DEVELOPMENT: Putting Community Radio on the Map in Africa

Few would dispute that community radio stations play a valuable role in informing people about events in their neighbourhood - and giving a voice to those who might be denied a platform by larger media organisations. It's a shame, then, that governments often hamper the development of community radio.

RIGHTS-KENYA: Keeping Torture Under Wraps

A survey commissioned by the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) to ascertain public awareness of human rights has revealed a widespread reluctance to report incidents of alleged torture to officials in the East African country.

HEALTH-KENYA: From Bangkok, They Brought Hope for Millions Living With AIDS

Smoke from open fires roasting slabs of meat and maize cobs rises alongside a rutted, dusty road in Kangemi, a slum north-west of Kenya's capital Nairobi.

POLITICS-SUDAN: Warlords Seen As Spoilers of Peace Process

Top Sudanese militia leaders failed to show up for talks in neighbouring Kenya this week, prompting fears of a possible return to war in the south of the country.

POLITICS: Africa Awash with Small Arms, Misery

Around 30 million illegal arms are in circulation in sub-Saharan Africa, fuelling conflicts and destroying lives and property across the continent, says a campaigner.

CORRUPTION-KENYA: A Hard Nut to Crack

As the government of Kenya is fighting to clear its name from allegations of corruption, its efforts are being undermined by renewed claims of graft in the judiciary. President Mwai Kibaki's administration had shaken up the judiciary in an attempt to clean up the system.

CORRUPTION-KENYA: Donors Threatening to Stop Funding

The government of Kenya has once again come under fire over corruption which donors say is stifling efforts to implement reforms outlined in the country's Economic Recovery Strategy.

POLITICS-UGANDA: Feelings of Anger Linger in War-Torn North

Although the rebel movement fighting in the north has fostered an aura of religious mysticism based on an apparent wish to re-create a state following the ten commandments, its grudge against the Ugandan government is rooted in deep-seated grievances that stem back for years.

HEALTH-KENYA: Women Die Silently, Invisibly From Pregnancy

Last week’s call by the United Nations Population Fund to governments to increase spending on reproductive health may prove to be hard for Kenya to implement. Kenya has no budgetary allocation for reproductive health.

DEVELOPMENT-SUDAN: Donors Urged to Tie Aid to Gender Equality

When this week's international donors conference on Sudan winds up in the Norwegian capital of Oslo, the long-neglected women of South Sudan hope a substantial funding would be allocated to empower them after a 21-year civil war.

CULTURE-UGANDA: Muslims Demand Changes in Bill on Women’s Rights

Members of Uganda's minority Muslim community have criticised their country's domestic relations bill, saying it goes against the teachings of Islam.

POLITICS-KENYA: A Fragile Peace in the Desert

Ethnic clashes, blamed on competition for increasingly scarce water and grazing, are sweeping northern Kenya, as drought and famine intensify in the neglected region.

POLITICS-SUDAN: After 21 Years of Fighting, the Nuba Feel Betrayed

As nations from around the world scramble to secure lucrative contracts to develop southern Sudan following the signing of a peace deal in January, one of the war-torn country's minority groups is preparing for a fresh battle.

CORRUPTION-KENYA: Rights Group Targets Ministers

If civil society groups have their way, a guideline drafted by the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights should hold cabinet ministers accountable for their actions while in office.

RELIGION: An African Successor for the “Symbol of Unity”?

Even as Roman Catholics around the world mourn the death of Pope John Paul II, the attention of many is turning to the future - and the question of who will succeed the Polish cleric as Bishop of Rome.

RIGHTS-KENYA: New Pressure to End Child Labour

Pressure is mounting on the government of Kenya to urgently establish a law seeking to make free primary education compulsory if the East African country is to achieve its goal of eliminating child labour by 2020.

DEVELOPMENT-UGANDA: Little by Little, Week by Week

Uganda is one of Africa's rare success stories in the fight against AIDS, having reduced its HIV prevalence from 30 per cent in the early 1990s to six per cent today. However, the pandemic has still taken a toll on the East African country, causing almost two million children to be orphaned.

POLITICS-UGANDA: A Road to Hell, Paved With Good Intentions?

Walking in the eerie darkness engulfing Noah's Ark, a centre that children in northern Uganda escape to for fear of being kidnapped by the rebel Lord's Resistance Army, it is easy to see why so many in the region are eager for peace.

ECONOMY-KENYA: AIDS Threatens Small Businesses

AIDS is threatening Kenya’s money-lending institutions which are supporting about 16 percent of the country’s 30 million people.

RIGHTS-KENYA: Abuses Conducted in the Name of Security, Says Amnesty

Amnesty International, the British-based human rights watchdog, has accused Kenyan authorities of violating the rights of terror suspects in the East African country - and called for an immediate end to these alleged abuses.

POLITICS-SOMALIA: Talks About a Peacekeeping Force Prove Disruptive

Foreign affairs ministers from East Africa who met in Kenya have reportedly reached a compromise in discussions about a peacekeeping force that will allow Somalia's interim government to relocate to the capital - Mogadishu.