The National Network on Violence Against Women (NNVAW) is a non-profit-organisation (NPO) consisting of member organisations, individuals and government departments around the country. The NNVAW is a leading collaborative organisation in South Africa whose sole aim is to bring together organisations into a collective, to fight and end Violence Against Women (VAW). The NNVAW is inviting a mature, dynamic and experienced person, with sound knowledge and technical skills in fund raising and solid understanding of South African and international NGO environment.

Accra, the capital of Ghana, will be the venue for the Africa Regional Preparatory Conference of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) from 2 to 4 February 2005. The theme for the conference is Access, Africa's key to an inclusive Information Society . The first preparatory conference took place in Bamako, Mali in the year 2002.

The Electoral Institute of Southern Africa (EISA), International IDEA, and the Executive Secretariat of the Non-Governmental Process for the Community of Democracies, are co-organising an African Regional Workshop which aims to facilitate discussion with a broad group of actors in Sub-Saharan Africa on the main democratic deficits in the region, and to provide concrete proposals to be presented at the next Ministerial meeting in Santiago (2005). For more information, visit the website provided.

The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights is organizing a "Forum on the ICC and the African Court". The meeting will be held from 28th to 30 October 2004 at "Mount Kenya Safari Club" near Nairobi in Kenya. Contact Ms. Carol Abong at the email address below for more information.

The biggest HIV/AIDS training centre in sub-Saharan Africa opened in Uganda on Wednesday with officials hopeful it will significantly boost the continent's ability to fight the deadly pandemic. The Infectious Diseases Institute, largely funded by drug giant Pfizer, aims to teach hundreds of health care workers advanced techniques in fighting a disease the United Nations estimates has infected 26 million people in Africa.

Discussions about improving the level of education in Kenya often focus on the challenge of achieving universal primary education, or ensuring that girls are not discriminated against when it comes to schooling. While these matters are undoubtedly important, it appears that a continued focus on childhood education is marginalising another group of people who are also in urgent need of educational assistance: Kenya's illiterate adults.

The incumbent is responsible for overseeing the implementation of a STAR (dynamic approach to empower communities in the face of HIV/AIDS), a two-year pilot project in Nigeria, Uganda and Mozambique. All candidates must be within the ages of 30 - 42 years old.

The Zimbabwean government, battling with a strike action by teachers, has resorted to hiring retired educators to man classrooms and invigilate ongoing examinations. "We have not yet been told how much we will be paid for our services during the invigilation of examinations, but I think it would be something worthwhile. I have not been employed since my graduation in 2002 and I think this is a grand chance for me to get a few [Zim] dollars for myself, as you know how difficult life is these days," a job hopeful, Malvern Mavhaire, told IRIN.

A call for peacekeepers by Somalia's new president last week revived memories of the ill-fated intervention in the 1990s, when Black Hawk helicopters were shot out of the sky and the bloodied corpses of U.S. servicemen dragged through the anarchic streets of Mogadishu. Few leaders in the world need more help to restore order in their countries than Abdullahi Yusuf, who was sworn in last week. But bruised by the memory of the failed U.S. peacekeeping mission in 1993 that forced Washington and later the United Nations to quit Somalia, the international community will treat Yusuf's appeal for engagement with caution, seeking guarantees before committing to help, analysts say.

The Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA) and the Open Society Justice Initiative (the Justice Initiative) are pleased to invite applications for the Human Rights Fellows Program for the 2005-2007 session. The Fellows Program is 20 months in duration and involves both academic study and practical experience in human rights/public interest advocacy. Up to six human rights lawyers and activists from Angola and Mozambique will be selected to participate. Candidates must be nominated by human rights NGOs based in Angola or Mozambique. Deadline: November 20, 2004.

With this package of articles, the Institute for War & Peace Reporting (IWPR) launches work in Africa. IWPR has been working elsewhere to strengthen peace and democracy in crisis areas through the development of responsible local media. Moving to include Africa for the first time, the Institute will be developing a programme of activities across the continent, with a focus on areas of conflict and acute crisis, and its long-standing themes - war crimes and conflict resolution, representative governance, minority and women's rights and development and social concerns.

