King Mohammed VI today (December 16) approved the publication and public release of the final report of the Moroccan Equity and Reconciliation Commission (Instance Équité et Réconciliation or IER). The Royal Palace received the report on December 1, 2005, officially ending the Commission's 18-month mandate.

World marathon record holder Paul Tergat has appealed to the international community to support the World Food Programme's (WFP) school feeding projects in Angola after the UN food agency said a cash shortage could force it to pull out of the country entirely by March. Tergat, a double Olympic medallist and WFP ambassador, was a beneficiary of a similar school-feeding programme in the remote Kenyan village of Baringo when he was just seven years old. Speaking from experience, he said a hearty meal would entice kids back into the classroom and was vital to individual success and for the development of Angola as a whole.

Africa Source II is Africa's premier Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) specialised hands on skills development event focused on the Non Governmental Organisation (NGO) sector. Bringing together over 120 NGO support professionals, staff and software experts, the participants will examine how information technologies and FOSS can strategically impact and build civil society organisations on the continent.

Applications are invited from suitable candidates for the post of Research Assistant in the Policy Development and Research Project (PDR). The main focus area is to provide research and administrative assistance to Senior Researchers and help organise policy seminars and advisory group meetings. Applications are also invited from suitable candidates for the post of Project Officer in the Conflict Intervention Peacebuilding Support Project (CIPS). The main focus area is to provide mediation, facilitation and training in the conflict resolution processes across Africa.

AFRODAD seeks an exceptional and experienced Program Director for Research and Policy Analysis for a period of two years (renewable subject to good performance) who will continue and develop its strong reputation for effective policy research and advocacy strategies on Debt and Development priorities (currently Millennium Development Goals, accountable resource use and good management including the promotion of effective and better use of aid, economic justice and External and Domestic Debt Analysis) . This is a key senior post in AFRODAD and the incumbent will play a significant role across Africa, working and representing AFRODAD externally at the highest levels.

Only one out of every five children in Somalia is enrolled in primary school, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) said in its State of the World's Children report for 2006. Somali children are further disadvantaged by disease, conflict and harsh environmental conditions, the agency added. "The net primary attendance ratio is lower than anywhere in the world, at just 12 percent for boys and 10 percent for girls," the report said. "Years of underinvestment have left Somalia lagging behind the rest of the developing world in education."

The Attorney General’s Office of Sao Tome and Principe says it has found “serious flaws” in the way that contracts were awarded to oil companies to explore offshore waters shared with Nigeria. It said in a report published on December 9 that several of the companies chosen six months ago to explore the Joint Development Zone (JDZ) shared by Sao Tome and Nigeria lacked the technical know-how and the financial muscle necessary to carry out the work.

An AIDS epidemic as severe as the one plowing through South Africa will change society. But how and along what lines? 'Buckling: The impact of AIDS in South Africa', tackles the question in distinctive and critical-minded fashion – and arrives at disquieting and surprising conclusions. A detailed, multidisciplinary review of research evidence, this short book adopts a unique perspective which reveals more clearly the contingency and complexity of the epidemic's effects. It shows how conventional conceptions of AIDS impact (and programme responses) tend to reflect dominant ideological fixations – particularly the overriding emphasis on productive processes and economic growth, governance and security – and how the wellbeing of humans typically is refracted through those preoccupations.

Since the May 15, 2005 election, there has been a historic clash between the yearning by the Ethiopian people to found a democratic order, and the derailment of this democratic process by the incumbent regime in order to perpetuate its tyrannical rule through large-scale repression in Ethiopia. The world must take a stand on this clash between the aspiration of the Ethiopian people to make a new history of democracy or be forced by repression to remain in the old history of dictatorship. The stakes are so high, the decision is so urgent, and the risk of letting repression decide the destiny of this old country to slide into a tyrannical order so great, that all in the whole wide world that have power to contribute to name, shame and expel the Meles dictatorship must do it by acting right now. Tomorrow is too late. Words are not enough. Empathy is not enough. Only action and deed count to make a difference.

