Ethiopia’s prominent newspaper, Addis Neger, whose editors fled to Europe months back, citing government harassment, will soon be back in circulation following the launch of the paper’s online edition in Europe. The Ethiopian publication said it would begin news coverage of Ethiopia, focusing on religious and political affairs for its Ethiopian readers.

The reputation of South African mining companies operating in southern Africa is no better than that of western or Asian multinationals in the region, many of which have long been accused of unbridled exploitation, says a new report by the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (Osisa). The report — the latest to question South African companies’ social responsibility obligations — says concrete strategies and training are needed to counter negative perceptions of South African miners with regional operations.

The number of reported rapes and sexual assaults of Zimbabwean migrants to South Africa is increasing, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has said. "From March 1 to May the number of cases treated was 71," MSF nurse Mashudu Nelufule said from Musina in Limpopo. Of these victims, 45 were female and 26 were male. Fifteen were children. "This is just the tip of the iceberg," said Nelufule. Many victims who were attacked had not sought treatment to prevent the contraction of HIV.

Alliance magazine is pleased to announce the launch of its new , which has been specifically created for its coverage of the European Foundation Centre's upcoming conference. blog.

Alliance has assembled an international team of contributors who will be blogging throughout the week, posting regular updates and responses to sessions, as well as providing video interviews and end-of-day summaries. The team includes:

- Akwasi Aidoo (TrustAfrica)
- Gina Anderson (Philanthropy Australia)
- Daniel Ben-Horin and Rebecca Masisak - (Sabanci Foundation)
- Steve Gunderson (Council on Foundations)
- Terry Odendahl and Chet Tchozewski (Global Greengrants Fund)
- Fernando Rossetti (GIFE)

Visit the Alliance blog to find out more about Foundation Week and all the different ways you can follow the coverage.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Africa Division
Deadline for applications: May 31, 2010

Human Rights Watch ("HRW") is seeking a highly-qualified, senior-level professional to head its Africa Division.
Description: The Executive Director of Human Rights Watch’s Africa Division is responsible for developing effective research, advocacy and communications strategies for maximum impact on human rights in sub-Saharan Africa. S/he is responsible for setting priorities and responding to emergencies. S/he oversees detailed research on human rights issues in sub-Saharan Africa, the publication of analytical and credible reports and other advocacy materials on those issues, and the use of these materials to generate domestic and international pressure to curb human rights violations. S/he represents the organization frequently before the international media and advocates with high-level officials from governments, UN, AU and other international and regional organizations. S/he coordinates with key colleagues, both within HRW and externally with allied organizations and NGOs. S/he manages staff based in three continents, including offices in Nairobi and Johannesburg, supporting staff and office development and overseeing their security. The Africa Executive Director is also responsible for fundraising, identifying and recruiting donors, and drafting funding proposals. S/he has overall responsibility for projecting Human Rights Watch’s wider international concerns on the continent. The successful candidate will have excellent leadership skills and a depth and breadth of management and organizational skills, including the demonstrated ability to lead a team of talented professionals in multiple global locations. S/he will preferably be based in the organization's New York City headquarters or an office in Africa, but other locations may be considered. Frequent international travel required.

Qualifications: The ideal candidate will be a self-motivated, creative, strategic thinker with substantive, senior-level experience working on human rights issues in Africa and will have the capacity to serve as an effective advocate and activist. S/he will have excellent leadership, management and organizational skills, including the demonstrated ability to lead a team of talented professionals in multiple global locations. S/he will be able to juggle multiple tasks and work collegially in a demanding, diverse, and fast-paced environment. The ideal candidate will have excellent oral and written communications skills in English and ideally another relevant language, keen political judgment, proven initiative and follow-through, the ability to work quickly and well under pressure, and a commitment to human rights. An advanced degree in law, international relations, African studies, public policy, or a related field is desired, as is familiarity with international human rights law.

Salary and Benefits: HRW seeks exceptional applicants and offers competitive compensation and employer-paid benefits. HRW will pay reasonable relocation expenses and will assist employees in obtaining necessary work authorization, if required; citizens of all nationalities are encouraged to apply.

PLEASE APPLY IMMEDIATELY by emailing in a single submission: a letter of interest describing your experience, your resume, names or letters of reference, salary requirements and a brief writing sample (unedited by others) no later than May 31, 2010 to [email][email protected] Please be sure to indicate where you learned of this vacancy. Please use “Executive Director, Africa Division Ref 10-1021-I” as the subject of your email. Only complete applications will be reviewed. It is preferred that all materials be submitted via email. If emailing is not possible, send materials (please do not split a submission between email and regular post) to:
Human Rights Watch

Attn: Search Committee (Executive Director, Africa Division Ref 10-1021-I)

350 Fifth Avenue, 34th Floor

New York, NY 10118-3299

Fax: (212) 736-1300
Human Rights Watch is an equal opportunity employer that does not discriminate in its hiring practices and, in order to build the strongest possible workforce, actively seeks a diverse applicant pool.

* * *
Human Rights Watch is an international human rights monitoring and advocacy organization known for its in-depth investigations, its incisive and timely reporting, its innovative and high-profile advocacy campaigns, and its success in changing the human rights-related policies and practices of influential governments and international institutions.

Clinical research in South Africa is in serious decline because of two decades of "disinvestment" — leading to an ageing workforce, "chronic underfunding" of its Medical Research Council and "grossly insufficient" funding for research professorships, says a report.

