South African opposition parties are calling for an investigation into an oil deal that has allegedly benefited the ruling ANC party. The main opposition Democratic Alliance says it has asked the National Prosecuting Authority to investigate. Another party has filed fraud charges. The ANC and the companies involved have denied wrongdoing, but have not denied the payment was made.

"What do you do before reading your textbooks," the Mayor of Akono asks the shy schoolgirl, about nine years old. "I wash my hands," the kid replies. Such reading etiquette is rare in Cameroon. But in a sprawling rural settlement in the heart of Cameroon's luxuriant equatorial rainforest, most kids would give a similar response. These kids are not extraordinary. They are simply products of an ingenious programme aimed at increasing literacy and raising the standards of education that the municipality of Akono has been experimenting for a year now.

This training manual is intended for teacher trainers and aimed at making schools safe for girls, addressing factors within school that hinder girls from attaining education, specifically focusing on preventing sexual violence. The training is aimed at teachers, and should take approximately five days. It includes information on preparation for the workshop, including time schedule, finance, and resources needed.

After a month long strike Burundian primary and secondary school teachers say they will resume work on Monday, but lecturers at Burundi’s public university say they will stay away until their situation changes. "We cannot live on promises," Paul Nkunzimana, the head of the university workers union told reporters in Bujumbura after meeting with the minister of education. The lecturers are demanding three years salary arrears as well as payment for overtime and for supervising students’ thesis.

At the main university in Cote d’Ivoire’s commercial capital, Abidjan, many scholars are more worried about self-defence than self-improvement on a campus dominated by a pro-government student union that uses rape and torture to maintain control. Many students insist that the Students’ Federation of Cote d’Ivoire (FESCI) is nothing more than a government militia, with what some call a “mafia”-like hold on the university.

Three pan-African research organisations - the Pan-African Strategic and Policy Research Group (PANAFSTRAG); the Development Policy Management Forum (DPMF) and the African Association of Political Science (AAPS) - hereby announce the holding of a joint Conference on Civil Society, Governance and Integration in Africa in December 2005. The venue of the Conference is Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Global Development Network's (GDN's) Journal Access Portal enables social science researchers based in developing or transitional countries to access a searchable, full-text, online database of more than 120 well-known social science journals, free of charge. Journals in the collection include Demography, World Politics, The Journal of Democracy, Anthropological Quarterly, Technology and Culture, and several regional-studies journals.

The African Studies Centre (ASC) in Leiden is planning to start a five-year multidisciplinary and comparative project researching the development paths of a number of Sub-Saharan African and South-East Asian countries since 1950. It therefore invites preliminary applications/statements of interest from:
- 2 senior researchers interested in carrying out a country study of Tanzania or Nigeria
- 1 post-doc researcher interested in participating in the country study of Nigeria
More information is available on the ASC's website: www.ascleiden.nl/

The director would be the management head of all the offices and the principal official representative of the Institute globally. She/he is expected to provide direction to programmes, secure funding, produce reports and assist in the training of new staff on the themes the Institute engages in. The Director will be assisted by a team of professional people in all the centres.

CIVICUS seeks a qualified Events Coordinator to co-ordinate planning, fundraising, programme development and delivery of high-profile international convening events for civil society. The main area of responsibility for this position will be to serve as lead on the CIVICUS World Assembly, but also for other convening events that CIVICUS may organise. This is a management-level position and, for the right candidate, could result in a long-term appointment.

Zimbabwe will be hosting the 2nd edition of the Southern Africa Social Forum 2005 in Harare, from 13-15 October 2005. This year's SASF is expected to bring together thousands of participants from community-based groups, social movements and civil society organizations from SADC under the theme, 'Popular and Democratic Alternatives to Neo-Liberalism'. The Southern Africa Social Forum is a prelude to the African Social Forum (ASF) and World Social Forum (WSF) that take place annually. The first Southern African Social Forum was successfully held in November 2003 in Lusaka, Zambia. Email [email protected] or [email protected] for more information.

