HEALTH-BURKINA FASO: More Money Needed to Guarantee the Availability of ARVs

Burkina Faso's Network for Access to Essential Medicines (RAME) has called on the Burkinabè government to increase the budget allocation to the health sector to avoid interruptions to AIDS treatment.

Oil Brings New Friction to Sudan and South Sudan

As Sudan and South Sudan meet for the latest round of negotiations featuring oil as a key issue this week, four ships loaded by Khartoum with southern crude are carrying their disputed cargoes to unknown buyers.

GHANA: Need to Recognise Mental Illness as a Health Concern

The incessant buzzing of mosquitoes was the first sign that there was something wrong. While Bernard Akumiah could clearly hear the small insects, there were none within his vicinity.

MAURITANIA: Ravaged by Drought – the Number of Malnourished Children Rises

Mariem Mint Ahmedou sits cross-legged on a worn-out carpet in a basic tent built with mud bricks and layers of sewn-together fabric. Her eight-month-old twins, Hussein and Hassan, lie weakly against her body. Both of them have been malnourished since birth, because Beydar, undernourished herself, cannot produce enough breast milk to feed them.

MALI: Fifty Thousand Flee as Political Parties Call for Dialogue

Mali's political parties have jointly called on the government to hold a forum for peace and reconciliation as a way to end a Tuareg rebellion launched several weeks ago. The uprising has forced around 55,000 people out of their homes, the majority fleeing the fighting in the north of the country, but others are seeking shelter from ethnic tension and violent demonstrations in cities in the south.

MALAWI: Cholera in a Time of Floods

They survived floods and witnessed the horrific scenes of their houses, livestock, household items and gardens being swept away at the end of January. Now, the people of the Nsanje and Chikhwawa districts on Malawi’s southern border with Mozambique are facing another menace; a cholera outbreak, which has already killed one child and infected up to 103 people.

Sierra Leone Drafts a Development Plan for the Next 50 Years

Fifty years ago when Sierra Leone gained independence after 150 years of colonial rule, with it came a feeling of optimism that along with a newfound control of its governance, the country would profit from its ample endowment of natural resources, like timber, fish, minerals and oil. Instead, in the last 50 years, the country has had 13 military coups and an 11-year civil war that left the economy in ruins and the country heavily reliant on foreign donor funding.

ZIMBABAWE: Not Prepared for Floods Amid Conflicting Weather Forecasts

Sibongile Dube knows the devastation heavy rain can leave in its wake. A villager in the lowveld area of Mberengwa in Zimbabwe’s Midlands province, Dube’s home is one of many that were washed away by flash floods last year.

Swaziland’s Cooperatives No Threat to Banks

Nomsa Tsabedze is one of the many people at the Bunye Betfu, Buhle Betfu Credit and Savings Cooperatives waiting to apply for a loan to pay for her children’s school fees.

“Raining Bombs” Causing Hundreds to Flee Northern Nigeria

"I can no longer stay here in Kano as it rains bombs. The gun battles rattle us... Kano is no longer safe," said pregnant Funke Nweke of her decision to flee Nigeria’s northern state with her five-year-old daughter.

Cameroon’s Economy Suffers as Boko Haram Infiltrates Country

Ahmadou Lamine has been forced to close his business selling fuel imported from Nigeria, known locally as "zoa-zoa", because of the Islamic extremist group Boko Haram.

Senegalese Students Call for President to Step Down

The friends of slain Senegalese student protester, Mamadou Diop, say that the 32-year-old master’s student was against injustice and that is why he was protesting against President Abdoulaye Wade’s bid for a third term of office.

DEVELOPMENT-NIGER: Three Million Children Threatened by Hunger

Women have been left in charge of many of the households in the village of Zamkoye-Koïra, in western Niger, as food shortages have driven male family members to leave in search of work elsewhere. A national survey of vulnerable households shows that 5.4 million people face food insecurity across Niger.

UNICEF Funding Falls Short Leaving Millions of Children at Risk

If the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) had 1.28 billion dollars it could help 97 million people around the world.

Malawi’s Consumers Have a Right to Fuel and Forex Black Market

The black market for foreign exchange and fuel is booming in the midst of an acute scarcity in Malawi. The shortage is so severe that even the Consumer Association of Malawi, an influential consumer rights body, has come out in support of the black market.

WEST AFRICA: Water Shortage Threatens Wildlife

The story of a pair of buffalo aggressively prowling the edges of a village in eastern Burkina Faso is a warning sign of severe water stress in the region which threatens humans and wild animals alike.

POLITICS-SENEGAL: Violence After Validation of Wade Candidacy

It was stones against tear gas in the Senegalese capital this morning as students protested the killing of one of their own on Tuesday evening. At least four people have died since Jan. 27, in wider demonstrations against the controversial validation of President Abdoulaye Wade's candidacy for re-election for a third term.

Radio Static for Ghana’s Community Stations

There is a tension resonating through Ghana’s airwaves, an electric current fueled by rivaling interests between community radio advocates and Ghana’s National Communications Authority.

UGANDA: Using Community Radio to Heal After Kony’s War

Radio Mega FM’s transmission tower rises from the centre of Gulu town, transmitting talk shows and the latest Ugandan radio hits to listeners across the district. But it also serves as something of an informal memorial to community radio-driven peace efforts during the Lord’s Resistance Army’s destruction of northern Uganda.

SIERRA LEONE: Government Online Mining Database to Increase Transparency

The launch of Sierra Leone’s first online mining database in West Africa comes with a promise to increase transparency and accountability in the country’s rich natural resource sector.

ZAMBIA: Chinese Underage Sex Scandal Sparks Emotive Debate

Zhang Daliu, 46, a carpenter from China never imagined himself in the dreadful confines of a stinking and overcrowded Zambian jail where conditions are so terrible that they lead to gastronomic disorders and skin diseases within days of confinement.