RIGHTS-SOUTH AFRICA: Calls Made for Tougher Gun Control

A recent brutal murder of a university student and the shooting of a soccer coach by a referee has rekindled the long-running debate about gun control in South Africa.

HEALTH-SOUTH AFRICA: Cost Limiting the Use of Female Condom

It’s bigger and uglier than its male counterpart. Sometimes it even makes a noise. But many South African women who have used it, say they prefer it. Ten years after it was first introduced to South Africa, the female condom, or femidom, is gaining popularity in the country, but cost is limiting its use.

DEVELOPMENT-MALAWI: Rapid Urbanisation Looks Irreversible

Every morning, residents of Malawi’s sprawling commercial hub, Blantyre wake up to deafening noises as hundreds of thousands of people pour into the city to try to make a living.

HEALTH-ZIMBABWE: Decent Burial Beyond The Reach Of Majority

Bodies are piling up in Harare’s mortuaries, because relatives of the dead refuse to claim them. Most of these relatives cannot afford the cost of a funeral. While the city council has been giving paupers’ burials to the unclaimed bodies, it is now running out of burial space.

HIV/AIDS-SOUTHERN AFRICA: The War On The Pandemic Reaps Positive Results

Southern Africa is responding to its AIDS pandemic with new programmes that promoters say must be as adaptable as the HIV virus itself.

HIV/AIDS: Zimbabwe’s ‘Exclusion’ from Global Fund Questioned

The decision to ‘’exclude’’ Zimbabwe from benefiting from the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria has raised a number of ethical questions. Campaigners are asking whether need and desire to prolong people’s lives should prevail over politics and controversies surrounding the legitimacy of President Robert Mugabe’s government.

HEALTH-MAURITIUS: An Army of Volunteers Fights AIDS, Drugs

The tiny Indian Ocean island of Mauritius has assembled an army of volunteers to fight AIDS and drugs that are threatening the country.

TECHNOLOGY: Rural Africa Yearning for Internet, Connectivity

In a few years, an old woman in rural Africa should be able, if all goes according to plan, to connect to the net and communicate with her children in the city.

HIV/AIDS-SOUTHERN AFRICA: In Death’s Face There’s a Ray of Hope

Strong leadership, access to life- prolonging drugs and reducing infections will be the main challenges facing southern Africa in the next decade, AIDS campaigners say.

RIGHTS-SWAZILAND: Churches Overcome Embarrassment to Tackle AIDS

Churches in Swaziland appear to be stepping up efforts to fight the AIDS pandemic – and to help their congregations deal with sexual abuse. This comes in the wake of revelations that this tiny Southern African country now has the world’s highest HIV prevalence.

ENERGY-DRC: Power Under Uncertain Circumstances

In recent years, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has become a byword for violence and human rights abuse. Now, inhabitants of Butembo in the North Kivu province are seeking renown for something else: entrepreneurial initiative.

ECONOMY-SOUTH AFRICA: Bringing the Margins Into the Mainstream

It is one of the most-discussed sectors of South Africa’s economy, but also one of the most difficult to define – encompassing everyone from collectors of scrap cardboard to the managers of tiny businesses.

DEVELOPMENT-SOUTHERN AFRICA: NEPAD Highlights Infrastructure Needs

"If you see a set of bright, shining lights at night, it's not a vehicle but a giraffe that got stuck in a pothole in the middle of the road. So, watch out," Zambians used to joke about the state of their roads a few years ago.

POLITICS-AFRICA: Champagne Tastes on Beer Money?

It was billed as a summit where a new future for Africa would be unveiled. African Union chief Alpha Oumar Konare laid out a 1.7 billion dollar plan that would help revitalise the troubled and marginalized continent.

POLITICS-ZIMBABWE: Calling Those With Deep Pockets, and Vast Patience

Political office has never been for the faint-of-heart. Getting into office is often a dirty business, and staying there a trying one. There's no denying, however, that legislators from developing countries - in the case of this article, Zimbabwe - face a particularly challenging set of circumstances.

HEALTH-ZIMBABWE: Street Children Vulnerable to AIDS

Children who "live rough" on the streets of Zimbabwe's capital and other cities, face a multitude of problems – including AIDS.

POLITICS: Cleaning Up Africa's Image

Conflict resolution and poverty reduction will dominate the annual summit of the African Union (AU), to be held in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, this week from Jul. 6 to 8.

POLITICS: An African Army, for Africans?

As the third annual summit of the African Union (AU) draws closer, the spotlight is falling on the organisation's newest branch: the Peace and Security Council, and its proposed standby force.

POLITICS-AFRICA: Women Charting the Continent’s Future

"We must congratulate Rwanda for achieving 48.8 percent of women representation in parliament. This is the highest in the world. It means gender parity is no longer a dream but a reality in Africa," said Lulu Xingwana, South Africa's Deputy Minister of Minerals and Energy, to thunderous applause from over a thousand women who gathered in the capital, Pretoria, this week.

HEALTH-MOZAMBIQUE: Lessons Learned About AIDS Prevention

The AIDS pandemic has taken a particularly heavy toll on Southern African countries – not least Mozambique. According to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), latest statistics indicate that about 13 percent of the country’s 19-million-strong population is infected with HIV.

HEALTH-SOUTH AFRICA: Reversing the Medical Brain Drain

The flight of nurses and doctors from South Africa - and other African states - has long been a source of concern for the governments of these countries. And, the advent of AIDS has sharpened fears about the effects of this migration.