Breaking Vicious Cycle of Trafficking for Sexual Exploitation

Desperate to escape the rural area where she was engaged in the informal economy in Kayonza, a district in Eastern Rwanda, Sharon* made a long and arduous journey to Kenya in the hope of a well-paid job.

Government Ministries Must Collaborate to End Teenage Pregnancy Crisis in Kenya

The Ministry of Health in Kenya recently reported there were 45,754 cases of adolescent pregnancies between January and February this year - that translates to 700 cases a day. Of the total number, at least 2000 of these cases resulted from sexual and gender based violence (SGBV), a figure which is likely lower than the reality.

Democracy Loses Its Glow for South Africans Amid Persistent Inequality

South Africans believed that the introduction of democracy in 1994 would transform their lives for the better through equality of opportunities. This hasn’t happened.

Earth Day is a Time to Reflect on What It Means to Invest in Our Planet

Around the world, Earth Day 2022 is being celebrated.  The theme this year is “Invest in Our Planet”. To mark the day, activities such as planting trees, protests, marches, cleaning up litter, and conferences will be held to highlight the importance of investing and taking care of our planet.

Road to European Dream Paved by Extortion and Exploitation

Last June, Mit Al Korama's youth gathered in front of one of their homes on a summer evening to tell stories of citizens from the village and neighboring villages who had successfully crossed the Mediterranean to Europe.

Kenyan Community Project Saving Forests, Saving Livelihoods

Despite an abundance of fisheries reserves along Kwale County’s lush coastline located on the south coast of Kenya, fishers can no longer cast a net just past the coral reef and expect an abundant crab or prawn harvest.

Malawi Counts Success of Polio Vaccination Drive after Detecting First Case in 30 Years

One polio case is one too many, global health experts say. And when Malawi announced in February this year that it had detected a polio case in the country’s capital Lilongwe, the alarm was significant, and the response from both the government and global health partners was swift, if not frantic.

Unintended Pregnancy Rates Highest in Africa: a Look at the Complex Reasons

The United Nations Population Fund recently released the 2022 State of World Population report. It highlights that almost half of all pregnancies between 2015 and 2019 were unintended. That amounts to roughly 121 million unintended pregnancies each year.

Kenya’s Ticking Bomb as Unemployed Youth Lured into Traffickers’ Dens

Ahmed Bakari’s ill-fated journey to ‘greener pastures’ started with a social media private message from a stranger back in 2017. The message said an international NGO was recruiting teachers and translators to work in Somalia.

Africa Commits to Green Recovery from COVID-19 Amid Daunting Challenges

Climate change activist Mithika Mwenda, the Executive Director of the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA), is not reluctant to engage African governments to do what’s necessary to commit to post-COVID-19 green growth strategies.

Why Africa is Divided Over the Russia-Ukraine War?

While the West has closed its ranks in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the response in Africa has hardly been uniform. Following Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine on 24 February, various constituencies within the international community have reacted with a mixture of shock, anger, and trepidation as they ponder the invasion’s implications for international security.

Worrying Insights from UN’s First-Ever Assessment of Water Security in Africa

When it comes to water security – a reliable, good supply of safe water – just 29 African countries have made some progress over the past three to five years. Twenty-five have made none.

Wake-Up Call as Millions of Africa’s Children at Risk of Missing Out on Education – Report

Marisol Ntalami is one of 747,161 candidates who sat for the national Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education in 2020. “I come from a pastoral community. My father has five wives and many children. I am the only girl in the family to have completed primary school and now secondary school. My mother fought very hard for me to stay in school. I am a first-year university student studying actuarial science,” she tells IPS.

Egypt’s Tourism Hit by Ukraine Crisis

Tourism to Egypt’s GDP is as vital as the Nile to its people. After Egypt’s tourism sector began to recover following the Russian plane crash in 2015. Then COVID hit, and now the Ukrainian war shot a bullet through its heart.

Zimbabwe Unsafe Roads Could Drive the Economy Around the Bend

When driving at night in Zimbabwe, watch out for a pair of eyes on the road and slow down. You may hit a giraffe inside a pothole. So goes an often-told joke.

Proposed Animal Protection Legislation Ignores Rights of Local Communities to Practice their Approach to Conservation

On the battleground that has become African wildlife conservation, rural communities find themselves in the middle of a tug-of-war that is bound to the past on one side, and their future, on the other.

Zimbabwe Elections Rekindle Voter Apathy Concerns

Activity in the streets of Zimbabwe’s second city is testimony to a thriving informal sector where thousands of people eke out a living selling all sorts of wares.

South Sudan: Oil Underground, Blood on the Surface

While several politicians -and media– have been viewing the ongoing armed conflict in South Sudan as a “civil war” between rival ethnic groups, so nothing to worry about, there are some key facts that should be considered for the sake of having a wider, more accurate panorama. One of them is that this country is rich in oil.

Wealthy Nations, Corporate Titans’ False Promises of Fair COVID-19 Recovery Exposed, How Africa’s Inequality Deepened

Even as COVID-19 brought Africa’s already fragile health care and economic systems to the brink, wealthy states colluded with corporate giants to dupe people with empty slogans and false promises of a fair recovery from the ongoing health pandemic, a newly released report by Amnesty International report finds.

Unity of Purpose to Accelerate Africa’s Sustainable Development

The COVID-19 pandemic reversed several development gains on the continent, and Africa’s leaders are convinced stronger cooperation in boosting investment in green growth will help Africa meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

South African Court Rules that Clean Air Is a Constitutional Right: What Needs to Change

A court in South Africa has confirmed the constitutional right of the country’s citizens to an environment that isn’t harmful to their health. This includes the right to clean air, as exposure to air pollution affects human health. Air pollution also affects land and water systems, and decreases agricultural yields.