SANGONeT and the National Development Agency (NDA) will host a national conference on 17 October 2006 in Johannesburg to coincide with the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. The theme of the conference is "Partnerships for Development - A Strategic Mechanism for Accelerated Progress towards Eradicating Poverty in South Africa".

The issue of identity has been one of the most central in human society. Africa has been no exception to this global phenomenon. Particularly since independence in the 1960s, the Continent has been rocked by both intra-state and inter-state conflicts, many of them concerned with the issue of identity.

The Ford Foundation International Fellowships Program (IFP) was started in 2000 with a mission of achieving greater economic and social justice in local communities and worldwide by providing advanced educational opportunities to talented individuals from marginalized and excluded social groups who have historically lacked access to higher education.

This year's Nigeria independence lecture will take place at the School of Oriental and African Studies on Saturday 7 October 2006 at 2pm. Organised by the SOAS student society Friends of Africa, the presentation will focus on the relationships between Nigeria's independence struggle, pan-Africanism, and the Zikist movement - which took its name from Nigeria's first president Nnamadi Azikiwe. The lecture will be followed by a discussion and performance poetry.

Prosecutors in Kenya have dropped charges against three journalists accused of publishing false information with the aim of causing alarm. The men were arrested in February over a story alleging that President Mwai Kibaki had secretly met a key opponent. Armed police later raided the premises of their newspaper, the Standard, and its sister television station, KTN.

The Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre, (KAIPTC), will be situated in Accra Ghana, where it will be West Africa’s Operational Level Focus on Conflict Prevention and Peace Studies. Delivering courses to Military and Civilian Personnel involved on Peace Support Operations throughout the world, it will lead original and challenging research into the causes and subsequent management of Conflict and the promotion of sustainable Peace.

The one-and-half year old East African Community Customs Union faces serious problems according to a report compiled by a special committee of the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA). The report, the result of a two-week tour of border towns by a team led by EALA legislator Dr George Nangale, has disclosed a number of critical problems impeding the smooth functioning of the Customs union.

There have been a lot of misguided reports about Makerere University, most of which cannot pass a factual test. However, the recent attack by Ugandan's leading journalists Charles Onyango-Obbo, that appeared in The East African (September 4-10 2006), left a dark image of this great institution. Although it is true that the standards of the university cannot be compared with those of its heyday the 1960s, the writer was overly critical and biased in his assessment of the state of affairs at the institution.

The Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) has appealed to its members nationwide to refrain from embarking on a strike action for better conditions of service, since it has not declared a strike. That, according to the Association, was due to the fact that the Association had already negotiated for 2006 and was presenting its inputs on behalf of all teachers to Government for inclusion in the 2007 budget for consequent negotiations.

The post holder will head the organisation's Secretariat, and will be answerable to a Board of Directors drawn from countries across Africa. S/he will provide leadership, advocate for strategic communication as critical to effectiveness of health and development programming and strengthen the credibility and visibility of the organisation.

The post holder will be expected to conduct research, facilitate workshops and training sessions, and develop networks with civil society groups and research institutions in Africa. S/he must have strong writing and networking skills.

PSI seeks experienced, dynamic candidates for the position of Technical Advisor for its Mali program. The Technical Advisor will be responsible for managing PSI/Mali's behavior change communication efforts in the areas of HIV/AIDS, family planning, malaria, diarrheal disease, and female genital mutilation and providing technical assistance in social marketing.

The Tunisian government is under fire for its last minute ban of an international NGO conference to have been held in Tunis Sep. 8-9. Tunisian authorities sabotaged the 'International Conference on Employment and the Right to Work in the Euro-Mediterranean Region', the Finnish EU presidency, Spain, Germany and the Euromed NGO Platform are expected to tell the Euromed Committee of senior officials of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership meeting in Brussels.

A spokesman for Zimbabwe’s ruling party confirmed Monday (September 25) that ZANU-PF intends to extend the term of President Robert Mugabe by postponing the presidential elections due in 2008 to 2010. ZANU-PF information chief Nathan Shamuyarira said this would save money by consolidating presidential voting with parliamentary elections.

About 140 school principals have been appointed in Enugu State to handle the newly introduced Junior Secondary School programme of the Universal Basic Education (UBE) in various post-primary schools in the state.

This meeting, 8th - 10th November in Kampala will bring together organizations, experts and donors from around the region and internationally to share experiences, strategies and lessons learned in GBV programming. All are invited. Please send inquiries to [email][email protected] For more information visit http://www.preventgbvafrica.org/whats_new/announcements.html

Position Description Job Title: Director for Africa and the Middle East Grade: 89 Incumbent: Open Reports to: IFF Executive Director Division: 530 Department: International Fellowships Fund Purpose of Position: The Ford Foundation International Fellowships Program (IFP) was started in 2000 with a mission of achieving greater economic and social justice in local communities and worldwide by providing advanced educational opportunities to talented individuals from marginalized and excluded social groups who have historically lacked access to higher education.

For several decades, African countries and the donor institutions they work with have placed great emphasis on primary and, more recently, secondary education. But they have neglected tertiary education as an added means to improve economic growth and mitigate poverty.

The International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) is currently in search of an Operations Research Manager (ORM) for its CORE Project in Kampala, Uganda. The goal of the CORE Uganda Programme is to strengthen the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development’s (MGLSD) capacity to effectively provide leadership, coordinate, monitor and evaluate the national response to the Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) and Abstinence and Be Faithful for Youth (AB/Y) programs and to expand availability and quality of OVC services and AB/Y programming through strengthened public private sector partnerships.

A full- time Primary Education Specialist is required for a period of two years with the possibility of follow-up activities over the final two years of this project to support Egypt’s Ministry of Education (MOE) in its efforts to enhance the quality and relevance of primary education.