KENYA: Stopping Pregnancy From Being the End of the Educational Road

Are the effects of teenage pregnancy on the education of girls being addressed with sufficient vigour in Kenya? With statistics indicating that pregnancy accounts for 31 percent* of all school drop-out cases among girls, this is a question that begs asking.

RIGHTS-RWANDA: Justice Eludes Many 1994 Genocide Survivors

Fear and intimidation have slowed the progress of reconciliatory justice for survivors of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda that claimed the lives of over 800,000 people.

DEVELOPMENT-AFRICA: To End Hunger – More Aid, Quicker Aid, Smarter Aid

Global aid agency Oxfam has called for a thorough review of efforts to end hunger in Africa, arguing that emergency assistance is often inadequate and arrives too late - while the underlying causes of hunger are going largely unaddressed.

MEDIA-SOMALIA: “Any Person Can Kill You…”

Martin Adler, 2006; Kate Peyton, 2005; Duniya Muhyadin Nur, 2005; Abdullahi Madkeer, 2003; Ahmed Kafi Awale, 2000; Marcello Palmisano, 1995; Miran Krovatin, 1994; Ilaria Alpi, 1994; Pierre Anceaux, 1994; Jean-Claude Jumel, 1993; Hansi Krauss, 1993; Hosea Maina, 1993; Dan Eldon, 1993; Anthony Macharia, 1993*.

POLITICS-DRC: Challenging Times for Election Observers

General elections that loom at the end of the month in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) present considerable difficulties to all involved - not least local and foreign observers.

POLITICS: “A Peaceful Solution Rather Than a Military One” for Northern Uganda?

An optimistic note about the prospects for talks to end war in northern Uganda has been sounded by Salva Kiir: vice president of Sudan and head of the regional authority in southern Sudan, which is mediating in the discussions.

RIGHTS-KENYA: A “Soft Landing” to Keep Prisoners on the Straight and Narrow

A call has been made in Kenya for initiatives to ease the re-entry of prisoners into society - this after government's Jul. 13 announcement that almost 8,000 inmates will be freed to reduce overcrowding in jails.

POLITICS-KENYA: State Targeting Ministers’ Lifestyle

The Kenyan government's directive to have senior officials return luxury cars to cut costs may have been good news to tax payers, but lack of transparency and accountability could undermine the exercise.

IRAQ: A Story Left Incomplete

Alaa Hassan never did live to see publication of the last story he had filed. It got caught for a while, as stories sometimes are, in that no man's land between what a correspondent could reasonably get, and what an editor would really like.

DEVELOPMENT: Aid for the Poor, Not for the Consultants

No less than a quarter of annual development aid - about 20 billion dollars - is being used by donor countries to fund technical assistance of sometimes dubious worth, says ActionAid International in a new report.

IRAQ: A Story IPS Never Wanted to Tell

IPS contributor Alaa Hassan was killed on his way to work last Wednesday. He was 35 years old. He is survived by his mother, five brothers, five sisters and his wife who is pregnant with their first child.

RIGHTS-SOUTHERN AFRICA: Striking Down the Taboos About Albinism

A variety of ailments can affect people with albinism, an inherited genetic condition characterised by the absence of melanin in skin, eyes and hair. But, the challenges confronting albinos do not end there: all too often, they are shunned and discriminated against as well, in Southern Africa and elsewhere.

DEVELOPMENT-KENYA: From Value Added to Income Gained

Over 80 percent of Kenyans depend directly on agriculture for their livelihood, according to government statistics. But, certain farmers in the East African country find themselves hard pressed to derive the full benefit from their produce, because they cannot add value to it.

RIGHTS: An Empty Stomach? Tell It to the UN!

Citizens may soon be able to complain to the United Nations when their governments are not treating them well - if these administrations have agreed to a host of new economic, social and cultural rights, that is.

RIGHTS-KENYA: A Humanitarian Disaster Looms Amongst Somali Refugees

For Aaliya Omar Alas, Mar. 20, 2006 is a source of bitter memories. Her husband and son were killed on this day in Somalia, during violence that also dispersed the remaining members of the family.

AFRICA: Across the Continent, Gays Face Jail Terms, Discrimination

"We are here in Africa: we live in the mainstream, we pay taxes like everybody else in the mainstream, we relate with people in the mainstream. We are a naturally-occurring phenomenon in the universe," said activist Donna Smith of gay persons in Africa.

WORLD REFUGEE DAY: A Sudanese Teenager Transforms Pain Into Art

The drawing shows a woman clasping a child to her chest. Aptly titled 'Embrace', it depicts a memory that has haunted the artist, a former child soldier from the civil war in southern Sudan who goes by the name of Commander Spoon.

KENYA: Civil Society’s Policy-Making Role a Work in Progress

Few would dispute that civil society organisations (CSOs) have grown substantially in number and influence over the past decades. But, are these groups at a point now where they play a determining role, alongside government, in public policy-making?

WORLD REFUGEE DAY-SOUTH AFRICA: Hope in a Suitcase

Conflict in Rachael Mukoma's country, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), made it impossible for her to stay there. At the same time, it was very difficult for her to leave.

POLITICS-SUDAN: No Welcome Mat for the Blue Helmets

The Sudanese government appears to be taking a hard line on the deployment of a United Nations peacekeeping force to help protect civilians in the war-torn region of Darfur, in western Sudan.

POLITICS-SOMALIA: A Little Tough Love for Faction Leaders

The past week has seen Kenyan officials impose a travel ban on Somali faction leaders and their associates, and the subsequent arrest of one of these leaders - Abdul Rashid Hussein Shiry - in the Kenyan capital.