ENVIRONMENT: Swaziland Stands Up to Polluters

When a major distillery received word that it was being sued for polluting a major river by the Swaziland Environmental Authority (SEA), the company was so astounded it wrote to Prime Minister Sibusiso Dlamini demanding an explanation.

RIGHTS-SWAZILAND: Parents Refuse Medical Treatment on Religious Grounds

A clash of values - parental, religious, child's rights and society's responsibilities - is playing out this week after parents of a three year-old boy refused their child medical treatment on religious grounds.

RIGHTS-SWAZILAND: Parents Refuse Medical Treatment on Religious Grounds

A clash of values -- parental, religious, child's rights and society's responsibilities -- is playing out this week after parents of a three year-old boy refused their child medical treatment on religious grounds.

RIGHTS-SWAZILAND: Plays Carry AIDS Messages to Enthusiastic Audiences

Theatre in Swaziland is proving to be a very successful way to educate both the young and old, men and women, about gender issues and how to protect themselves against sexual abuse and HIV/AIDS.

RIGHTS-SWAZILAND: Plays Carry AIDS Messages to Enthusiastic Audiences

Theatre in Swaziland is proving to be a very successful way to educate both the young and old, men and women, about gender issues and how to protect themselves against sexual abuse and HIV-AIDS.

DEVELOPMENT: Southern Africa Unites against Water Poverty

It is a subspecies of Africa's pervasive poverty, and one of the most worrisome: an absence of a vital natural resource, water, that policy makers call - hydrological poverty".

DEVELOPMENT: Southern Africa Unites against Water Poverty

It is a subspecies of Africa's pervasive poverty, and one of the most worrisome: an absence of a vital natural resource, water, that policy makers call ôhydrological poverty".

ENVIRONMENT-SOUTHERN AFRICA: The Politics of Weather

Ted Reilly, founder of Swaziland's wild animal park systems, surveys the green early spring hills of October, noting that "the meteorologists tell us not to think a few showers can break this drought," which in Southern Africa has profound political as well as humanitarian consequences.

ENVIRONMENT: The Politics of Southern Africa’s Weather

Ted Reilly, founder of Swaziland's wild animal park systems, surveys the green early spring hills of October, and knows their beauty is deceptive.

ENVIRONMENT: The Politics of Southern Africa’s Weather

û Ted Reilly, founder of Swaziland's wild animal park systems, surveys the green early spring hills of October, and knows their beauty is deceptive.

RIGHTS-SWAZILAND: Maidens’ Chastity Vows, a Year Later

The vow of Swaziland's maidens to adhere to age-old chastity rules after these had been in abeyance for years made international headlines a year ago.

RIGHTS-SWAZILAND: Maidens’ Chastity Vows, a Year Later

The vow of Swaziland's maidens to adhere to age-old chastity rules after these had been in abeyance for years made international headlines a year ago.

DEVELOPMENT-AFRICA: Ports Play a Major Role in Poverty Alleviation Efforts

Southern Africa's ocean ports, which bristle along the Atlantic and Indian Oceans at those nations fortunate enough to be located beside the sea, are commercial lifelines that will play an increasingly important role in developmental and poverty alleviation efforts.

ECONOMY: Turmoil and Opportunity in Southern Africa’s Mining Industry

û Mining, which a century ago became the foundation of the modern Southern Africa economy, is going through an upheaval as countries rewrite their mining policies, leaving national currencies trembling and investors nervous.

/ARTS WEEKLY/THEATRE-AFRICA: Artists Weigh the Success of World Summit

Musicians, performing artists and other entertainers from the Southern Africa region are weighing the success of this month's World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) held in Johannesburg, and how much attention their talents received.

ECONOMY: Expanding Southern Africa’s Tourism Attractions to the World

The time has come for the 90 percent of tourists who visit Africa annually to move down from the antiquities of Egypt, their one and only destination on the continent, and explore the wonders that await them at the opposite, southern end of the continent.

TRANSPORT-AFRICA: Transcontinental Railway Moving Closer to Reality

The 130 year-old dream of linking Africa with a transcontinental railway is moving closer to reality as transportation ministers from over 50 African countries prepare their position papers in anticipation of a forthcoming General Assembly meeting of the Union of African Railways in November.

RIGHTS-AFRICA: New Media Bridges Communication Gaps for Activist Groups

Causes from AIDS awareness to gender equality and human rights have a powerful tool in new Information and Communications Technologies (ICT), felt participants at a conference devoted to new media on the sidelines of the World Summit of Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg, South Africa.

RIGHTS: Africa’s Forgotten AIDs Orphans

û By the end of 2000, 13 million children in the world had lost their mother or both parents to AIDS. That 75 percent of these children lived in sub-Saharan Africa indicates the heavy toll the disease is taking in this region of the developing world.

DEVELOPMENT-SOUTHERN AFRICA: Donors Tightening Aid Guidelines

û With ôdonor fatigue" diminishing charitable and humanitarian contributions to developing countries from citizens of the developed world and their governments, more stringent aid guidelines are now tying aid relief to human rights issues.

TECHNOLOGY-AFRICA: A Long Way to Bridge the Digital Divide

As Non-government organisations (NGOs) become more reliant on Information and Communications Technology (ICT), two emphases are being taken to computer use.