COMMONWEALTH: Put Your Heart Into Business

The Commonwealth will set up a new global index to measure socially responsible investment at a business forum in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, later this week.

COMMONWEALTH: No Democracy Without Access to Information

The Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting beginning in the Nigerian capital this week is committed to promoting development and democracy - both in heavy deficit among member countries. A report issued ahead of the meeting says that open government will be a key element in this process.

COMMONWEALTH: Come To Us, People Tell Leaders

Civil society representatives have sent an urgent request to government leaders to hold talks with them Thursday, ahead of the official opening of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in the Nigerian capital, Abuja.

HEALTH-AFRICA: A New ARV Initiative Targets Three Million People

The World Health Organisation and the United Nations Joint Programme on HIV/AIDS launched a new initiative, Monday, to provide antiretrovirals to three million people by the end of 2005.

HEALTH-ETHIOPIA: Fighting the HIV/AIDS Stigma Remains an Uphill Battle

Aster tested positive for HIV/AIDS eight years ago, but she has yet to summon the courage to tell her family, for fear of being rejected by them.

COMMONWEALTH: People’s Forum Gets Underway in Nigeria

Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo opened the Commonwealth People’s Forum Sunday.

POLITICS-KENYA: Activists Voice Concern Over Anti-Terror Bill

Concerns about a proposed anti-terrorism law in Kenya were set to reach boiling point Saturday, with a gathering of human rights activists in the capital.

POLITICS-CENTRAL AFRICA: Rwanda and the DRC Buoyant About Peace

Peace efforts in the Great Lakes region were taken a step further this week when leaders from Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo met in South Africa for talks.

EDUCATION-MALAWI: Making Universal Primary Schooling a Reality

When the Commonwealth heads of government gather in Nigeria next month for their bi-annual meeting, the agenda will probably be dominated by politics. But, if activist Julita Msanjama had her way, the leaders would spend most of their time discussing education.

ECONOMY-KENYA: Cut Debt – Not Jobs

A non-governmental organisation that lobbies for debt relief, Chambers of Justice, has renewed its appeal for cancellation of Kenya's massive external debt.

HEALTH-AFRICA: AIDS Orphans – The Worst Is Yet to Come

"We are here to sound a new and more urgent alarm over what is arguably the most neglected crisis that has been spawned by the HIV/AIDS pandemic," Carol Bellamy, Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund, said in Johannesburg Wednesday.

RIGHTS-KENYA: Violence Against Women Continues to Take Its Toll

Brigit Namwalo has nothing to celebrate today. As the world marks the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (Nov. 25), she sits in her house, dejected, nursing a wound inflicted by her husband of 12 years.

ARTS-UGANDA: Kampala Takes Its Place in the Fashion Stakes

Fashion capitals of the world: New York, London, Paris...Kampala? Well, if Santa Anzo has anything to do with this, it'll only be a matter of time.

ECONOMY-KENYA: Officials Fight Graft and Woo Investors

After years of being labeled as highly corrupt, Kenya has put a number of measures in place to curb graft.

POLITICS-BURUNDI: African Leaders Push for Final Peace Deal

Burundi's largest rebel group is locked into that country's transitional government and peace process after a signing ceremony before regional leaders in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, at the weekend.

HEALTH-KENYA: AIDS Drugs Create A Few "Have’s", Many "Have Not’s"

The sight of the tiny, mud-walled shelter located in a slum just outside of Nairobi was heart-breaking.

DEVELOPMENT-AFRICA: Four Road Maps for the Continent’s Future

A ground-breaking study by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has sought to predict what life in Africa could be like by 2025.

EDUCATION-KENYA: Striking Lecturers Say They Live ‘Hand-to-Mouth’

Winnie Mitullah was in no mood to take part in this year’s "Africa University Day" celebration on Wednesday (Nov. 12). She has joined other striking university lecturers in a demand for better pay.

POLITICS-SUDAN: Rebels Scour Africa in Search of Support

Rebels in south Sudan have launched a diplomatic offensive in Africa, ahead of Nov. 30 peace talks in Kenya, as part of efforts to end Sudan’s 20-year civil war.

ENVIRONMENT-MALAWI: Wildlife Officials Brace for 2004 Ivory Sale

Conservationist David Bradfield has an interesting story to tell about one of his visits to Malawi’s capital, Lilongwe.

DEVELOPMENT-AFRICA: Scientists Called to Look Beyond the Lab

A panel of prominent women scientists has argued that African researchers need to get out of their laboratories and enter the world of policy-making if they want to be of real benefit to their fellow Africans. The women say that researchers must also learn to market their ideas.