A coroner's inquest has accused the Royal Swaziland Police Force of torture and neglect in a case that has highlighted human rights groups' concerns over the treatment of suspects in custody. Mandla Ngubeni died in June 2004 after the police interrogated him over the disappearance of R28,000 (US $4,666) from his place of employment. Coroner Magistrate Lorraine Hlope, in a report presented to Prime Minister Themba Dlamini, concluded that Ngubeni had been tortured under questioning.

Thousands of trainee teachers and youth leaders in Ghana are to receive HIV/AIDS awareness and sensitisation training as part of a Canadian-backed initiative to tackle stigma surrounding the disease, the director of the project said. "HIV/AIDS is increasingly becoming a problem in our country but we hardly talk about sex in our communities. This course aims at prevention and creating the requisite knowledge about the condition by efforts to remove the stigma associated with it," project director Reuben Aggor told IRIN at the weekend.

ACORD, an Africa-based development organization is seeking nominations to its Board of Trustees. We are looking for candidates who are African nationals, bilingual (French, English, or Portuguese) with an understanding of the African political/social/economic context and experience working in development. Knowledge of African NGO networks would be an asset. Although this is an unpaid position, it is an opportunity to make a contribution to the development of an African voluntary organization where the board and members are drawn from a number of countries. If you would like more information about ACORD please visit our website www.acord.org.uk or for more information about becoming a trustee contact, Betty Plewes [email protected]. A more detailed outline of Board duties and responsibilities is available.

You are invited to apply to participate in the following hands-on training workshop aimed at non-profit and public sector workers, as well as people from small businesses running community-style telecentre ventures. It is a priority of the workshop that participants should find opportunities for participating in the global wireless networking community, and for taking project ideas further in their communities.

Botswana has unveiled plans to build an additional centre to house the growing numbers of illegal immigrants crossing into the country, mainly from neighbouring Zimbabwe. The new centre, expected to be situated in Molepolole, a village 60 km west of the capital, Gaborone, is meant to ease the pressure on a similar facility in Francistown, which is already stretched to capacity. Tension between the two countries has been simmering in recent years as increasing numbers of Zimbabweans entered Botswana, both legally and illegally, in a bid to escape the economic crisis at home.

The long-awaited report of the Human Rights Violations Investigation Commission, completed in May 2002 after two years of public hearings, has now been made public, not by the Nigerian government but by civil society organizations. In December 2004, given the Supreme Court ruling that the panel's original mandate was unconstitutional, the government said it was not planning to publish the wide-ranging report, which is popularly known as the Oputa report after the name of the panel's chairman, retired Chief Justice Chukwudifu A. Oputa. The Nigerian Democratic Movement (NDM), based in Washington, in collaboration with the Civil Society Forum in Nigeria, decided to take the initiative to make this public domain document available over the internet. It is now being widely distributed in Nigeria through copies on CD-ROM as well. Available through the link below is the latest copy of the AfricaFocus Bulletin that contains excerpts from the NDM press release on the report's publication, and brief excerpts taken from the report's overview volume.

Teacher quality and quantity must be improved, teacher salaries must be raised, educating girls deserves more attention and HIV/Aids is aggravating attempts to achieve universal primary education. These are some of the points contained in a report on education in Africa by the South African Institute of International Affairs. The report's five chapters examine the state of play of education on the continent and highlight the challenges which need to be addressed. This report seeks to get governments, donors and policy makers to start thinking and planning ahead.

In the year 2000 the probability of an African child attending primary school was no higher than it had been in 1980. Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has the lowest primary enrolments of any major region in the developing world and the number of African children out of school is increasing at a faster rate than anywhere else. Has Africa any hope of meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of primary schooling for all and gender equity by 2015? A book, resulting from a major collaborative research project between the University of Sussex, nine African governments and the Forum for African Women Educationalists, assesses challenges in improving school enrolment and promoting gender equality.

Scores of students in Moroni, the capital of the Comoros Islands, took to the streets on Tuesday, demanding government action to end a teachers' strike that has closed schools. More than 300 teachers across the Indian Ocean archipelago failed to turn up for classes at the start of the school term earlier this month, protesting accumulated salary arrears.