The Sudanese government dismissed as "ridiculous" a rights groups' report saying officials at the highest level of government were responsible for abuses in Darfur and should be investigated for war crimes. New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a report on Sunday (December 11) saying Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir and 20 other government and army officials and militia leaders should be scrutinised for ordering, condoning or carrying out atrocities. HRW said it based its report on eyewitness accounts, government papers and its own investigations. Senior Foreign Ministry official Mutrif Siddig responded on Monday (December 12) saying, "This report is highly politicised. ... This report is ridiculous, it is baseless, it depends on the propaganda and the campaigns of the rebel groups."

The ACT Project has entered into a new phase in its support for global action to promote human rights education at the field level. The fifth phase (2005-2007) of the ACT Project puts a special emphasis on activities related to human rights education in the primary and secondary school systems (including, for instance, material development/translation; workshop/training course for relevant authorities, teachers and other education personnel; school competitions and debates), although not exclusively supporting grants in this area.

Sur International Journal on Human Rights welcomes contributions to be published in its coming issues. The Journal is published twice a year, distributed free of charge to approximately 3,000 readers in over 100 countries. It is edited in three languages: English, Portuguese and Spanish and can also be accessed through the Internet at www.surjournal.org. The journal is especially aimed at academics and activists dedicated to the study and the defense of human rights.

The first in Women's Learning Partnership Translations Series, The Guide to Equality in the Family in the Maghreb, is an innovative advocacy tool for reform of the family law in Muslim-majority societies. The Guide outlines a process that relates meaningful social change to women’s capability to make deliberate and thoughtful choices.

On Human Rights Day, Human Rights Education Associates (HREA) officially launched its online Human Rights Learning Centre. It is the result of many years of labour by HREA staff and volunteers in making our large collection of learning tools available in an interactive format. The Human Rights Learning Centre provides activists, educators, students and interested citizens with introductions to hundreds of human rights topics. Visitors can read daily human rights news, find human rights documents, take quizzes, complete opinion polls, or find suggestions for further action or how to teach about a specific human rights issue.

More Zambian girls are attending school after government interventions such as allowing teenage mothers back to school and waiving fees and uniforms. Re-admission in many schools has doubled since the Ministry of Education introduced the re-entry policy prohibiting the expulsion of pregnant girls in 1997, according to official statistics. The policy requires girls to go back to school not later than a year after giving birth, while other interventions have also increased the enrolment rate.

A move to reintroduce school fees in Botswana is causing controversy, with politicians and education experts warning that it may be a step backwards. Opposition parties have called on parents to defy the government's decision to reintroduce fees when the new term starts in January 2006. In October, Botswana's parliament approved legislation reintroducing school fees for pupils at junior secondary and senior secondary schools in 2006. Fees were abolished in 1987 in a bid to get more children into schools, and enrolment rates soared. However, the government has said it would have to cut high annual expenditure on basic education. Education Minister Jacob Nkate noted although the state was still committed to the principle of equal access to education, it was no longer economical to continue a wholly subsidised education system.

FilmAid International is a non-governmental organization that uses film to promote health, strengthen communities and enrich the lives of the world's vulnerable and uprooted. FilmAid is currently implementing programmes for refugees and their host communities in Kenya and Tanzania.

In May 2004, the city of Nantes hosted the 1st World Forum on Human Rights, initiated and supported by UNESCO, under high-patronage of Mr. Jacques Chirac, President of the French republic. The 1st Forum of Nantes gathered 1000 participants representing 70 different nationalities. The 2nd World Forum on Human Rights will be held in Nantes from 10th to 13th July 2006 (2006 will mark the 40th anniversary of the adoption of the International Covenants on Civil and Political Rights and Economic, Social and Cultural Rights by the General Assembly of the United Nations).

The seminar 'Adaptive Management Strategies' will be held during February and March 2006 in Tanzania and Kenya. The seminars are designed for decision makers that work for organisations in Eastern Africa and operate on international levels.

This edition includes the articles:
- Elkanah Odembo and Faith Kisinga ask how the philanthropy sector in East Africa can realise its potential;
- Interviews with the new heads of the Council on Foundations and the European Foundation Centre, Steve Gunderson and Gerry Salole.