NGOs

The Johannesburg Equality Court has found the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) president, Julius Malema, guilty of hate speech and harassment.

Magistrate Colleen Collis ordered Malema to make an unconditional public apology within two weeks and pay an amount of R50 000 to a centre for abused women within one month, for saying president Jacob Zuma’s rape accuser had ‘nice time’.

The Treatment Action Campaign's (TAC) general secretary, Vuyiseka Dubula-Majola and chairperson, Nonkosi Khumalo, have received the John M Lloyd Foundation Leadership Award in Los Angeles.

Dubula-Majola and Khumalo shared the award which endeavours to recognise, develop and empower AIDS advocacy leaders that have not been extensively acknowledged.

The Forum for African Women Educationalists in Uganda (FAWE) says the stiff competition in education has led to many students who obtain reasonably good marks failing to get admitted at university on Ugandan government sponsorship.

Speaking at the graduation of 27 girls who were sponsored by FAWE during their secondary school, the organisation’s coordinator, Martha Muhwezi, welcomed the proposed student's loan scheme, which she said is likely to help many needy students.

United States-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) has urged Nigeria to prosecute those behind what it calls a massacre of at least 200 Christian villagers and end a cycle of impunity which has allowed instability to persist.

HRW’s West Africa senior researcher, Corinne Dufka, points out that, "This kind of terrible violence has left thousands dead in Plateau state in the past decade, but no one has been held accountable. It's time to draw a line in the sand."

AIDS and Rights Alliance for Southern Africa (ARASA), an alliance of NGOs engaged in work on HIV and human rights in the Southern African Development Community region, says that the world is less than halfway to achieving universal access to treatment.

ARASA advocacy coordinator, Paula Akugizibwe, points out that about four million HIV patients are getting AIDS drugs worldwide, but 10 million are not getting treatment.

The South African National Editors' Forum (SANEF) has resolved to revive its discussions with the police leadership to ensure that the media is allowed the freedom to report on the fight against crime.

In a press statement, SANEF points out that some police officers continue to treat journalists in a negative manner and enforcing unofficial restrictions in media reporting.

Human Help Network Rwanda (HHN), a NGO that promotes sustainable human, social and economic development has handed over a six-classroom block it built in Karama Sector, Huye district.

With technical expertise from the partnership between Rhineland-Palatinate and Rwanda, HHN also constructed latrines and provided clean water to the over 1 400 pupils of the school.

The release of the King III Report on Corporate Governance on September 1 last year and its imminent application has rekindled and invigorated the national discourse on corporate governance and social responsibility. Although this is a positive step, there is a need to orientate the debate towards the responsibilities of the Non-profit Organisation (NPO) sector in a more meaningful way than has been hitherto by King III.

The Botswana Network on Ethics, Law and HIV/AIDS (BONELA) is expected to make a presentation at the National AIDS Council (NAC) on findings of an assessment of access to health services by the lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans-gendered community as well as a study on men who have sex with men (MSM) in May this year.

BONELA says this decision was made by former president Festus Mogae, at the NAC last week, following a query by BONELA as the presentation initially scheduled for May last year, was cancelled at the last minute, without consultation.