The National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund (NLDTF) has invited applications from registered NPOs for funding from the proceeds of the National Lottery. Funding applications focussing on under-resourced areas and underprivileged communities will be considered favourably.

Heavy fighting which erupted in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, over the weekend has escalated, leaving an indeterminate number of people dead or wounded, a local journalist told IRIN on Wednesday. He said the fighting was sparked off by a disagreement between two militias of the same clan who were loyal to two business people. It involved forces guarding the Global Hotel in the northern district of Behani, and those loyal to a local businessman from the Warsangeli clan, who reportedly attacked the hotel, which belongs to a businesswoman from the Wabudan clan.
Related Link:
* Faction leaders expected to rejoin talks
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40981

Three new reports by human rights groups underline the scale and complexity of the conflict in Darfur, which has displaced a million people in the desert of western Sudan and threatens to destabilise the whole region. Human Rights Watch (HRW) launched its report, "Darfur Destroyed: Ethnic Cleansing by Government and Militian Forces in Western Sudan", on May 7. On the same day, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) published the findings of its April mission. The International Crisis Group (ICG) report, "Darfur Rising: Sudan's New Crisis", was published in late March. A new ICG report on Darfur is imminent.

Are you good at illustrating? Fahamu is urgently seeking an illustrator to do some drawings/illustrations for a new CDROM we are producing on "Masculinities and war in Africa." Please send examples of portfolio together with CV and rates to [email protected] with the word "Illustrator" in the subject line. The person should, ideally, be able to send material by email. Suitable persons may expect to receive regular work in the future.

The May 2-8, 2004 edition of the J.A. L'intelligent newspaper was not permitted to appear on newsstands. According to Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA)-Guinea, the Ministry of Local Government (MATD) prevented the distribution of the newspaper because it carried the front page banner headline, "Guinea - François Lonceny Fall: Why I am resigning". The article, with the by-line of reporter Marwane Ben Yahmed, alleged that François Lonceny Fall, who was appointed prime minister by Gen. Lansana Conté barely two months ago on February 23, 2004, purported to "reveal" the reasons for his resignation.

Two months ago, the DRC School Project and Community Centre was nothing more than a great idea on paper, an idea aimed at satisfying the needs of the growing informal settlement on the outskirts of Swakopmund. For the past six weeks or so, about 20 DRC community members have been volunteering their services on a daily basis to help establish what they call "the pride of the settlement". "We are here because we want to help the kids. There is a very big need for this kind of facility in our community as the parents do not have money to send their children to school," say Kandali Nikanor (24) and Hilma Paulus (20).

A programme that provides a meal in schools is boosting enrolment in Mali, especially of girls. Thanks to the UNESCO/World Food Programme (WFP) School Feeding Programme pupils in Gao, Kidal, Tombouctou and Mopti in northern Mali receive a meal a day in school. “These regions are particularly poverty-stricken and many parents struggle to give their families a daily meal,” says Edouard Matoko, Director of UNESCO Bamako.

The annual Investing in the Future Awards honour companies and organisations that are contributing to the well-being of South African society as a whole. Winning projects have to demonstrate sustainability, partnership building between the government, business and communities, and integration into the development of South Africa. The awards are designed to heighten public, government and business awareness of corporate social investment.

The Centre on Philanthropy and Civil Society's ( http://philanthropy.org/ ) Emerging Leaders Inter-national Fellows Program provides leadership training through applied research and professional mentorships for young scholar-practitioners in the nonprofit sector. The program is open to scholars and practitioners interested in building third-sector capacity in the United States and overseas.

Kenya is studying the education systems of Japan, Korea and Malaysia to see how it can reform its own system to spur industrialisation. This was disclosed by the chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Education, Mr Daniel Karaba, as his committee left for Japan. Karaba said during the two-week visit his 6-man committee would critically study the education systems of the three countries and Thailand if time allows. He said the trip has been necessitated by the envisaged reforms in the Kenyan education system to make it more responsive to the needs of the country.

