The Public Interest Law Institute (PILI) is pleased to invite applications for its Public Interest Law Fellows Program for 2010-2011. The program will select qualified lawyers from West Africa for ten months of study and practical experience in New York and Budapest. We will be accepting applicants from the following countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Cape Verde, Cameroon, Chad, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo. The program endeavors to target future leaders in various fields of public interest advocacy.

Indigenous Fisher Peoples Network (IFP) with support of Minority Rights Group International (MRGI) will from January 2010 implement a 3 year EU funded Investing in People - Access to local culture, protection and promotion of cultural diversity project in Kenya. The Artistic Director will have the overall responsibility for the management of the drama production process. S/He will report to, and work very closely with the Governance Programme Officer at IFP, who will be in charge of project implementation. Deadline for submissions is 5th February 2010.

Dwa Fanm has activated an emergency response through our connection with the Brooklyn Tabernacle. Tabernacle doctors, nurses and community health workers are working to bring medical assistance and supplies to areas that have been hardest hit with the first delegation expected to be Haiti as early as tomorrow. Other delegations will continue to go to Haiti during these next few days of crisis.

January 12 at 5 p.m. local time, a powerful magnitude-7 earthquake struck in Haiti. It was centered near the capital city Port-au-Prince and has caused massive destruction. We have word that School Director Réa Dol is okay and has converted her house and the school (which suprisingly survived the quake) into a makeshift hospital and shelter . There are 30 to 40 people at her home and 60 to 70 at the school.Unfortunately, we now know that some of the teachers and students were killed.

Kenya's planned development path will more than double its carbon emissions unless efforts are taken to pursue low carbon development, according to an environmental think tank.

The East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project (EHAHRDP) would like to recruit a Program Coordinator to work at the Secretariat based in Kampala, Uganda. Applications which should include a letter of motivation and a C.V. with details of education background, working experience, human rights activities and three references should be sent to; [email][email protected] by the 31st January 2010.

In what is being considered a significant milestone for communications in the country, the number of South Africans to have access to the Internet has hit the five million mark. Research conducted by local analyst house World Wide Worx, in conjunction with Cisco, shows that local Internet penetration has increased to 10%.

On Friday 22 January, the "Kennedy 12" will be in court for the eighth time. The five will be expecting judgement in the bail application, while the seven will be seeking relaxation of their bail conditions. The "Kennedy 12" now need your presence, your prayers and your protest more than ever before.

The Year 2009 can be considered as one of the worst years for press freedom in the African continent. Considering the year under review, 13 journalists were killed across the continent; 32 journalists imprisoned, a significant number of journalists arrested, some violently attacked and wounded, while threats and intimidation against journalists continued unabated.

The Open Society Initiative for East Africa (OSIEA) seeks a Program Assistant to provide administrative support to department members in the Nairobi office. Working under the supervision of the Program Officers, the Program Assistant will provide general administrative and programmatic support.

2008 statistics show that total trade between the China and Africa was valued at $106.8 billion, up 45.1 per cent in 2007. These fast rising Sino-Africa ties are expected to face a major test in March when Tunis plays host to a rare meeting to scrutinise China’s engagement with the continent.

The Centre for African Studies Basel calls for applications for two doctoral positions funded by the Humer Foundation (Humer-Stiftung zur Förderung des wissenschaftlichen Nachwuchses). The research is to be carried out within the framework of the interdisciplinary programme "Living the City", which addresses processes of invention and intervention in the dynamics of urbanisation in Africa.

Mauritian Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam, speaking at the opening of a three-day conference on “Doing Business 2010 in Africa: Sharing Reform Experiences” in Balaclava, Mauritius, has said that Africa is poised for what may be the most buoyant years in its economic history, provided it facilitates doing business despite the worst global economic recession in decades.

Algeria's Ministry of Education, faced with a worrisome drop-out rate, has begun fining parents who do not send their children to school.

Twenty-five students were arrested at Bindura University on Thursday, after a demonstration over exorbitant tuition fees which have resulted in at least 40 percent of students being denied access to write their exams.

This call for proposals set out the conditions for accessing the sixth edition (2010) of ERNWACA Research Grants Programme.

The Center for African Studies (ISCTE / Lisbon University Institute) and the Center for African Studies of the University of Porto are organizing the 7th Iberian Congress of African Studies which will be hosted by ISCTE / Lisbon University Institute between 9 and 11 September 2010.

In this research programme an interpretation will be offered of the relationship between the new Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), social space, mobility and marginality in Sub-Saharan Africa. In six case-studies (Central Chad, West-Cameroon, Central Mali, Senegal, North Angola and South-East Angola), the programme seeks to arrive at an interdisciplinary analysis of the dynamics of mobility, social relations and communication technologies.

'We cannot imagine life now without a mobile phone' is a frequent comment when Africans are asked about mobile phones. They have become part and parcel of the communication landscape in many urban and rural areas of Africa and the growth of mobile telephony is amazing: from 1 in 50 people being users in 2000 to 1 in 3 in 2008. Such growth is impressive but it does not even begin to tell us about the many ways in which mobile phones are being appropriated by Africans and how they are transforming or are being transformed by society in Africa. This volume ventures into such appropriation and mutual shaping.

The 31st Durban International Film Festival (22 July - 2 August 2010) is proud to announce the 3rd edition of Talent Campus Durban from 23 - 27 July 2010, an intensive 5-day programme of workshops and seminars delivered by film professionals to enhance both theoretical and practical approaches to filmmaking.