The International Conference on "Walter Rodney - The Revolutionary Intellectual" is being organized by the Institute of Development Studies of the University of Dar Es Salaam, in collaboration with the Development Policy Management Forum based in Addis Ababa; African Association of Political Science, Africa Institute of South Africa, and CODESRIA based in Senegal. The conference will be held on 16th - 17th January 2006 in the Council Chamber at the University of Dar es Salaam. Walter Rodney was an intellectual who developed some of the most revolutionary ideas in response to the challenges facing African societies and states.

The International Council is an independent research institute, registered since 1998 as a not-for-profit foundation in Switzerland; it has consultative status with ECOSOC. The appointed candidates will work in the Council's Secretariat, based in a Villa in Versoix, just outside the city of Geneva. The Secretariat has nine staff including three Research Directors, one of whom will work from Oxford during 2006.

In cooperation with partners who have indictated in-principle support - The Harold Wolpe Memorial Trust, The Open Society Initiative of Southern Africa, The Rosa Luxemburg Foundation and the journal Capitalism Nature Socialism - CCS will be opening thematic research projects on 'Economic Justice' in 2006. We are anxious to launch this theme by reviewing some of the finest traditions of national, regional and international political-economic theory and contemporary analysis, and invite you to join us. We seek inputs from individuals and organisations who would like to participate.

The rush to become Kenyan citizens is partly due to the fact that many refugees have stayed in the country for a long time and integrated into the Kenyan society. Official recognition of refugees and a chance to let them participate in economic activities as stipulated in the pending Refugees Bill would probably help in addressing the situation. That these people have a direct role in the stability and growth of the economy cannot be gainsaid, says this commentary.

Roman Catholic bishops in Tanzania have condemned as "unacceptable" a new science syllabus for primary schools that incorporates the teaching of proper condom use. "Introduction of the [teaching of] use of condoms in schools, apart from being sinful, is indeed justification and opening the door for immoral lifestyles," Cardinal Polycarp Pengo, the archbishop of Dar es Salaam, said on Monday (January 9) in a statement issued on behalf of Tanzania's Episcopal Conference.

South Africa and Zimbabwe are to open a border reception centre to try to curb the flow of illegal immigrants from Zimbabwe into South Africa. The office at the Beit Bridge border will help Zimbabweans get work permits. Supported by the International Organisation for Migration, it also aims to help the 2,000 Zimbabweans deported from South Africa each week. Immigration from Zimbabwe has risen amid economic collapse and a government housing demolition programme.

At least 3,000 pupils failed to report back to school in Mandera District after reportedly crossing into Ethiopia and Somalia with their parents as the drought in the country rages. According to an official of the Kenya National Union of Teachers: "Most pupils will be forced to discontinue their classes as most pastoralist families continue to move with their stock out of the district.”

eLearning Africa intends to become an eLearning capacity-building event for the entire African continent and a forum for all stakeholders engaged in the planning and implementation of technology-supported learning and training. The event is supported by the United Nations Commission for Africa and the European Commission's DG Information Society. The Ethiopian Ministry of Capacity Building has taken the patronage over the conference. The event will be accompanied by an exhibition.

Tanzania's newly elected president, Jakaya Kikwete, has pledged to invest heavily in scientific training, research and development to overcome years of neglect for the field. Kikwete told SciDev.Net on the eve of the election (13 December) that the US$600,000 research budget allocated to the Tanzanian Commission for Science and Technology was "a joke". He commented that the sum might only be enough to properly fund a single large research project.

The Executive Director is responsible for all programmes and projects of the African Women's Development and Communication Network (FEMNET) including their conceptualization and implementation according to FEMNET's contractual obligations and internal policies and reporting on them. The Executive Director is responsible to the Board of Trustees and Executive Board and manages the human and financial resources at FEMNET's Regional Secretariat in Nairobi, Kenya.

The Education Program Coordinator will be based in Monrovia 40% and in the field 60% of the time and will be supervised by the IRC Liberia Deputy Director, Programs. The EPC will receive technical support from the Education Technical Advisor based in IRC New York. Responsibilities include program development and management, staff supervision, resource management, and representation.

Illegal immigrants seeking to start a new life in Europe will now find it impossible to jump the border after the Moroccan and Spanish armies erected a barbed wire between their common frontier, reports Inter Press Services (IPS).

The Centre for Research on Inequality, Human Security and Ethnicity, UK is inviting research proposals on the topic: 'Ethnicity, Inequalities and Conflicts in Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana and Nigeria'. This is open to all social scientists generally.

Education plays an important role in the creation and improvement of human capital, which is in turn essential for economic growth and development. As well as the benefits to society as a whole, education provides private returns to individuals: the higher an individual's educational attainment, the higher that individual's expected starting salary and the steeper the rise in earning capacity over time. This Eldis study endeavours to determine the relationship between years of schooling and earnings (rate of return) in Nigeria.

The Community Services and Social Protection Officer will be responsible to coordinate the implementation of activities related to Community Services and Social Protection in Intersos camps and surrounding locations. S/he is expected to use a participatory approach involving refugees/IDPs representatives to identify needs, design, implement and facilitate activities which develop a sense of community in the camps and strengthen community support systems.

International Alert has been implementing a peacebuilding programme in the Great Lakes region for over 10 years, and is seeking a new Programme Manager. You will be based in Burundi, from where you will lead a team of around a dozen expatriate and local staff, implementing conflict transformation programmes in the DRC, Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda. We are looking for an experienced Manager from within the NGO sector, with at least five years' experience of conflict-related programming, strong at team leadership, with a strategic mindset and a proven ability to design projects and raise funds.

The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) seeks a qualified candidate to serve as a Research Fellow/Senior Research Fellow and Leader of its Country Strategy Program in Uganda for a two-year, fixed-term, renewable appointment. The Fellow will be responsible for conducting research, policy advice, and capacity strengthening and policy communications in Uganda and leading IFPRI's country strategy program in that country.

Schools across the Central African Republic (CAR) have reopened and services have resumed in other sectors since civil servants ended their two-month strike over salary arrears on Thursday (January 5). "Our demand over unpaid salaries was partly met, as the government has accepted to pay three months' wages in 30 days," said Noel Ramadane, the vice-chairman of the country's largest trade union, the Union syndicale des travailleurs de Centrafrique. "This shows the goodwill of the CAR authorities to find a solution to our grievances."

While e-learning programmes in African Universities may be faced with challenges, it is important to point out that even universities in other parts of the world are faced with difficulties when implementing the same programmes. For example, in Digital Hemlock: Internet Education and the Poisoning of Teaching, the author observed that in 2000, $483 million was spent on companies building courses for the educational market. By 2002, the amount spent on building online material for commercial purposes reduced to US$17 million. This means that African universities must conduct needs assessment before designing and launching e-learning programmes.

Save the Children Sweden has been present in Côte d'Ivoire since 1999. We support children's own organisations, community-based initiatives, local NGOs, media workers and government structures to promote the respect for children's rights. We support initiatives to prevent trafficking, abuse and exploitation of children and we have a project to train military on child protection and the impacts of conflict on children. From 2006 we will expand our program to enhance quality education for children affected by the conflict in collaboration with Save the Children UK. This is part of an initiative at a global level from Save the Children Alliance to contribute to the Millennium Development Goal on education.