The Somali Coalition For freedom Expression (SOCFEX) condemns the arbitral detention of the editor of YOOL and the subsequent sentencing to five months by the regional court of Hargaisa in the self declared state of Somaliland after being accused of publishing newspaper without proper authorization. Mr. Mohamed Abdi Urad has been detained by the Somaliland police in late February 2009. He was held in the headquarters of Somaliland CID in Hargaisa. He appeared in court briefly once and was sent back to detention after prosecution failed to make credible charges.

The Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) is pleased to announce its 2009 Child and Youth Studies Institute and invites interested scholars to send applications for consideration for selection as laureates’ resource person and director in the session scheduled for September 2009. The Institute is an offshoot of the Child and Youth Studies programme and is designed to strengthen analytic capacity on all questions affecting children and youth in Africa and elsewhere in the world.

The African continent has been central to the project of capitalist globalization, and the dominance of Western economic and geopolitical interests continues to profoundly shape Africa's internal dynamics in the postcolonial period. This collection of essays and interviews from leading activists and socialists offers critical insights into class struggle and social empowerment across the continent.

The latest update on the telecommunications markets of East and Southern Africa contains revised mobile market growth forecasts for all eight of the countries surveyed. In each case, the authors have also extended their forecasts to the end of 2013. The new forecasts are based on an assessment of Q308 subscriber data published by the region's telecoms regulators and by its various mobile operators.

The African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC) in partnership with the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) are pleased to announce the second call of the African Doctoral Dissertation Research Fellowships (ADDRF). The 2009 ADDRF seeks to facilitate more rigorous engagement of doctoral students in research, strengthen their research skills, and provide the fellows an opportunity for timely completion of their doctoral training.

This is a call for materials for a contemporary Reader on African sexualities, which is being developed and edited by Prof. Sylvia Tamale-outgoing Dean of Law at Makerere University and Coordinator of the Law, Gender and Sexuality Research Project at the Faculty of Law. This seminal work will be a compilation of diverse populist and academic pieces that either engage with or inform sexualities enacted all over the African continent.

We lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex individuals, in a word, queers, have had the distinct un-pleasure of being told we don't exist—in official government statements, historical documents, and contemporary statements. Well, we do. We want Kenyan stories by Kenya-based and Kenya-born queers. About everything. We want writing about the dailyness of our lives, the good, the bad, the weird, the indifferent.

Zimbabwe will shortly have a new daily newspaper Mr. Trevor Ncube the chairman of the Zimbabwe Independent and the Standard newspapers announced this week. The paper to be called NewsDay will be published everyday except Sunday. The company’s other titles namely the Zimbabwe Independent and the Standard will continue to be published as at present on a Friday and Sunday.

The South African Coalition for the International Criminal Court (SACICC) was established in 2000 as a collective of volunteers who came together to promote ratification and implementation of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court in South Africa. Since South Africa enacted implementation legislation in 2002, SACICC has remained largely inactive. However, there is a growing need for expansion of ratification and particularly implementation within SADC. SACICC has been re-activated and is looking for a Pro Bono Director to lead the way.

Indexkenya.org is an online index of articles published in Nairobi newspapers. The focus of the articles indexed includes culture, law/governance, reproductive health, and other topics about which information is difficult to obtain. The index will ultimately include details of articles published since 1980. The actual content of an article is not provided, rather online citations describing the articles. Hard copy of any article indexed can be ordered directly from the Kenya Indexing Project. This database will be updated on a regular basis.

The CODESRIA Democratic Governance Institute is an interdisciplinary forum which brings together African scholars undertaking innovative research on topics related to the broad theme of governance. The aim of the Institute is to promote research and debates on issues connected to the conduct of public affairs and the management of the development process in Africa. The Institute was launched in 1992 and has been held every year since then in Dakar, Senegal.

Following the assassinations of two human rights activists and a student earlier this month, Kenyan citizens and civil society organisations have called for the government to reiterate publicly its commitments to ending violence, disarming and demobilising armed groups and militias, and restoring fundamental rights and freedoms. In an open letter and an 11-point demand to the president and prime minister, signatories highlighted the government’s non-implementation of these commitments, demanding, among other actions, an independent investigation into the assassinations.

Comrades Oscar and Oulu,
They may have shot you dead,
but they have not shot down what you believed in and stood for.
They may have destroyed your physical bodies,
but your spirit and what you believed and stood by is now more alive than ever.
They may have tried to remove you physically from Kenyans’ minds,
but the two of you are more alive now in Kenyans’ minds than ever,
more so in the minds of the helpless young widows
and children of victims of extrajudicial killings,
more alive to the whole world that has stood by you and is crying for justice in your case.

Independent Advocacy Project (IAP) has urged President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua to publish the report of the Justice Muhammadu Uwais Electoral Reforms Panel, set up in 2007 to propose ways for credible elections. The group has also called on the president to reconsider its decision to reverse the recommendation of the Uwais Panel on the appointment of the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

732 students from 70 schools will not receive their results for the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education examinations done last year. The results were released on Wednesday by the Minister for Education Prof Sam Ongeri. Their results are held over cases on cheating.

The Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA), in partnership with the Pan African Film and Television Festival (FESPACO ), is pleased to announce a two day workshop on “New Directions in African Cinema” that it is organising in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, on 4th-5th March 2009. FESPACO is a biannual event which was founded in 1969 to promote the development of the African cinema industry by providing a venue to reflect on, showcase and celebrate achievements in the industry.

Tadamon- The Egyptian Refugee Council is seeking a qualified individual for the position of Network Coordinator. The Network Coordinator is mainly responsible for the overall coordination of all Council initiated activities in Egypt and ensures that the Council's mission, objectives and principles are followed and achieved. Interested candidates are kindly requested to send their updated CVs along with a one page statement (400 words max) to [email][email protected] Deadline for applications is March 20th, 2009. Only shortlisted applicants will be contacted.

Behind the Mask is inviting applications for the French Reporter/ Translator Position. This position is more suitable for people who are of African descent and who identify as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender & Intersex (LGBTI) but not exclusive to heterosexual people. Closing date for applications is Wednesday, 25 March 2009. Please forward your applications to [email][email protected] Telephone enquiries can be made by calling +27 11 403 5566. For more information on the organisation, please visit

The CGIAR Gender & Diversity Program warmly invites applications from qualified African agricultural women scientists for this innovative and exciting fellowship program. Available to women agricultural scientists from: Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia. AWARD offers specially tailored two-year career development fellowships, available at three levels: post-Bachelors, post- Masters and post-doctorate. The deadline for all applications: Monday March 30, 2009

The 3rd International IDIA Conference will be held in Africa in order to make it easier for interested parties of this continent to participate. The conference is aimed at researchers, policy-makers and reflective practitioners. It will be managed by the School of Information Technology, Monash South Africa (Johannesburg). Monash University is seeking to accelerate its engagement internationally, and this conference reflects this commitment.