International Women’s Day, 2022
To Overcome Africa’s Development Crisis, Invest in Strengthening Girls’ Power

It was on a visit to Lesotho that I first heard the derogatory term Mmutla – nocturnal hare. It is a word used in some southern districts to insult adolescent girls who have been forced into sexual exploitation and transactional sexual relations for survival.

International Women’s Day, 2022
Women Lighting the Way in Off-Grid Zimbabwe

Electricity transmission lines run through Chiedza Murindo’s home in Murombedzi, a small town in Zvimba district in Mashonaland West province, but her house has no electricity. That is the harsh reality for much of Zimbabwe’s rural population, where only 13% of households live without power compared to 83% of urban households.

Egypt Rushes to Find Alternative Wheat Suppliers Following Ukraine Crisis

Egypt is scrambling to find alternate sources of wheat after the Russian invasion of Ukraine has put supply to the country in jeopardy. This is especially urgent because the price of bread in Egypt has in the past sparked protests in the country.

We Must Carry on Paul Farmer’s Work on Social Determinants of Health

Paul Farmer, the legendary global health equity warrior, recently died in his sleep from heart-related complications at the University of Global Health Equity (UGHE) in Butaro, Rwanda, the university he co-founded.

African Governments Urged to Support Plastic Pollution Solutions

Environmental experts gathered in Nairobi, Kenya, have urged African governments to take advantage of ‘circular plastic opportunities’ to lower greenhouse gas emissions and stop environmental degradation. They were speaking to IPS on the sidelines of the fifth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA).

Cyclone Ana Floods Choke Malawi’s Water and Sanitation Goals

On the night of January 24, 2022, as Cyclone Ana-triggered rains incessantly rattled on the rusty roof of her house, amid intervals of gusty winds, a thud woke up Josephine Kumwanje from her sleep.

The New World Wonder: a 100 Million Hectares Wall to Protect Africa

Once completed in 2030, it could well be considered the world’s eighth wonder, this time natural. It is the African-led Great Green Wall or the largest living structure on the planet – an 8.000 kilometres natural hit stretching across the entire width of the continent.

A Step Toward Africa’s First Covid-19 Vaccine of Its Own

Efforts to combat the vast global inequity in access to Covid-19 vaccines just got a boost. A Cape Town company claims it successfully made a vaccine that mimics Moderna’s messenger RNA vaccine—without any help from Moderna. This copycat will still need to undergo clinical trials, but the effort could yield Africa’s first Covid-19 vaccine.

WASH Interventions Key to Reaching Africa’s Child Health Milestones

For two days in a row back in 2018, four-year-old Calvin Otieno suffered from diarrhoea and vomiting, and his mother responded by giving him a salt solution.

Call for Increased Global Efforts to Ease Africa’s Climate-Induced Water Crisis

When years ago warnings were sounded that future wars would be fought not over oil but water, the predictions were dismissed as alarmist.

Storybook Apps Turn African Learners Into Writers

Suwaiba Hassan published an engrossing story. She used digital apps that are giving literacy a boost.

From Zero Yield to Bumper Harvest

In the past, the people of Sande Village in Chikwawa district, Malawi, would go to bed with empty stomachs even when the rest of the country harvested bumper yields.

Long-haul SADC Action Needed to Counter Mozambican Insurgency and Humanitarian Crisis

Ongoing insecurity and an unfolding humanitarian crisis in northern Mozambique need a strategically planned response to deal decisively with the insurgency that has plagued the area since October 2017.

No Perfect Solution: Africa’s Smallholder Farmers Must Use Both Traditional and New Practices

As an agricultural and environmental scientist, I’ve worked for decades exploring the practical challenges that smallholder farmers encounter in East Africa. These include controlling weeds that can choke their crops and looking for new ways to deal with pests or diseases that threaten their harvests.

Is it Time to Bar Coup Leaders from the UN?

A rash of military coups in Africa has resurrected a long dormant question: should leaders who take power through armed insurrections be barred from addressing the United Nations—an institution which swears by, and promotes, multi-party democracy?

‘End Leprosy Discrimination Now, For the Sake of Our Children’

Seidu Ishaiku lives in the hope that his children will succeed. He and his family live with about 300 other residents in the Alheri leprosy colony outside Nigeria's Federal Capital Territory Abuja.

The Dilemma of Zimbabwe’s Food Security Efforts

On January 10, the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) arrested three men found with fertilizer worth about 130,000 US dollars.

Road to COP27: Why Africa cannot be Complacent on Energy, Climate Change

A year ago, we welcomed 2021 with a sense of cautious optimism when the newly developed vaccines promised a shift in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. The focus turned towards building back better and doing things differently as many countries started to rethink and rebuild their shattered economies.

Mali must not Be a New Site for Clashes Between Global Powers

Last week, I was delighted to speak to the United Nations Security Council. In the ten years that my country has been experiencing conflict, violence, and instability, dozens of conferences and other international summits have been held without ever really making room for those who are mobilized on a daily basis for more social justice, the defense of human rights and achieving Malian peace.

Key Pillars Mostly in Place to Speed up Africa’s Free Trade in 2022

The official start of free trading under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) in January 2021 moved a major continental aspiration closer to reality.

Adolescents Left Behind Global AIDS Response – Experts

The ominous warning came in 2019 through an anonymous message on her mobile phone to stay away from a man she met on social media.