The focus of this conference will be to examine best training practices used in international healthcare settings, with particular emphasis on family planning and reproductive health in Africa. In addition, training practices that have been employed successfully in sectors other than healthcare will be examined and discussed for their applicability to reproductive health programs.

Recently, a draft report prepared by the University of Malawi together with UNICEF-Malawi on the project: ‘What Every Adolescent has a Right to Know’ has been commended by many who have read it. The project aims at finding out the information gaps of adolescents on HIV/Aids prevention, which will assist in the development of an information package for the youth and put in place programmes of interventions in the fight against HIV/Aids for them.

Since it was first held in 1996, Adult Learners Week has become the highlight of the adult education calendar in South Africa. Adult Learning Week aspires to highlight innovative programmes and celebrate adult learning in all its diversity. It aims to promote a culture of lifelong learning amongst all South Africans.

The head of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), Carol Bellamy, has expressed concern over the renewed abduction of children and women by the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) following the recent collapse of a ceasefire in northern Uganda.

Teachers in the Central African Republic (CAR), represented by an umbrella union, agreed last Friday to end their seven-month nationwide strike, according to news organisations.

Ethiopia is aiming to harness alternative basic education as a way of tackling the millions of children left out of school, a conference heard on Tuesday.

The Cape Times reports that Anglican Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane announced one of the largest funded Aids programmes undertaken by a church on Wednesday. The multi-million rand programme aims to reduce the stigma and discrimination surrounding HIV/Aids.

Dispatch Online reports that Umsobomvu Youth Fund (UYF) has partnered with Business Partners Limited to set up a new investment fund aimed at youth empowerment. The fund has been constituted to make all opportunities and benefits of franchising available to young entrepreneurs. An initial amount of R125mn has been allocated to the fund.

According to the Sowetan, a group of 40 young people had to be forcibly removed from the Umsobomvu Youth Fund (UYF). offices in Midrand. The youngsters allegedly staged a sit in after the UYF refused to commit funds to their project. About 40 young people from the Okwethu Ngathi Corporation (ON Corp), who were demanding millions of rands for their project, refused to leave the Umsobomvu premises, saying they would only do so once a commitment was made that money would be dispersed.

INTRAC's training programme is one of our main strategies towards improving civil society performance. A clear belief in the values of social justice, empowerment and the participation of poor people in their own development is reflected in our approach to training and learning. The courses concentrate on issues around strengthening civil society and institutional development; organisational capacity building and programme development. Course participants comprise staff from international NGOs and donor organisations, together with people from Southern and Eastern civil society umbrella bodies and support organisations. Our training is participatory and uses a variety of methods based on action learning principles such as case studies, group work, role play and peer support. This is complemented by presentations on relevant theoretical frameworks and emergent thinking and trends, which provide the participants with a reference point for their learning and an opportunity to locate their experiences within the wider body of thought. The range of participants attending each event enables a rich exchange of experiences that are developed throughout the time we are together. Click on the URL provided for more information on INTRAC's wide range of courses.

Many of us have talked about organising a critical civil society response to the World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Durban 11-13 June. Our demonstration last year was a landmark event in terms of the struggle against corporate globalisation. Unlike previous demonstrations we have adequate warning this time that the meeting is happening and the comparative luxury of 6 weeks to pull together a response. Click on the link for more details.

The prime minister of the Transitional National Government (TNG) of Somalia, Hasan Abshir Farah, has admitted there are "minor differences" between himself and the TNG president, but stressed this did not amount to a split within the interim administration.

Fifteen year-old Patrick Komakech lies on a bed, grateful for his freedom and more importantly for his life. He was brought to a rehabilitation centre in the northern Ugandan town of Kitgum after fleeing his captors, the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), two weeks after they abducted him from his school. He was among the lucky ones. Others in his group who had tried to escape, were recaptured and killed in front of their counterparts "as a lesson on what would happen to us if we tried to run away".

The humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe affects more than half of the country's 11.6 million people. As it has worsened, so to have the number of reported cases of child abuse. "The effects of two years of severe drought, increasing poverty, the devastating HIV/AIDS pandemic and economic decline have left children especially vulnerable to abuse," said Dr Festo Kavishe, UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) Representative for Zimbabwe.

The death rate for children in Tanzania has fallen by more than 25 percent following the implementation of a pilot three-year community project aimed at curbing malaria, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) reported last Friday.

The international NGO Medicos Sin Fronteras (MSF-Spain) immunised on Wednesday and Thursday a total of 7,560 children in Sibut, 185 km northeast of Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic (CAR).

The Zimbabwe government has denied reports that President Robert Mugabe is preparing an exit plan for himself, saying the reports are "at best wishful". This follows news reports that Mugabe, who has been president since 1980, hinted at retirement during an independence day interview earlier this month. He was quoted as saying: "We are getting to a stage where we shall say fine, we settled this matter (land redistribution) and people can retire."

Akina Mama wa Afrika (AMwA) is an international, non-governmental development organisation for African women based in the UK with an East/Horn of Africa sub-regional office in Kampala, Uganda. AMwA was founded in 1985 by a group of African women resident in the UK. Translated from Swahili, the name means `solidarity among African women', signifying African sisterhood. AMwA coordinates local, regional and international initiatives, and builds the individual and organisational leadership capacities of African women through leadership development programs, networking, information and advocacy. AMwA serves as a resource and research forum on issues affecting African women. AMwA is hereby seeking an African woman who is a motivated self-starter.

Lesotho and Swaziland are among the five countries most affected by HIV/AIDS and are among a number of Southern African countries facing deteriorating economic and food supply conditions. These factors along with the re-occurrence of natural disasters, have contributed to two thirds of the people of Swaziland living below the poverty line. Similarly, in Lesotho, all indicators point to a continuous structural decline in the role of migrant remittances and growing poverty in the wake of poor economic growth. SC UK Southern Africa Regional office (SC UK SAFRO) is working with other organisations to provide immediate food aid intervention and longer term technical recommendations and livelihood interventions for vulnerable populations. This requires immediate and long-term assessments employing a multi-sectorial approach, to analyse issues of HIV/AIDS, health, water, food access and production.

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) Uganda, in collaboration with the Associazione Volontari per il Servizio Internazionale (AVSI), is pursuing a United States Department of Labor solicitation entitled "Combating Child Labor Through Education." The primary objective of this proposal is to improve access to quality education as a means to combat child labor in Northern Uganda.