The job purpose is to identify, plan, manage and report on programmes in North Kivu Province, eastern DRC, focussing on livelihoods and emergency preparedness and response; to advise on partnership approaches and train national staff in capacity building of partner organisations; to participate in the assessment and identification of other potential new interventions elsewhere in DRC.

IRC has operated a multi-sector program in eastern DRC since early November 1996. IRC has been active in health, water and sanitation, shelter construction, structural rehabilitation and support of local NGOs. From its inception, the IRC-eastern DRC program was designed to meet the urgent needs of refugees attempting to repatriate to Rwanda, while also serving the rehabilitation needs of the local communities adversely affected by the civil war and the subsequent damage caused by the mass exodus of over one million refugees and the looting of departing armies. The Provincial Coordinator is ultimately responsible for overseeing all project implementation.

Over 350 social researchers, doctors, representatives of national and international organisations, NGOs and donor agencies are attending the Second African Conference on Social Aspects of HIV/AIDS Research (SAHARA) in Cape Town, South Africa. The four-day conference, themed "Promoting an African Alliance to Mitigate the Effects of HIV/AIDS on a Sustainable Basis", was organised by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) to share ideas among scientists working on the social impact of HIV/AIDS treatment and care programmes across sub-Saharan Africa. It is anticipated that the sharing of expertise, experience and research will help inform policy and programme implementation.

Kenya is not among eight African countries chosen last Thursday to apply for a new set of US development grants totalling one billion dollars. It was excluded mainly on the grounds that it had not adequately controlled official corruption. It was also given failing grades on some of the other 16 tests for eligibility for the new aid programme, known as the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA). In Nairobi, the US embassy said that Kenya remained eligible "for consideration" during next year's selection process.

Zimbabwe's education minister has said 45 private schools will be allowed to open, after being prevented from reopening for a new term last Tuesday. "The crisis is over," Aeneas Chigwedere told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme, adding that police had been withdrawn from the school gates. The schools had been closed because they increased their fees without government approval.

Swazi school children returned to their hostels Friday (May 7) in preparation for the second term of the academic year. However, a question mark hangs over the fate of thousands of AIDS orphans and other vulnerable children who may not be permitted to continue their schooling this term. In a speech delivered at the opening of parliament last month, King Mswati the Third said, "We will continue to do whatever we can do to ensure that no child is deprived of a basic education." Swaziland is Africa's last absolute monarchy.

A report suggesting the legalisation of abortion in Kenya to reduce maternal mortality has sparked a heated debate in the country. Pro-life organisations claim that preventing unwanted pregnancies is a better way of reducing these deaths. The study, ‘A National Assessment of the Magnitude and Consequences of Unsafe Abortion in Kenya’ recommends that "There should be a review of the policy and law on abortion in Kenya." At present, termination of pregnancy is outlawed in the East African country, except in instances where a woman’s life is in danger.

An independent inspection of accounting practices used to log Angola's oil revenue made recommendations on how to increase transparency, but officials said they had not yet decided whether to implement the proposals. The government published last Wednesday a summary of the report it requested from KPMG after accusations from rights groups that high-level corruption led to the disappearance of billions of dollars from the oil industry.

Tanzania's main university has re-admitted most of the more than 3 000 undergraduate students who were suspended for rioting two weeks ago, a senior Dar es Salaam University official has said in a statement. "Classes have resumed and all students have been screened to determine their role in the demonstration on April 20 and those who have not been re-admitted appear to have played a bigger role in planning and staging the riots," acting chief academic officer JS Mshana said in the statement, issued on Monday night.

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and Namibian President Sam Nujoma have joined hands to start a new regional newspaper called the New Sunday Times to "counter the threat from the global media to African values". The newspaper will be sold in all Southern African countries and will start publishing on July 1, according to an announcement on Wednesday.