ENVIRONMENT-CONGO: Defence of Great Apes Begins With Children

"But why do they kill gorillas, why do they trap them and put them in cages? One day, if i'm president, i'll stop all those who kill gorillas, chimpanzees and bonobos," says 11-year-old Judicaëlle, a student at the Holy Sprit of Moungali School in Brazzaville.

DR CONGO: Access To Credit Hampers Farmers in the East

The hundreds of savings and loan cooperatives operating in South Kivu should be providing an opportunity to develop agriculture and fight food insecurity in the province, but few farmers have been able to take advantage.

SUDAN: Peace Agreement Proving Less Than Comprehensive

The 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) ended one of Africa's longest and complex civil wars, with nominal agreement reached on security, wealth sharing, and governance issues. But there are renewed fears that conflict could erupt again in the country as divisions between the north and the south deepen.

RIGHTS-CAMEROON: The Reverend Raped Me


A countrywide survey of the incidence of rape in Cameroon has returned disturbing statistics: 20 percent of the nearly 38,000 women surveyed reported having been raped; another 14 percent said they had escaped a rape attempt.

CAMEROON: ‘Our Lives Are Defined By This Forest’

Pauline Siembe, a Baka pygmy in South East Cameroon, comes out of her smoky hut licking her fingers after a meal of pounded yam and bush meat soup.

CAMEROON: Gearing Up for Copenhagen

"Developed countries have failed to respect the Kyoto Protocol which compelled them to reduce latest 2008 emissions of greenhouse gases by five percent. There is therefore need for new engagements to be taken at the Copenhagen Summit." Decisive words from Cameroon's minister for the environment, Pierre Hele.

SOUTH SUDAN: Complicating the Vote for Women

In April 2010, the people of South Sudan will vote in a milestone general election, and for the first time, South Sudanese women will be able to participate.

DRC: Respect and Protect Civilians

A government offensive against rebels in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo that began in January has dramatically increased sexual violence in the provinces of North and South Kivu.

AGRICULTURE: Cultivating Rural Prosperity in Cameroon

Emilie Nyate has a two million CFA smile on her face these days. She's one of the beneficiaries of the Roots and Tubers Market- Oriented Programme, known better by its French acronym of PNDRT, which is transforming the lives of small-scale farmers in Cameroon.

ENERGY-CAMEROON: Dam Project Questioned

Construction has begun on a new dam at the confluence of the Lom and Pangar rivers in Cameroon. The government is pushing the project as key to addressing an energy shortfall, allowing for economic growth; observers believe the plan may only increase the country's vulnerability to drought.

CAMEROON: Fears for Forest as Dam Construction Begins

Crouched on a low wooden stool in front of his mud hut in the village of Pangar, Alain Selembe puffs away at his clay pipe, his gaze lost in the surrounding forest, quite oblivious to the noise made by his two playing daughters. All he hears is the rumbling of bulldozers opening up a 30 kilometre road from Deng Deng village to the confluence of the Lom and Pangar rivers, where the government plans to construct a new dam.

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).

HEALTH-AFRICA: Neglected Diseases Under the Microscope

Neglected diseases, neglected people. Marcel Tanner uses the phrase to emphasise the attitude of drug developers towards tropical diseases that primarily affect the marginalised poor.

POLITICS-SUDAN: 'Darfur Was Just A Place Where Evil Lived'

Analysing the colonial and historical roots of the violence in Darfur, Mahmood Mamdani concludes that the crisis in Darfur is not genocide, but a fight for land, triggered by drought, which has been racialised by outside powers.

POLITICS-GABON: Will Bongo’s Death Signal a New Chapter?

As Omar Bongo Ondimba, the Gabonese president who died at age 73 in Barcelona on Jun. 8, is buried in Franceville in the south-west of Gabon on Thursday, his 41-year-reign as absolute ruler of this oil-producing country of 1.5 million has received mixed reviews.

POLITICS-DRC: Debate Over Truth Commission

The search continues for the best way to expose the truth surrounding crimes committed in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), not least in Ituri, in the north-east of the country, a region which where years of atrocities and massive human rights violations have gone unpunished.

TRANSPORT-SOUTH SUDAN: Going Nowhere, Fast

Motorcycle Juba style: sit as far back on the seat of the bike as possible. Hold handlebars only loosely when riding but rev frequently whenever stationary.

Q&A: Fighting to Free Those Found ‘‘Guilty’’ of Homosexuality

In 2003, Alice Nkom made a decision that has put her on a collision course with the police, prosecutors and judges of Cameroon. Nkom, who has been a barrister at the Cameroonian Bar for 40 years, was chatting with some young men whom she considers her own children.

SUDAN: African Union Against Indictment of Al-Bashir

African governments have rallied behind Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir in rejecting a possible international arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court on charges of orchestrating genocide in Sudan's volatile western region of Darfur.

AFRICA: Climate Change Threatens Food Security

Climate change will have a significant impact on southern Africa’s already compromised food security, environmental experts warned at the fifth Alexander von Humboldt International Conference at the University of Cape Town (UCT) in South Africa.

POLITICS-DR CONGO: Talks Resume

Direct talks between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) government and rebels have resumed in Nairobi with discussions on a joint cessation of hostilities currently underway. The talks seek to bring calm to the troubled eastern part of the country.