ICD is looking to recruit two development workers to work with a range of local NGOs, LNGOs, in Somaliland assisting in building their capacity and specific skills for community development activities.

Somaliland: Capacity building advisor
The postholder should have a degree level education or equivalent in a relevant discipline as well as education/training in specific aspects of community development. A minimum of three years experience in an advisory capacity with NGOs and proven experience in training/facilitation are essential. Of particular importance is the ability to network and knowledge of at least one of the above mentioned project themes. Knowledge of NGO capacity building and organisational development and NGOs roles in community development are essential. A flexible and culturally sensitive approach to work in a Somali/Islamic environment is essential.

Somaliland: Advocacy trainer
The postholder should have a relevant qualification plus a minimum three years experience within the NGO sector. Proven experience of designing, implementing and monitoring an advocacy programme, and knowledge of capacity building within the NGO/CBO sectors are essential. Of particular importance is the ability to network at policy levels and knowledge of at least one priority area (human rights, women's leadership, conflict prevention and peace building). A flexible and culturally sensitive approach to work in a Somali/Islamic environment is essential. Only completed applications will be considered. Please do not send CVs. Job descriptions and an application form can be downloaded from www.ciir.org (see section " jobs @ CIIR"). Closing date: 4 November 2004; Interviews: November.

The Communications Specialist will function as the communication advisor, developing innovative and effective behavior change and social marketing approaches for the Tanzania Marketing and Communications: AIDS, Reproductive Health (RH) and Child Survival (CS) Project. He/she will work as part of the overall AED team in Dar Es Salaam and will work closely with Government, NGO and private sector organizations/institutions implementing the communications and marketing aspects of the program.

The UNIFEM Regional Programme Director (RPD) in Rwanda is the coordinator and leader of UNIFEM's programme in the Central Africa Region. The RPD is also responsible for the overall management of the programme office and is UNIFEM's representative at the UN Country Team under the leadership of the UN Resident Coordinator. The RPD reports directly to the Chief of Africa Section at Headquarters. Apply ONLINE at: => ''About Us'' => ''Vacancies''. Closing date: October 22, 2004.

The Higher Education HIV/Aids Programme (HEAIDS) invites proposals from South African organisations to conduct a Cost-Risk Analysis of the Impact of HIV/Aids on Human Resources at selected Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). Deadline: 29 October 2004

Each year the American Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR)sponsors the National AIDS Update Conference in the United States. The next conference will be held April 10-13, 2005, in Oakland, California. A limited number of scholarships to travel to and attend the conference will be available to people working in HIV and AIDS around the world. Those working in African countries are invited to submit an application for free travel, hotel, and registration. Applicants should be prepared to give a presentation on their work. Scholarship applications will be available after October 15 and can be accessed two ways:
* If you have internet access, you can find a description of the conference and the scholarship application on: http://www.nauc.org
* If you do not have internet access, please request the information by writing to: Robert Giannesca amfAR 120 Wall Street, 13th Floor New York, NY 10005, USA

The Centre for the Study of African Economies (CSAE) invites applications for a scholarship of £10,000 to support Africans wishing to pursue economic research at the University for the degree of DPhil. Candidates will be drawn from students accepted for D Phil research by the University of Oxford. The thesis topic should be of relevance to African economies. Museveni Scholars will be attached to the CSAE and will normally be supervised by members of the research team. The CSAE will now consider a new round of applications for the Museveni Scholarship for the academic year 2004-2005. The closing date for applications is 29 October 2004. Applications, which should include a copy of your research proposal together with your c.v. and details of other applications for funding and/or funding obtained for your DPhil studies should be sent to the Administrator, CSAE, Department of Economics, Manor Road Building, Oxford OX1 3UQ.