The Rehabilitation and Research Centre for Torture Victims in Copenhagen, Denmark, has initiated work towards creating the Thesaurus of Torture Terminology (T3); a thesaurus of terminology related to torture, prevention of torture, and rehabilitation of torture victims. The T3 project aims to create a structured vocabulary sufficiently extensive and detailed to facilitate indexing and retrieval of documents on torture, at a level suited to specialists in the fields of torture prevention and rehabilitation of victims. The thesaurus will be created in English; it is hoped that translations/adaptations into other languages can be undertaken subsequently, possibly in cooperation with interested organisations in the human rights field. Anyone interested in further information on the project, in particular organisations and individuals who would be willing to comment on drafts of the thesaurus, or are engaged in similar initiatives within the work field of torture prevention and rehabilitation of victims, can write to [email protected]

In May last year, IPS reported that teachers in Swaziland were at loggerheads with government over the delicate matter of admitting AIDS orphans to schools free of charge. With the new academic year looming, has the situation improved? Certainly, Education Minister Constance Simelane is making all the right noises. "What everybody should know is that children are the country’s future. They should be given first priority," she said.

A recent statement by the Kenyan government that many students who graduated from primary school last year will not find places in the country's secondary schools has generated widespread concern. According to Education, Science and Technology Minister George Saitioti, 657,747 pupils sat for the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education last year - up from 587,961 in 2003. This marked an increase of almost 12 percent in the number of exam candidates - the highest increase to be recorded during the past decade.

The Global Fund is accepting applications for a full-time, salaried Program Officer with a focus on grantmaking in Asia/Oceania. The Program Officer will work primarily with the Program Team in reviewing and managing correspondence from organizations that request support from the Global Fund for Women. The Program Officer will report to the Vice President of Programs & Evaluation and will supervise the Program Associate for Asia/Oceania.

Software tool eNRICH enables communities to quickly and efficiently build their own gateway website, enriched with their own local content and connected to knowledge sources and services that are tailored according to their own information and communication needs.

Deadline: 11 February 2005

The Wits University Journalism and Media Studies Programme, together with the Ruth First Trust has established a Fellowship. The Fellowship is established to commemorate Ruth First as a journalist/intellectual/activist and her contribution to critical, independent socially-engaged writing.

Fellows will receive a grant of R35 000 and expected to present their work at a public event within six months and to submit it for publication/broadcast through an appropriate outlet.

Saviez-vous qu’il y a plus de francophones en Afrique qu’en France ?

Le Français est la langue officielle du Bénin, du Burkina Faso, du Congo, de la Côte d’Ivoire, du Gabon, de la Guinée, du Mali, du Niger, de la République centrafricaine, de la République démocratique du Congo, du Sénégal et du Togo. Le français est également l’une des langues officielles du Burundi, du Cameroun, des Comores, de Djibouti, de la Guinée Equatoriale, de Madagascar, du Rwanda et du Tchad.

Au cours de l’année passée, Pambazuka News a cherché à accroître le nombre de documents publiés en français et à fournir une traduction française de ces articles. Mais nous sommes conscients que nous pouvons et devons faire plus.

Bien sûr cette lettre d’information devrait idéalement paraître dans les principales langues africaines. Nous espérons pouvoir un jour réaliser ce rêve. Nous allons certainement chercher à traduire ultérieurement Pambazuka News en arabe.

Nous aimerions cependant tout d’abord faire en sorte que nos éditoriaux, nos commentaires et nos analyses soient publiés à la fois en anglais et en français.

Pambazuka News va continuer à enrichir le débat touchant aux questions sociales fondamentales auxquelles le continent africain est confronté et nous devons nous assurer que les personnes vivant en Afrique francophone peuvent prendre part à ces débats fondamentaux

Nous cherchons des traducteurs expérimentés (anglais-français et français-anglais) – des personnes travaillant soit de manière individuelle soit au sein d’organisations basées en Afrique - qui seraient intéressées de collaborer avec nous pour réaliser ce projet. Nous cherchons tout d’abord des personnes qui acceptent de travailler avec nous de manière bénévole. Cependant nous cherchons des financements afin d’assurer un salaire à ces traducteurs.

