Christopher is a 13-year-old boy who lives a few miles from the village of Kassana, one hour from Kampala, the capital of Uganda. After losing his mother to AIDS this past December, Christopher is one of the estimated 1.7 million children orphaned by the epidemic in this country.

The Ministry of Health and Child Welfare says the measles immunisation and Vitamin A supplementation exercise conducted in the first two weeks of July did not reach the intended target of 2 million children under the age of five.

The National Lotteries Board may be taken to court over its dual role as regulator and distributor of funds totaling about R430-million a year, earmarked for non-profit groups.

The European Commission announced that it would give 221 million euros (over US $217 million) in support of Guinea's five-year strategy paper covering 2002-2007. The money will come from the 9th European Development Fund.

The British Commonwealth Education Fund (BCEF) is to donate US $920,000 to promote early education initiatives in Kenya.

Afrox is to donate an extra R1 million to 115 child care organisations as part of the group's 75th anniversary. Afrox Community Involvement Process (CIP) co-ordinator Renee Selfe announced at the same time that disadvantaged children in South Africa and especially in the Eastern Cape can look forward to a treat next month.

South African donors have funds, but fund-raisers are struggling to raise money for NGOs facing financial crises. Studies have shown that grant funding has not decreased over recent years, yet NGOs are finding it increasingly difficult to raise money. It appears that donors choose to spend their money in different areas from those in which most NGOs function.

Social Development Minister Zola Skweyiya on Monday announced the government had given the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) civil society forum R15,8m.

The Five College African Scholars Residency Program works to strengthen intellectual capacity in African universities and to enrich Africa-focused scholarship at the Five Colleges and internationally.

The Center for Victims of Torture is seeking a Deputy Director for hire to coordinate the implementation of a psycho-social mental health project in Sierra Leone for repatriated refugees or internally displaced persons from Sierra Leone who have suffered torture and war trauma.

Applications are invited for the position of Interim Executive Director of the African Studies Association (ASA), for a term of six months, while the ASA Board of Directors searches for a permanent Executive Director. The Interim Director also is welcome to apply for the permanent position, which offers a three-year contract and will be advertised in the fall of 2002.

A Resource Center Manager is needed to set-up and run the Learning Support Office (LSO)of the Malawi Resource Centre for six months from September.

A national Mozambican NGO recently formed a partnership with an international NGO to establish a HIV/AIDS capacity building programme for Mozambican NGOs and CBOs. The aim of the programme is to contribute to the expansion and strengthening of the national response to HIV/AIDS in Mozambique, with a specific focus on support to community based HIV/AIDS prevention and care initiatives initially in Manica, Sofala and Tete provinces.

Under the general supervision of the Chief of the Human Rights Unit, UNMA, the incumbent will perform a variety of human rights related functions.

We are seeking an Assistant Country Director, to be based in Bujumbura, Burundi.  Reporting to the Country Director, and working closely with the project managers, he/she will help develop and execute the strategy of the Search for Common Ground in Burundi program, being responsible particularly for the day to day management of the branch offices and for the overall operations management of the Bujumbura center.

Those with an interest in web-communication are invited to complete a survey, organised by a group of Open Source developers of Free Software License Website Content Management Systems (CMS). Its purpose is to investigate the demand for Free Software License CMS within the NGO and Non-profit community, and to strengthen funding proposals for the development of appropriate software for NGOs.

U.N. ambassadors from more than 50 African nations recently wrote to Secretary of State Colin Powell asking him to restore the $34 million in funding for the United Nations Population Fund that the Bush administration recently decided to permanently withhold.

The International Federation of Journalists has called on the Government of Ghana to take "urgent and immediate steps" to secure the safety of Kweku Baako, Editor-in-Chief of Crusading Guide, following two death threats.

Zimbabwean woman Angeline Mugwendere narrates her story of how she overcame her gender, rural background and poverty to get education and become successful. Now she helps people from her community set up businesses and establish themselves.

Changes in South African society and family structures are responsible for the increase in teenage violence in the country, experts believe.