Tony Blair and other G8 leaders must urgently act to stop supporting oil multinationals plundering Nigeria for oil. Despite the damaging impacts on countries like Nigeria, the oil industry receives public funding from the UK Government to support new pipelines and operations via publicly-funded financial bodies, such as the World Bank and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

Washington, DC: While thousands of trained Zambian teachers sit unemployed and classes overflow with students, Zambia will shell out a staggering $156 million more on debt repayments that it will spend on education this year. These new figures are released today, October 1, in a ground-breaking by the Global Campaign for Education (GCE). The new report reveals how Zambian children are paying the price for IMF policies. Ludicrously, while schools are in desperate need of another 9000 teachers, 8-9,000 qualified teachers sit unemployed. Why? A budget ceiling on government spending imposed by the IMF means that the government is not able to employ the teachers and health workers it desperately needs.

The GCE report, "Undervaluing teachers: IMF policies squeeze Zambian education system" is co-authored with International agencies VSO and Oxfam. It calls upon the IMF and rich countries at today's G7 finance ministers meeting to announce 100% cancellation of multilateral debt owed by the world's poorest countries, funded in part by a revaluation of IMF gold stocks. Report co-author Max Lawson from Oxfam, said: "The IMF's priority is to be repaid at all costs, even at the expense of educating Zambian children. Meanwhile the IMF is sitting on billions of dollars worth of gold they neither need nor use." Co-author Lucia Fry from VSO said "Zambia shows us the need for a radical change in the way the IMF does its business.

IMF commitments to the Millennium Goals are tested in exactly these challenging circumstances and the fund is failing on all counts." In Zambia, one of the poorest countries in the world, more than 70% of the population live in poverty and one in five adults are infected with HIV/AIDS. Education should be the golden path to ending poverty and helping stop the spread of HIV, yet in 2004, the Zambian government will be forced to pay $377 million in debt repayments, and spend just $221 million education. Repayments to the IMF alone will amount to a massive $247 million, more than entire annual education budget.

Silas Silewu, Head Master at Maano Basic School in Lusaka says: "We have only 3 teachers, including me, to teach 526 pupils. The average class size is 70 pupils and each teacher has to teach two classes. To work effectively we need at least 12 teachers." The Dutch Government has now stepped in with a short-term emergency package to allow some of these 9000 teachers to be taken on. However this does not solve the long-term problem of how to finance much needed future increases in teacher numbers.

GCE Report recommendations:

- The IMF and G7 should today announce 100% cancellation of multilateral debt owed by the world's poorest countries, funded in part by a revaluation of IMF gold stocks.

- Rich countries should pledge $50bn extra in development aid annually to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), including the additional US$5.6bn needed to achieve universal basic education. Developed countries should set clear timetables to reach the agreed target of 0.7% of GNP spending on overseas development assistance by 2010.

- A fully independent review of the impact of economic policy conditionality should be conducted, including inflation targets and payroll ceilings, as countries move into the second round of Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers. The report demands due diligence of the IMF in ensuring all macroeconomic frameworks are the product of national discussion of different scenarios, based on independent Poverty and Social Impact Analysis (PSIA) linked to MDG needs.

- The IMF must be explicit in its communiqués that adequate numbers of trained teachers and health workers are vital to achieving the MDGs and resources must be found to pay them a living wage.

- Funding for basic education and other poverty reduction strategies must be delinked from the IMF's lending program.

- Rich countries must expand their commitment to direct budget support, pooled sector funding and predictable long-term financing through mechanisms such as the EFA Fast Track Initiative and the proposed International Financing Facility.

- Developing country governments should make poverty reduction and the attainment of the MDGs an explicit objective of macroeconomic policy with transparent and measurable indicators in the annual budget, and maximize expenditure on poverty reduction, including education and health

Schools in Mpumalanga are set to benefit from a R30 million donation from BHP Billiton mining company yesterday, set to improve the quality of education in the province over a five-year period. The Mvelandzandivho, meaning knowledge creation, is a school development support project of the provincial department of education funded by the BHP Billiton Trust Fund to improve quality of teaching and learning.