At least 300 refugees have deserted holding camps in Zimbabwe in the past two months raising fears that illegal immigrants are using the country as a transit point. "We are worried about this trend and feel Zimbabwe is being used as a transit point for irregular migration into other countries," the newspaper quoted Chief Immigration Officer Elasto Mugwadi as saying.

The World Social Forum 2006 web space has beencreated as a workspace for organisations/ networks/ groups to interact with each other for the purpose of registering and preparing activities in the WSF2006 Polycentric Event or for continued activities in the WSF Process. The deadline to register activities for WSF 2006 is November 15 , 2005 The WSF2006 Polycentric Event is located in Bamako (Mali), Caracas (Venezuela) and Karachi (Pakistan).

Links to websites:

- WSF 2006 Electronic Space: http://www.wsf2006.org/index.php

- Bamako, Mali (January 19th to 23rd): http://www.fsmmali.org/?lang=en

- Caracas, Venezuela (January 23 to 29 ): http://fsainfo.rits.org.br/#

- Karachi, Pakistan (January 23 to 29): http://www.forosocialmundial.org.ve/

- Current listing of registered events: http://www.memoria-viva.org/bdf/listeespaces_es.html

- Main WSF Site: http://www.forumsocialmundial.org.br/index.php?cd_language=2&id_menu=

- WSF International Council: (http://www.forumsocialmundial.org.br/main.php?id_menu=3_2_1&cd_language…)

- WSFtools: http://www.wsftools.ras.eu.org/wikini/wakka.php?wiki=ProposalFromBrazil…

- Wikipedia entry on the WSF: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Social_Forum

- For a critical discussion of communication and culture within the WSF see: http://www.nigd.org/docs/MakingTheRoadWhilstWalkingPeterWaterman

Pambazuka News est la newsletter électronique hebdomadaire de référence. À la pointe du combat pour la justice sociale en Afrique, elle fournit des commentaires incisifs et des analyses en profondeur sur différents sujets comme la politique et les questions d’actualité, le développement, les droits de l’homme, les réfugiés, les questions de genre et la culture en Afrique.

Pambazuka News offre un tour d’horizon hebdomadaire exhaustif des informations sur les droits de l’homme, les conflits, la santé, l’environnement, les affaires sociales, le développement, l’Internet, la littérature et les arts en Afrique. Pambazuka News est produit par Fahamu (www.fahamu.org), une organisation qui utilise les technologies de la communications et de l’information pour couvrir les besoins des organismes et des mouvements sociaux qui aspirent a un changement social progressif.

Nous sommes à la recherche d’une personne motivée, indépendante et sensible aux problèmes de société afin de se joindre à notre équipe en tant que : CORRESPONDANT RÉGIONAL.

Pambazuka News (www.pambazuka.org)

Job Title: Regional Correspondent: West Africa

Pambazuka News is the authoritative electronic weekly newsletter and platform for social justice in Africa providing cutting edge commentary and in-depth analysis on politics and current affairs, development, human rights, refugees, gender issues and culture in Africa.

Pambazuka News offers a comprehensive weekly round-up of news on human rights, conflict, health, environment, social welfare, development, the internet, literature and arts in Africa. Pambazuka News is produced by Fahamu (www.fahamu.org), an organisation that uses information and communication technologies to serve the needs of organisations and social movements that aspire to progressive social change.

We are looking for a motivated, independent and socially conscious individual to join our team as REGIONAL CORRESPONDENT.

Amnesty International delegates have found numerous irregularities in the treatment of migrants, including possible asylum-seekers, during a 10-day mission to Spain and Morocco including the towns of Ceuta, Melilla, Oujda, Nador and Tangier. The delegates took testimonies from people fleeing poverty and repression mostly from central and west Africa who were trying to get into the cities of Ceuta and Melilla, either by sea or by climbing the barbed and razor wire protected fence around them.

Exposing learners to a wide range of prospective careers in science at primary school level could help increase interest in science studies while empowering the youth to help the country deal with modern technological developments. This was a shared sentiment of delegates attending the Youth into Science Strategy (YSS) National Consultative Conference which ended in South Africa on 27 October. The conference was attended by representatives from sectors such as science councils and centres, government departments, non-governmental organisations and institutions of higher learning, among others. They spent two days exploring ways to rekindle young people's interest in the fields of maths and science.

Six per cent of Africans still lead a nomadic lifestyle. Marginalized by their highly mobile and harsh way of life, nomadic communities pose a particular challenge for education. The two volumes of Education of Nomadic Peoples in East Africa brings together disparate views and experiences in providing education for nomadic communities. The ‘Synthesis Report’ was carried out in 2001-02 in Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, the United Republic of Tanzania and Uganda. It looks into the challenges and opportunities for using education to meet the development needs of nomadic communities. The ‘Review of Recent Literature’ discusses the two juxtaposing views of pastoral nomadism presenting a thorough examination of available sources that allows readers to make up their own minds.