A report alleging that government troops summarily executed fifty civilians in early April in fighting around Mbandaka, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo's northwestern Équateur Province has been rejected by the government. "About fifty Congolese civilians were killed without warning by the Congolese Armed Forces (known by its French acronym, FARDC) in April 2010," says a report by human rights group ASADHO (Association africaine de défense des droits de l’homme), a group based in Kinshasa, capital of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Egyptian writers have condemned a call by a group of Islamic lawyers for the classic book Arabian Nights to be banned because it is "obscene". The group, Lawyers Without Shackles, filed a complaint with Egypt's prosecutor general after the collection of folk tales was republished.

About 210,000 primary school students from eight of Angola's 18 provinces will benefit from two million text-books offered to the Ministry of Education by the European Union (EU).

Canada will grant Mali CFA F 9.3 billion to enable the African country train health professionals for a period of six months, according to a memorandum of understanding (MOU), signed Wednesday in Bamako, the capital, between the two countries. The grant will also enable Mali to implement its Programme for Health and Social Development (PRODESS) and the Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategic Framework(GPRSF).

We, representatives of organizations of farmers, fisherfolk, Indigenous Peoples, pastoralists, women’s groups, NGOs and other civil society organizations met on May 4 2010 here in Luanda to deliberate on issues affecting food security in Africa during the 26 FAO Regional Conference for Africa. The objective of civil society’s engagement in this process is to contribute critically and provide own perspectives informed by social organisations and communities experiences in their efforts to achieve food security and food sovereignty.

£38,000
Central London
Permanent position

The Common Ground Initiative is a £20 million fund supporting African development through UK based small and Diaspora organisations. With the support of the Baring Foundation and working in partnership with DFID, Comic Relief aims to make grants that will bring sustainable change to some of the most disadvantaged communities in Africa. We will also create opportunities to influence international development policy as well as commission a major study to understand more about the contribution of the UK Diaspora in international development. Join us in this new role and help manage this strategic investment and in doing so, make a greater contribution towards a just world, free from poverty.

Working from our Central London office, you will project manage our work on supporting the Diaspora on policy influencing and advocacy work, and contribute to our learning in this field. You will also spend no more than one day a week carrying out grant making and management duties.

This influential role calls for experience of working in international development, a track record within policy influencing and advocacy work, proven project management skills and a passion for using learning to inform future work.

Apply online at or send a large SAE, quoting reference CR1028, to Recruitment, Comic Relief, 5th Floor, 89 Albert Embankment,
London SE1 7TP. Closing date: 21 June 2010

Please note that successful applicants must have the right to live and work in the United Kingdom.

Comic Relief positively welcomes, and seeks to ensure we achieve, diversity in our workforce and that all job applicants and employees receive equal and fair treatment, regardless of age, race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, disability or nationality. We encourage applications from disabled people as they are currently under-represented in the organisation. We will guarantee an interview to all disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the job.
registered charity 326568

Just 2km from the Tanzanian border, the “integrated” rural village of Nyakazi in Kibago commune, Makamba Province, houses 198 families, 80 percent of whom are landless returnees. The village is one of several set up in the southern region of Burundi to help in the reintegration of thousands of 1972 civil war returnees.

Security officials in Ghana are cracking down on migrant Fulani herdsmen, accusing them of rape, vandalism, destruction of farms and armed robbery, but conflict resolution specialists say the herdsmen are being manipulated and the government must abide by regional right-of-passage laws.

The Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS) of the University of the Western Cape, Isandla Institute and Studies on Poverty and Inequality Institute (SPII) with support from the Programme to Support Pro-Poor Policy Development (PSPPD) of the Office of the Presidency, and the Chronic Poverty Research Centre (CPRC) form a partnership to host a three-day national conference on structural poverty to be held in Johannesburg, South Africa on 20 - 22 September 2010.

A dissident Tunisian journalist has been released from prison after serving a six-month sentence for assault. Taoufik Ben Brik, a prominent critic of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, has always claimed his conviction was politically motivated.

Skeletal academic activity enveloped Tanzania's public universities Thursday as lecturers joined a strike to press for better retirement benefits from the government. While the government remained silent about the strike, a meeting of seven public higher learning institutions held here has agreed to go ahead with the strike.

CODESRIA/SEPHIS collaborative programme is pleased to announce the 7th edition of its Extended Workshop on New Theories and Methods in Social History which is scheduled for the 2nd – 12th of November 2010 in Dakar, Senegal. The theme of the workshop is: “Historicizing Gender & Sexuality in the Global South”. The Workshop will be organised around the comparative experiences of Africa, the Middle East, Asia, the Caribbean and Latin America.

The Fourth African Conference on FOSS and the Digital Commons (IDLELO 4) to be held from 17th - 21st May, 2010, in Accra at the Ghana-India Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence in ICT (AITI-KACE). This knowledge-building and sharing event under the theme: “Development with Ownership” is a forum for African experts and their global partners to share experience in order to expand awareness of the 'open' philosophy and the creation and use of open technologies for the benefit of our people.

FOSSFA has launched the African FOSS Reporter Award Competition 2010. The award aims to highlight the impact of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) on the development of Africa. It recognizes outstanding reporting for a general audience and honors individuals (rather than institutions and publishers) for their coverage of FOSS. The competition is run in partnership with Deutsche Welle and supported by OSIWA as part of an initiative to raise public awareness of FOSS in Africa.