The printing press of Gambia’s most outspoken newspaper, The Independent, has been burned down by armed men for the second time in six months, employees of the bi-weekly publication said on Friday. The Independent has been a consistent critic of President Yahya Jammeh. Its staff have frequently complained of harassment by the authorities.

Will the recent salary and harmonisation of housing allowance for public university lecturers stem the brain-drain from the country? Universities Academic Staff Union (Uasu) secretary-general, Charles Namachanja, doesn't believe so. "What we have been offered is way bellow our expectations. We wanted to be paid salaries that could attract the best brains from any part of the world," says Namachanja.

Parents with children in public primary schools had paid Sh2.64 million in "school fees" by early last year, despite a Government directive that made primary education free and compulsory. The directive was effected early last year but some schools continued to charge fees. The questionable payments were detected by an audit firm commissioned by the Government to establish the impact of a donor funded book project. Carried out in 25 districts countrywide to establish how the project was working, it discovered that nearly a quarter of the country's 18,000 schools had been charging fees. Parents were being forced to pay the money to the district education boards to finance "mysterious" projects.

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has called for more commitment to the provision of an enabling environment for quality education. UNICEF country representative, Stella Goings, said in an interview that the nation should do more to enable children to acquire quality education. Dr Goings said UNICEF was recognisant that the Zambian Government was doing a lot with scarce resources to make sure that the children got the best education. She said UNICEF was committed to helping the government realise that dream, but called for more dedication from the government to make sure that Zambia produced educated leaders and professionals.

Mozambican Tourism Minister Fernando Sumbana said in Maputo on Monday that most of the country's conservation areas have never been properly researched, and need deep and continual studies on their bio-diversity. About 15 per cent of Mozambique's total surface area has been classified as national parks or other conservation areas.

Some of Africa’s largest employers and most successful companies were represented at a seminar aimed at developing Africa’s skills base. The Strategic Skills Seminar for Africa 2004 took place in Nairobi Kenya on 23-24 March 2004. The event was aimed at strengthening the framework of human resources in Africa addressing the “retain” factor as the “attract” factor is tackled in the well-known Africa’s brain drain syndrome.

The Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE) works at the continental, national and local levels, to create positive societal attitudes, policies and practices that promote equity for girls in terms of access to, retention and performance and a good quality education. The FAWE Resident Guest Researcher Programme (FRGRP) provides short term grants to selected guest researchers from universities to conduct three-month action research, based on themes identified by FAWE each year.

The 5th International Workshop on Resource Mobilisation (IWRM) took place in Johannesburg on 26-28 March 2004 and attracted a record 271 participants from 48 countries worldwide. The IWRM is organised by the Resource Alliance. Simon Collings, CEO of the Resource Alliance, commented: "Each year, the number of attendees has increased. The response this year has been quite overwhelming and this reflects the increasing recognition of both the importance of local resource mobilisation and the need for training in this area. Through our events, we aim to help build the capacity of civil society organisations to mobilise local resources and establish greater financial stability and independence. The wide range of nationalities created a great atmosphere and really enhanced the learning potential. Initial feedback from delegates has been very positive."

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The EIA Professional Development (PD) programme was initiated and piloted with USAID's Environmental Capacity Building Program (ENCAP) from November 2001 to October 2002. CLEIAA assumed the lead role for the programme. In administering and further developing the program, CLEIAA works in partnership with the South African Institute of Environmental Assessment (SAIEA), the Eastern Africa Association for Impact Assessment (EAAIA), Tellus Institute of Boston and IUCN- Eastern Africa Regional Office. Following successful completion of the pilot phase and lessons learnt during its implementation, IUCN, EAAIA and partners, with funding from USAID Regional Office for East and Southern Africa (REDSO), are pleased to offer a limited number of PD opportunities in EIA to professionals from Eastern Africa. The program focuses on individuals with strong academic qualifications, relevant work experience and current employment in areas related to EIA, but who lack or need more practical hands-on experience. Application is open to professionals working in government, Non Government Organisations, Private Voluntary Organisations, universities and local consulting firms from Eastern African countries that include Burundi, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.