At least 600,000 schools in Africa will be connected to one another via a computer network that can help African kids catch up with the latest developments in science and technology, Xinhua news agency reported. The first phase of the programme would be rolled out in 20 countries including South Africa, Mozambique, Ethiopia, Mauritius, Uganda, Mali and Cameroon, South Africa's government news agency BuaNews said Tuesday. The programme is part of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) e-School initiative, which aims to equip all African primary and secondary schools with computers, radio and television sets, phones and fax machines, digital cameras, and to connect them to the internet.

Ndjianje Tjiraure, 16, always excelled as a student at Ashipena High School in Katutura, Namibia's oldest black suburb. But her hopes of becoming an engineer were dashed when she fell pregnant and gave birth to a boy last November, thanks to an education policy that requires teenage mothers to take at least a year off school to care for their babies. "The authorities learnt of my pregnancy in the third month and expelled me," Tjiraure, who was in Grade 9 at the time of her pregnancy, told IRIN. "I have been told that I can only be admitted in school next year." Statistics on young mothers like Tjiraure are not available, but she is not the only casualty of the policy Namibia adopted in October 1999.

Teachers in Zimbabwe have urged the government to provide free AIDS treatment after a survey revealed the profession was struggling with the highest infection rates in the country. According to a report by the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ), the country lost 566 teachers to AIDS-related illnesses last year. In the first six months of 2005, the death toll had already hit 362. "We have lost more than 1,000 teachers across the country in the last 18 months. Many more are infected or affected and are suffering in silence. It is estimated that 25 percent of teachers are living with AIDS. The majority of schools in Zimbabwe have lost at least one teacher to the disease and at least two to three teachers are on AIDS-related sick leave," said the report.

Rebels who control the north of Cote d'Ivoire have announced plans to begin organising exams for children living in their territory, where education systems ground to a halt three years ago. "We have decided that we will organise exams because the national minister for education has refused to, in what we consider to be cultural genocide," Mamadou Togba told IRIN. Hundreds of thousands of students have been unable to sit annual school examinations since the country was split in two by war following an attempted coup in September 2002.

The key performance areas of the job include:
1. Managing the Dopstop intervention programme and strategy through: Skills development and training; Facilitating supportive environments; Strengthening community action; Reorienting health services; Research; Public policy development and a Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and Trauma Centre.
2. Liaising with farmers, farm workers, NGO's, Government and all relevant stakeholders.
3. Fundraising and Financial management.
4. Public relations and communication.
5. Staff management and project supervision.
6. Ongoing organizational and programme development.

The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Zambia urgently requires a dynamic and highly motivated person to fill the position of PROGRAMME ASSISTANT for its' Radio and Good Governance Project, on an initial one-year renewable contract.

You are invited to participate in an Electronic Conference on poverty and social impact analysis. This conference will promote discussion around the progress, challenges and opportunities of poverty and social impact analysis to contribute to pro-poor structural and macroeconomic policies that are based on country evidence and decided upon in an open and transparent manner.

The Palliative Care Coordinator will be responsible for assisting the Country Director and Deputy Director with overseeing and managing the Palliative Care component of a multi-year, multi-million dollar grants management program that strengthens the role and effectiveness of local organizations providing HIV/AIDS Palliative Care services at the community level. The Palliative Care Coordinator will oversee and coordinate all matters related to Palliative Care in the community-based program, including hands-on interface with USAID, local government health officials, other international NGOs and local NGO partners.

Public schools in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have reopened after a delay caused by 230,000 teachers who went on strike from 5 September to demand better pay. The teachers resumed work on Monday after they received salary increases of between US $14 and $45.

Internews Network is currently seeking a Program Associate to provide technical and administrative support in our Nairobi, Kenya office. This is a local hire, with no relocation or expatriate benefits

This is a full- or part-time position for 3-6 months, with possibility of extension. The Researcher should be prepared to travel frequently to Francophone West Africa to monitor and report on human rights developments in Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea, and Togo, among others.

The Stockholm Challenge Award 2006 invites excellent ICT projects from all over the world to compete for the prestigious Challenge trophies. The Challenge is searching for the best initiatives that accelerate the use of information technology for the social and economic benefit of citizens and communities. The objective is to help local entrepreneurs, who work to close the digital divide, by bringing in research communities, development organisations and strong corporate initiatives.

The Historical Society of Nigeria, the umbrella body of professional Historians in Nigeria, will be marking its fifty years of existence this year (1955-2005). To mark this rare feat, a Golden Jubilee Anniversary Conference has been slated for the third week of October 2005, with the theme: "Historical Society of Nigeria at 50: Reflections on the Discipline of History". It is hoped that the occasion will reinvigorate historical consciousness and scholarship in Nigeria.

As part of an experienced team, you will develop and implement INTERIGHTS' programme of work in Africa, assess new opportunities for the legal protection of human rights in the region and internationally, and identify potential partner organisations in the region for collaborative work. You will provide legal advice to partners, draft legal briefs in cases in which INTERIGHTS intervenes and design and implement regional projects on key human rights themes.