Si vous estimez que vous pouvez nous aider dans cette tâche, envoyez-nous votre CV avec des exemples de votre travail. Vous êtes enthousiaste, vous êtes familier des questions de justice sociale en Afrique, vous êtes prêt(e) à travailler dans des délais serrés et vous savez que l’humour, l’amitié et la chaleur humaine sont des éléments essentiels dans la lutte en faveur de la justice.

Nous accueillerons avec intérêt les candidatures individuelles ainsi que celles émanant d’organisations désireuses de travailler avec nous.

Écrivez-nous à [email protected]

WANTED: ENGLISH-FRENCH & FRENCH-ENGLISH TRANSLATORS

Did you know that there are more French speakers in Africa than in France?

French is the official language of Benin; Burkina Faso; Central African Republic; Congo (Democratic Republic of); Congo (Republic of); Cote d'Ivoire; Gabon; Guinea; Mali; Niger; Senegal and Togo. French is a co-official language in Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, Comoros Islands, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Madagascar, and Rwanda.

Over the last year Pambazuka News has sought to increase the amount of materials that we publish in French (or provide French translations of articles). But we are aware that we could, and should, do more.

Of course in the ideal world, this newsletter should appear in key African languages. We hope one day to make that dream come true. In due course we will certainly be looking into translating Pambauzka News into Arabic.

In the first instance, however, we would like to ensure that our editorials, comments and analyses are published in both English and French.

Pambazuka News will continue to stimulate debate on key social issues facing the continent, and we need to make sure that those in francophopne Africa can participate in these important discussions.

We are seeking experienced translators (English-French and French-English) - either individuals or from institutions in the region - who may be interested in collaborating with us in making this happen. In the first instance, we are looking for those willing to provide such services on a voluntary basis. However, we are seeking funding to establish paid positions for such translators.

If you feel that you could help, send us your CV with examples of your work. You should be passionate and knowledgeable about social justice in Africa, willing to work to tight deadlines, and understand that humour, friendship and warmth are essential features of the struggle for justice.

We would be interested in hearing from organizations as well as individuals who might be willing to collaborate.

Write to us at [email protected]

Applications are invited from suitable qualified persons for the position of DIRECTOR. This individual is principally required to:
- Provide dynamic and strategic leadership to AFRA in terms of its vision, policy and approach to land and agrarian reform in South Africa.
- Represent AFRA’s position in various local and national forums, platforms and media.
- Be accountable to AFRA Board of Directors and responsible for fundraising.
- Oversee, support and direct all programme strategies, human resources, financial resources, administrative and reporting functions.

Eisa's Elections & Political Processes Unit (EPP) has a vacancy for a Programme Assistant. Responsibilities required include:
- Attend to the Departmental general administration;
- Set up and participate in workshops, roundtables and conferences;
- Prepare reports.

The AED Social Change Group's Center for Civil Society and Governance (CCSG) focuses on projects and research that strengthen democracy and the ability of citizens and citizen groups to solve social and political problems as well as influence policy decisions that affect their lives. CCSG oversees a variety of USAID Cooperative Agreements, including the Global Civil Society Strengthening (GCSS) and Capable Partners (CAP) Leader with Associates Awards and the Managing African Conflict (MAC) IQC. As a growing unit within AED, CCSG continually responds to proposals with democracy-building and civil society strengthening objectives.

The target of reaching equality in basic education for girls and boys is being met in much of the world, but girls and women still faced inequality in the labour market, in domestic violence and in vulnerability to HIV/AIDS, the United Nations expert on gender issues has said. Educational opportunities were being equalized in many countries and probably would be nearly met by 2005, except in sub-Saharan Africa and southern and western Asia, she said at the opening of the Committee's 32nd session, said the Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women, Rachel Mayanja, who told the 23-member Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) that girls and women were being denied decision-making roles, were being left in abject poverty and were vulnerable to being trafficked.