The number of children throughout the world who have lost one or both parents to AIDS-related illness is expected to reach 25 million by 2010, according to a report released Wednesday by the International AIDS Trust and the Children Affected by AIDS Foundation, the AP/Detroit News reports. The report, titled "Preserving Our Future - HIV/AIDS and the World's Children," is the first in a series planned by IAT highlighting issues connected to the global AIDS pandemic.

YouthLens is a series of research briefs that summarize the latest information on key issues regarding reproductive health and HIV prevention among youth ages 10 to 24.

The ForeignAID.com Donor Directory is now online and features over 500 international grantmakers in the U.S., Europe and abroad. The ForeignAID.com Donor Directory Online is used by high-impact nonprofits in the U.S., Europe and in developing countries to identify corporations, foundations, and other grantmakers that are committed to making social investments in Africa, Latin America, Asia, the Middle East, and Central and Eastern Europe.

The National Coalition of Social Services (Nacoss) has called on the government to increase funding for organisations offering welfare services. Nacoss, a body representing more than 3 000 non-governmental organisations (NGOs), says welfare organisations have been neglected for many years. Solly Mokgata, the Nacoss chairperson, told a media briefing in Johannesburg that while the organisation offers services to more than 11 million people, government contributes only less than 30% towards the cost of these services.

Public university dons could call a fresh strike if the Government refuses to renegotiate their salary terms. A national delegates conference at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Juja, told the lecturers' union to push for higher salaries than those published in a recent Memorandum of Agreement. The University Academic Staff Union members want the new package effected immediately and backdated to last July. If this is not done, they threatened to convene a meeting to discuss possible industrial action.

A total of 450 principals, teachers, supervisors and invigilators have been blacklisted for aiding and abetting examination malpractice in some schools in the country. Also, 360 post-primary schools have lost recognition as examination centres.

"Looking at South Africa 10 Years On" will celebrate a decade of democracy in South Africa but also constructively and critically reflect on its achievements. The conference will be hosted by the Institute of Commonwealth Studies and the School of Oriental and African Studies, in collaboration with the Journal of Southern African Studies (JSAS), which is celebrating its thirtieth anniversary, the Review of African Political Economy (ROAPE) and the Journal of Contemporary African Studies (JCAS).

The Ministry of Education loses between four to six of the 235,000 teachers daily through HIV/Aids. Permanent Secretary Prof Karega Mutahi said there was a large number of teachers already infected and that many others are bed-ridden. This has affected teaching and student performance in both primary and secondary schools, he added. "Sick teachers have to be on the payroll which means that the already stressed education system must carry a large proportion of unproductive persons. That means that work is piled up on those not sick," he said.

Almost 700 lecturers of Makerere University in the Ugandan capital went on strike on Tuesday, demanding pay hikes ranging between 100 and 150 percent, their union said. "It has been decided after a meeting that all lecturers at Makerere University will stop providing their services to the institution until our pay package has been increased," the chairperson of the Makerere University Academic Staff Association (MUASA), Ezra Twesigomwa, told reporters.

A lawsuit for alleged libel has been filed with the Abuja High Court against The Sun Publishing Limited of Nigeria and its senior editors. The journalists named in the suit are Mike Awoyinfa, managing director and editor-in-chief, Louis Odion, editor of the "Sunday Sun", Femi Adesina, editor of "The Sun" daily and Steve Nwosu, editor of the "The Sun on Saturday". Chief Orji Uzor Kalu, the newspaper's publisher and the governor of Abia State, in southeastern Nigeria, was cited in the suit as the principal defendant. Chief Anthony Anenih, former works and housing minister and current chairman of the board of trustees of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP), filed the suit on 23 March 2004, claiming damages in the amount of five billion naira (approx. US$37 million). According to Media Foundation for West Africa-Nigeria, the lawsuit followed a series of reports published by the "Sun" about an allegation by Kalu saying that Anenih had threatened to give him "the Bola Ige treatment," which is a euphemism for assassination in a manner similar to that of Chief Bola Ige, the former justice minister, who was murdered two years ago.