EAST AFRICA: Move Towards Common HIV/AIDS Law

All HIV-positive east Africans could soon access free anti-retroviral treatment even as they move freely from country to country, if a new proposed law comes into effect.

UGANDA: “Mount Elgon Eviction Has Reduced Us to Beggars”*

"We have been reduced to begging from relatives and to migrate to urban areas where life is not safe. We were living in the mountain for more than 200 years. Transferring us means burying us, completely. We want to stay in our area and develop."

RIGHTS-UGANDA: “You Cannot Tell Me You Will Kill Me Because I’m Gay”

The Ugandan government will put to death gay citizens repeatedly caught having sex and throw into jail those who touch each other in a "gay" way, if a new proposed Bill becomes law.

HEALTH: Uganda’s Counterfeits Bill Threatens Access to Medicine

Uganda is considering an anti-counterfeit bill which analysts say will impair the country’s ability to import and export cheap but effective generic medicines. Activists fear that the bill, once enacted, will deny Ugandans access to safe, effective, quality and affordable generic medication which currently forms the bulk of Uganda’s medicine imports.

UGANDA: Palm Project Accused of Environmental Destruction

It is a public-private partnership intended to reduce Uganda's dependence on imported vegetable oil while creating sustainable jobs and income for several thousand people. Its critics say it's destroying forests with no regard for environmental regulations.

RIGHTS-UGANDA: Female Circumcision Still a Vote Winner

Over three decades ago a 14-year-old girl, her sister and a group of young teenagers from Bukwo headed to the River Amana for a ceremony that would change their lives forever.

UGANDA: Business Wants to Put Brakes on New Common Market

The plans for a common market in the East African Community (EAC) are proceeding apace and should fall in place on Jan 1, 2010, the target date of implementation. But Uganda’s traders are concerned that they will be unable to compete with traders from their country’s larger neighbour Kenya when the new common market starts.

RIGHTS-AFRICA: Uganda Women Seek Gender Recovery Plan

After two decades of war during which thousands of children were used as child soldiers and many women raped, northern Uganda’s recovery plan is to be spent on building roads rather than helping the country’s most vulnerable.

UGANDA: Carbon Trading Scheme Pushing People off Their Land

As the world's attention increasingly turns to the impact of climate change, at least one project intended to reduce global carbon emissions is accused of displacing indigenous persons from their home in Uganda.

RIGHTS-UGANDA: ‘Our Mission is To End Impunity’ – Moreno Ocampo

On a visit to Uganda, Luis Moreno Ocampo, prosecutor for the International Criminal Court (ICC) has again called for joint action by governments in the region to arrest the top commanders of Ugandan rebel group, the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA).

RIGHTS: No Safe Haven for Ugandan Girls

A year ago, a mother in Kashari County took the law into her own hands and castrated a man she caught raping her seven-year-old daughter.

AGRICULTURE-AFRICA: Calls for Sustainable Green Revolution

Africa needs a Green Revolution, but one that will increase agricultural productivity by using practices that build soil fertility while minimising harm to the environment.

AGRICULTURE: Biotechnology: Africa Must Not Be Left Behind

Africa must embrace agricultural biotechnology or risk being excluded from a major technological revolution that has had increased food production in the Europe, North America and Asia.

ECONOMY-UGANDA: Traders Go Down as Prices Go Up

With the world economy in the grip of a credit crunch, traders and consumers in Uganda are struggling with price inflation and the depreciation of the country’s currency, the Ugandan shilling, against the dollar. Especially importers have not been able to bring goods in which were ordered when prices were lower.

TOURISM: ‘‘Uganda Not Just About Idi Amin, Civil War and AIDS’’

Ugandans are unhappy with their tourism authority as they believe that their country’s warm climate and exceptional species, such as the mountain gorilla, should attract as many tourists as neighbouring Kenya. To compound matters, the global economic crisis has shrunk tourist arrivals from Europe.

RIGHTS: Against Sexual Violence: Solidarity Among African Women

Increased cases of rape and sexual abuse of women and girls is closely associated with armed conflict and its aftermath in Africa.

AFRICA: Women's Bodies Have Been Battlefields

Religion, cultural norms and tradition promote discrimination and unequal power relations between men and women in Africa. Akina Mama wa Afrika's Christine Butegwa doesn't hesitate when asked what explains the horrific levels of sexual violence against women in conflict-affected areas on the continent.

HEALTH-UGANDA: Shifting the Weight to Bear the Burden

There is no lunch break for the staff at the Kiswa Health Centre. With the closure of the nearby Mbuya hospital for renovation earlier this year, the six-room centre is offering pre- and antenatal services, HIV/AIDS testing and general healthcare to 400 patients a day.

EAST AFRICA: Milk Trade War Spills Over Uganda and Kenya

Ugandan exporters of dairy products to Kenya are bitter. They are accusing their bigger neighbour of imposing non-tariff trade barriers to block their produce from entering markets in Kenya and elsewhere.

AGRICULTURE-AFRICA: Food Security Requires Increased Fertiliser Use

A mix of organic and inorganic fertilisers, together with good seed could help Africa to replenish depleted soils and to grow more food in the fight against hunger and food insufficiency.

ENVIRONMENT: ‘‘Climate Change Does Not Wait For Recessions’’

Lack of money and technical know-how makes it difficult for poor farmers to participate in the Kyoto Protocol’s carbon trading mechanism aimed at reversing global warming. Meanwhile, the global economic crisis may further undermine investment in carbon trade in African countries.