looking for a Regional Director for Southern Africa who would be based in Harare but with some time spent in Pump Aid's London office and some time overseeing expansion in Malawi. The applicant should have the enthusiasm and ability to help Pump Aid become a major organization in the field of international development. Deadline for applications is 7 April.

A network of NGOs working in the democracy and good governance field in Zimbabwe is looking for person to fill the field officer position based in Masvingo. The incumbent will be responsible for the provision of information to support the organisation 's education, research and advocacy programme. Deadline for Applications is 20 April, 2007.

The nearly 400 migrants who thought they were sailing to Europe from the West African nation of Guinea ended up ill, stranded and broke in Mauritania. Not that the gang smuggling them much cared. By the time the engines on the migrants' rust-eaten vessel, Marine I, failed far from European shores, the gang had long since cleared hundreds of thousands of euros in cash.

An angry mob of Muslim students in northern Nigeria beat their teacher to death on Wednesday for allegedly desecrating the Qur'an, police and witnesses said. Oluwatoyin Olushekan was attacked and killed by the mob in Gandu Secondary School in Tudun Wada district, northern Gombe state.

More than 18-million cubic metres of wood are indiscriminately cut down in Mozambique, mainly for firewood, each year, according to a report presented by Mario Falcao, a researcher at Eduardo Mondlane University in Maputo, at a debate on the state of the country's forests held in Maputo.

Contrary to widespread public perception, arising largely from moral and cultural concerns, there is no evidence that provision of the Child Support Grant (CSG) is a cause of increased youth fertility, conclude Monde Makiwane and Eric Udjo in an Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) report prepared for the Department of Social Development.

This joint report by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative and the Kenya Human Rights Commission examines the Kenya police, looking particularly at illegitimate political control, the impact of that control on policing, and the reform answers that will provide a more democratic and accountable police service to the Kenyan people.

The International Commission of Jurists' International Secretariat in Geneva is recruiting an Assistant Programme Officer. Applications close on 30 March 2007 and should be addressed with your resume and the names and contact details of at least two referees to: Ref: Assistant Programme Officer - MENA. By email: [email][email protected] Or by post: International Commission of Jurists, P.O. Box 91, 33 rue des Bains, 1211 Geneva 8
Switzerland

Radio reporter Hassan Sade Dhaqane and several onlookers were arrested by government troops in the Mogadishu neighbourhood of KM 4 as he was covering a mine-clearance operation that had drawn a crowd. The government confirmed his arrest to Reporters Without Borders’ partner organisation in Somalia, the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ), but refused to say where he is being held. He has not been formally charged.

South African education minister Naledi Pandor is expected to draft legislation which would spell out the circumstances under which schools can test pupils for drugs, according to a report by the Pretoria News.

1. Programmes Manager - Eastern African sub-Regional Support Initiative for the Advancement of Women (EASSI. Closing date 30th March 2007)

This is a senior position in the organization and the candidate should have an African Feminist Orientation. She will report to the Executive Director. The Programmes Manager will take charge of all the organization’s programming and advocacy work and will coordinate the programme departments and ensure delivery of outputs.

2:Communications and Networking Programme Officer (EASSI) Closing date 30th March 2007)

Will be in charge of ensuring that EASSI’s programmes, activities, values, plans and other relevant information is communicated to EASSI’s constituency and wider networks.

For further information on both jobs: Email: [email][email protected] and Website:www.eassi.org

The Forum on the Participation of NGOs in the 41st Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, and 15th African Human Rights Book Fair will be taking place from 12 - 14 May, 2007 in Accra, Ghana.

The Government of Zimbabwe has resolved to offer full financial support to deserving students at tertiary level, according to the Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Dr Stan Mudenge.

The Thembeka High School in Mpumalanga unveiled three new classrooms Thursday, designed entirely by three innovative learners in the province. Thulani Ndlovu, Mbali Dladla and Mduduzi Mashigo won the Public Works National 2014 Youth Foundation competition last year and were given an opportunity to improve the existing structure of their own school.

Records from the Rwanda National Examination Council (NEC), indicate that the performance of girls has improved. The total number of girls who registered for Primary Leaving Examinations in 2005 was 54,558, an equivalent of 50.99 per cent, whereas in 2006, the total was 61,764, making a per cent of 51.63 per cent.

Alarming figures released by a South African provincial education department indicate that schoolgirl pregnancies have doubled in the past year, despite a decade of spending on sex education and AIDS awareness.

A report by the United Nations children’s agency (UNICEF) in 2005 said eight West African countries are among the world’s top 20 nations with the highest proportion of married girls aged 15-19. At 60 percent, Niger has the highest proportion of married girls in that age bracket, and Senegal ranks 17 on the list with just under 30 percent.

In its report, 'Off the Map: How HIV/AIDS programming is Failing Same-Sex Practicing People in Africa', the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC),finds that people with same-sex preferences are still a largely ignored and underserved community in the design and execution of HIV-prevention programmes throughout much of Africa.

The Kenya Project, a student-run organization at the University of CA, Davis School of Medicine seeks to inspire greater awareness and attention to global healthcare disparities and the HIV/AIDs epidemic in Africa, engaging future physician-leaders in meaningful exchange with Kenyan physicians, medical students and community members. The group seeks funding to small group of medical students embark on a four week organized trip to Kenya.

The Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CONGO) and the African Women's Development and Communication Network (FEMNET) organizes in cooperation with the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the African Union (AU) the African Civil Society Forum "Democratizing Governance at Regional and Global Level to Achieve the MDGs" to be held between 22-24 March 2007 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.