Porta Farm, a 30-minute drive from the Harare city centre, is home to among some of Zimbabwe's poorest and most vulnerable citizens. It was meant to have been a temporary settlement, to accommodate the homeless cleared out of the capital by the image-conscious authorities when Queen Elizabeth II visited Harare to open the Commonwealth Heads of State and Government Meeting in 1991.

Ethiopia says it has given the US overflight and landing rights in the war against Iraq. Ethiopian television quoted a senior foreign ministry official as saying this was in accordance with requests by the US. He said Ethiopia had no plans to deploy troops.

The European Union (EU) will give a grant of Shs 8m Euro (about 16bn) to Uganda civil society groups to enhance trade and development co-operation.

The Government of Japan is to extend a total amount of US $ 67,614 (approximately ¢567,959,600) under the Japanese Government Grant Assistance for Grassroots Projects (GGP) to three communities for the construction of students hostels and a clinic respectively.

The National Lotto Distribution Trust Fund has allocated R800000 to Buffalo City after the council applied to the fund last year. The grant will be paid in three installments with the second and third payments subject to progress reports on the first and second installments.

Dot Wampach and Emma Lawler might be in their seventies, but that did not stop them and 500 other volunteers from raising money for the Berea Gardens retirement home. Selling goodies and veggies at a tuckshop, they raised R24000 from selling gifts and food parcels that donors offered for the home. With the other volunteers they also sewed, knitted, baked and did repairs and maintenance.

This report from Human Rights Watch outlines human rights abuses of teachers, lecturers and students in Ethiopia. The report states that the international community has failed to condemn human rights abuses in Ethiopia for strategic reasons of their own. The report details a number of cases of human rights abuse, including a time line of events and makes recommendations to the Ethiopian government as well as to the international community.

The number of older people above 60 years throughout the world is increasing drastically. By 2050, they are expected to reach the 2 billion mark, which will be more than that of children under the age of 14. In Africa, traditional living arrangements are changing and values that used to ensure that older people were cared for and protected are crumbling. All too often, older people are the victims of abuse even by the very institutions that are supposed to protect them.

The Khanya College Winter School for 2003 will be held from 30 June to 05 July. The school aims to provide a space for activists from a range of different sectors in the rest of the Southern African region to collectively debate and share experiences about issues that impact on their organisational work.

In 2003, the Centre's annual international conference will examine the ways that law is embedded in and shaped by processes that have an impact upon political, economic, and social development in Africa.

It is important to note that for any development initiative to be considered serious, it has to incorporate at least an element of participation by the intended beneficiaries. This is done to ensure that there is a universal acceptance and compliance to the vision, objectives and the general provisions of the overall programme. With NEPAD one finds that the finer details of NEPAD are not disclosed. How will the programme benefit the poor of the poorest? How will the success of the programme be measured or assessed? The media reports in Africa have mainly been narrative, highlighting what the Western World and the proponents of NEPAD have to say about the programme. Faced with this scenario, people found it difficult to clearly understand what NEPAD was all about. Without any clear cut consensus being arrived at, it is worrying that NEPAD should be given the green light to proceed to implementation stage without subjecting it to a litmus test.

The International Bar Association (IBA) has called for the trial of Robert Mugabe for serious violations of international humanitarian law. The IBA addressed its call to all State Parties to the International Criminal Court (ICC), each of whom has the authority to request that prosecution be initiated. The IBA urged that the first act of the ICC's Prosecutor should be directed at the alleged atrocities committed by Zimbabwe's President and his regime.

At least 2,056 cases of meningitis including 195 deaths have been reported by the Ministry of Health in Niger and in three districts, Magaria, Aguie and Matameye, the outbreak had reached the epidemic threshold as at 9 March, the World Health Organisation reported last Thursday.

International Medical Corps requires a Nutritionist Program Manager to manage nutrition activities in Maternal & Child Health Centers (MCH); supervise SFP and Information Education Communication (IEC) activities; oversee outreach, monitoring, evaluation, and reporting; and provide technical support to IMC senior and national staff.

International Alert (IA) is an NGO that seeks to relieve the poverty, suffering and insecurity of people affected by war by transforming conflict from violence to sustainable peace. IA works with partner organisations in conflict regions in Africa and other continents to analyse the causes of conflict, facilitate dialogue, and help local actors develop peace-building skills. IA also seeks to influence international policies and practice by bringing into the policy arena the voices of those most affected by conflict. We are now looking for two Senior Programme Officers to work for IA's Great Lakes Programme which focuses primarily on Burundi, Rwanda and the DRC. The two posts are for different jobs, with different skill sets and experience required.

RATN is in the process of becoming an independent entity, and has constituted a Board of Directors and General Council to govern its future activities. The next step is to transfer the day-to-day operational management from the founding universities to an Executive Director who will be directly accountable to the Board of Directors. This will be an internationally-hired position, requiring an individual who combines a broad knowledge of current HIV/AIDS issues with demonstrated experience and skill in project management and administration, fund-raising, organisational development and strategic planning.

The Centre for the Study of Violence & Reconciliation (CSVR) is a well established multi-disciplinary NGO specializing in dealing with and preventing violence, protecting human rights and building sustainable peace. CSVR has more than a decade of experience in innovative research, policy formulation, education and training, advocacy, lobbying, and in providing counselling and consultancy services and boasts a 15 year track record of work in South Africa, Southern Africa and internationally. Based in Johannesburg, the CSVR is looking for a dynamic professional to fill an exciting position in its senior management.

The Resource Alliance is an international network working to build the fundraising and resource mobilisation capacity of voluntary sector, non-governmental and community based organisations. Visit their web site by clicking on the link provided.

The Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) and other civic organisations and political parties have called on the government to establish an independent electoral commission comprised of representatives from interested and relevant civic organisations. This call was made at a public hearing on the Electoral Amendment Bill, which was organised by the Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs portfolio committee.

This digest assesses the human rights situation of poor and marginalised children in urban areas around the world. While it covers issues as diverse as air pollution and children's participation in decision-making, it also ranges from outlining global urban trends to providing concrete examples of positive practices in poor urban neighbourhoods.