The Catholic Institute for International Relations (CIIR) has recently published a free guidance manual on capacity building for local NGOs. This comprehensive manual is a valuable resource for trainers and development workers. It can also be used as a self-help manual by local NGOs in developing countries. The manual is free to download from CIIR's website. It is also available on CD-Rom.

This project is the first of a projected series of modules on international human rights. Whether you're a teacher or a student, you can use this material in basic courses in government, civics, history, or other social sciences. This site is intended as a resource and not as a full-fledged course on human rights. Students may use it for research projects. Teachers may pull out a unit or even a page at a time to fit in with their current courses.

The International Centre for Civil Society Law seeks to protect human freedoms by improving the laws that affect the freedoms of belief, expression, association, assembly, information, and participation. ICCSL pursues its mission through four separate but inter-related programs: The International Journal Of Civil Society Law; research and publications; technical assistance; and education and professional development.

This Report describes the proceedings of an event aimed at facilitating open, inclusive debate amongst the Zimbabwean diaspora in the UK and others concerned about the continuing crisis in Zimbabwe, its regional and international implications, the role of civil society in the struggle for democratic governance, human rights, justice and peace, and the possible strategies for change. The Open Forum 2005 on Zimbabwe, South Africa and the Region was organised in London on 4 June 2005 by the Britain Zimbabwe Society in association with a number of associated organisations. It was conceived as an inclusive, non-partisan, nongovernmental forum.

On 11 June 2005 the finance ministers of the G8, i.e. the eight most industrialised countries in the world, announced, in a flurry of publicity, an allegedly historic agreement: the cancellation of the debt 18 poor countries owe to the WB, the African Development Bank (AfDB), and the IMF, i.e. some USD 40 billion. 20 other countries might in due time also benefit from a similar generosity, taking the total amount to USD 55 billion. It may seem strange that G8 leaders, who are so keen on "good governance" and "transparency" in others, should thus decide to cancel debts held by the WB, the AfDB and the IMF without consulting these three institutions. And indeed several industrialised countries that do not belong to the G8 soon reacted and questioned the decision.
* Read more about the G8 debt scam at http://www.eurodad.org/articles/default.aspx?id=628

Thirteen African countries have, or should have attained Universal Primary Education (UPE) by the target date of 2015, but 31 African countries will not have reached the goal unless they change their education policies. This is according to a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) report that supports the "Dakar+5" Africa Forum organised by UNESCO's Regional Office for Education in Africa. Those countries lagging behind in achieving universal education should base their policies on programmes that have proved effective in other African nations. Successful projects entail reform of key elements of education policy, including better distribution of educational funding, regulating the flux of pupils, improving the recruitment, training and remuneration of teaching staff.

In Senegal, gender gaps in schooling are pervasive and are only modestly influenced by standards of living, says this report from the Population Council, USA. In both urban and rural areas girls suffer from marked disadvantages relative to boys. In wealthier urban households, girls' disadvantages are smaller, but not completely eliminated. Furthermore, no systematic reduction in female disadvantage is apparent in rural Senegal, even in the uppermost stratum of households. Judging from these findings, income growth alone is unlikely to close the schooling gap between urban and rural areas or between boys and girls in Senegal.

The Media and Information Commission (MIC) is refusing to give Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe an operating licence for fear of its robust reporting on government's policy failures, Sam Sipepa Nkomo, ANZ CEO, said on Wednesday. "I think they are scared of the Daily News," Sipepa told journalists at a press briefing in the capital. "You can imagine the extensive coverage an independent daily paper can give its readers in the wake of Operation Murambatsvina and how government could be kept on its toes trying to do damage control. That I think is what the authorities are scared of."

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has welcomed the release of "Le Front" editor-in-chief Joseph Bessala Ahanda on 21 July 2005, two days after a delegation of journalists met the director of criminal affairs at the Justice Ministry. "The end of this arbitrary imprisonment is good news for Cameroon's journalists," the organisation said.