WEST AFRICA: Building a Regional Response to Locusts

The period between May and August is when farmers in the West African Sahel fear the arrival of swarms of locusts. This year, efforts to limit the devastation will be strengthened by coordination across the region thanks to the Africa Project to Combat Locust Invasions.

SENEGAL: Local Health Posts a Qualified Success

"We no longer need to go to Hanène, three kilometres away, for vaccinations or for a check-up for our children," said Maguette Niang, a 40-year-old mother from Keur Madaro, a village in the west of Senegal.

BURKINA FASO: Training Gives Domestics Hope of Escaping Their Lot

Emeline Djigma, a twenty-year-old domestic worker, is preparing for the entrance exam to the National Teachers' College this year. She hopes she'll make it, having finally obtained her secondary school certificate thanks to five years of evening classes.

NIGERIA: Uneasy Finale to General Elections

Nigerians will return to the polls Tuesday to elect state legislators and governors. Government at this level plays a key role in delivering services and infrastructure, but in northern states the choice of credible leaders could be overshadowed by lingering anger over the Apr. 16 presidential election.

Nigeria Riots Delay Two State Polls

Elections for the governors of two states in Nigeria's predominantly Muslim north have been postponed because of violence, officials have announced.

AFRICA: Tripartite Free Trade Plan May Repeat Previous Mistakes

With regional wheels rolling to put in place the envisaged grand tripartite free trade area (FTA), questions have arisen about whether it would be viable and increase competitiveness.

SIERRA LEONE: Renewed Commitment to Local Government

The re-establishment of local councils in Sierra Leone in 2004 was intended to give people a greater voice in their government, reversing long years of marginalisation for rural districts in particular. But nearly seven years later, it has still not been fully implemented. A local NGO, Campaign for the Voiceless, is working to strengthen the performance of this most accessible tier of government.

COTE D’IVOIRE: Hesitant Steps Towards Normal Life

The prime minister of Côte d'Ivoire, Guillaume Soro, held his first cabinet meeting away from the Golf Hotel on Tuesday. The meeting - at the Prime Minister's Office in the Plateau d'Abidjan - was symbolic, intended to signal a return to normal life in a city that endured heavy fighting between Mar. 30 and the fall of former president Laurent Gbagbo on Apr. 11.

SENEGAL: Dispute Over Fishing Permits for Foreign Fleets Hots Up

Senegal's small-scale fishers are challenging the government over licences granting foreign trawlers permission to fish in Senegalese waters. The artisanal fishers condemn the "selling off" of the country's fishery resources at a time when stocks off Senegal's coast are severely depleted.

Manufacturing Cote d’Ivoire’s ‘Good Guy’

As Côte d'Ivoire's bloody leadership contest draws to a close and the surrender of Laurent Gbagbo, the incumbent president, seems imminent, a long list of atrocities and electoral irregularities mark the records of both him and his opponent, Alassane Ouattara.

Nigerian Women Stand Up to be Counted

As Nigeria tries again to begin its staggered general elections on Apr. 9, spare a thought for the women who will be putting themselves forward as candidates in an overwhelmingly male field.

U.S. Defends Role in Cote d’Ivoire Crisis

As Cote d'Ivoire enters its fourth month of post-election violence with intensified fighting and bloodshed, the White House is defending its efforts thus far to shepherd a solution to the stalemate between incumbent Laurent Gbagbo and Alassane Ouattara, the internationally-recognised winner of last fall's elections.

Cote d’Ivoire on the Edge of Chaos

Forces of law and order have abandoned their posts in Abidjan, creating a vacuum which has rapidly filled with violence, looting and fear.

COTE D’IVOIRE: Pro-Ouattara Forces Launch Palace Assault

Heavy fighting is continuing in Abidjan where forces loyal to Côte d'Ivoire's presidential rivals are battling for control of the country's main city.

Agencies Grappling With Liberia Refugee Crisis

The yard at Peter Saye's is full: of kids, of cooking pots, of chickens, goats, and piles of belongings. Women carry firewood and stir coals, plait hair and snap at the children scampering around in the dust. There are nearly 100 refugees sheltering here from the violence across the border in Côte d'Ivoire.

/UPDATE*/: Violence Threatens Nigerian Elections

Nigeria's staggered general elections have been postponed after the Independent National Electoral Commission was unable to deliver voting materials to polling stations in time. Campaigning for the polls was overshadowed by pre-election violence including bombings and gun attacks on campaign rallies, politically-motivated assassinations and violent clashes between members of rival parties.

Sierra Leone Facing Facts of Teenage Pregnancy

On Apr. 5, the United Nations Children's Fund will launch a report on teenage pregnancy in Sierra Leone. Teenage pregnancies account for 40 percent of maternal deaths in the country, and the report comes as public health authorities recalibrate strategy to address a problem that endangers both mothers and children.

Violence Threatens Nigerian Elections

As Nigerians go to the polls on Apr. 2, pre-election violence has raised fears the elections will not be free and fair. The campaign period has featured bombings and gun attacks on campaign rallies, politically-motivated assassinations and violent clashes between members of rival parties.

Ouattara Forces Seize Cote d’Ivoire Towns

Forces loyal to Alassane Ouattara, the internationally recognised winner of Cote d'Ivoire's presidential election, say they have seized control of another two central towns in their advance toward the country's capital.

LIBERIA-COTE D’IVOIRE: Border Villages Sharing the Little They Have

This Butuo man only knows one phrase in French: Viens manger. Come eat. That's what they said to him years ago, when he was one of hundreds of thousands who fled to Côte d'Ivoire to escape the brutal 14-year civil war in Liberia.

Ghana Border Town Braced for Influx of Ivorian Refugees

As many as a million people have fled Côte d'Ivoire's commercial capital, Abidjan, due to intensified fighting. Many people are fleeing to areas in the north, centre and east of the country as thousands of youth answered a call to join forces loyal to Laurent Gbagbo; others are trying to leave the country.