HEALTH-LIBERIA: Rainy Season Deadly for Pregnant Women

As heavy rain hammers the grass thatch roof of her mud hut, Goromah Borbor huddles inside and quietly describes how her daughter Annie died while giving birth.

CORRUPTION-SIERRA LEONE: Anti Graft Now in the Hands of Civil Society

The fight against corruption in Sierra Leone has taken on a new face. Government and civil society are now working together to stamp out rampant fraud.

RIGHTS-UGANDA: Suppressing ‘Enemies' of the State

In the wee hours of one Saturday morning, Mary Serumaga was woken up by a disturbing phone call. Her younger brother Robert Kalundi Serumaga had just been abducted by four unknown gun-wielding men the previous night.

SIERRA LEONE: Banned Opposition Radio Station Goes to Court

Sierra Leone's largest opposition party has taken the country's media monitoring body to court for banning its radio station.

ETHIOPIA: Ethnic Federalism Could Lead to Election Violence

Criticised as system of dividing and ruling people according to their ethnic groups, Ethiopia’s federalism has just become a bone of contention.

MALI: Technology Transfer So Slow "We’ll Have to Copy Like China"

Cars and motorcycles are stuck because of the heavy rains that have drenched Mali’s capital for the past few days. It is late afternoon and the water, mud and damaged fruit from nearby stalls make the journey for those heading home to celebrate Ramadan even more treacherous.

RIGHTS-AFRICA: The Fight Against Rape a Brutal Wait

From Monrovia’s highest hill, the long sliver of Atlantic Ocean shoreline at the mouth of the Mesurado River, with its aqua blue waves, golden sand and wooden fishing boats, looks like paradise. But this is West Point; one of Monrovia’s most impoverished and polluted slums, and it is not paradise.

NIGERIA: Investment in Primary Education Must Include Teachers

Nigeria has over the past 10 years recorded high enrolment and completion rates in primary school education.

LIBERIA: When the Mob Prevails

It was past midnight when Carroll Johnson was woken by angry shouting in his suburban neighbourhood of Fiamah. Around the corner a frenzied crowd with sticks had gathered in the darkness, and now stood menacingly over an armed robber called 'Bush Cat'.

HEALTH-NIGERIA: Maternal Mortality, a Rural Community’s Example

Women, their children strapped to their backs, defy the mid-morning sun and converge on the Primary Healthcare Centre, located on the outskirts of Farasinme village, the Badagry West Council Development Area of Lagos State.

Q&A: “African Farmers Benefit When They Organise Themselves”

Research into an initiative to improve the lot of Ghanaian farmers shows how important it is that farmers organise themselves to improve their bargaining power with buyers.

EDUCATION-SIERRA LEONE: Schools in Crisis as Thousands of Teachers go Unpaid

Government’s refusal to pay the salaries of thousands teachers, while looking to recruit thousands more, has plunged the schooling system into crisis.

SIERRA LEONE: Custom Slow To Yield To New Law on Inheritance

They told her after the 40-day ceremony to mark the death of her husband. M'ballu Kamara's in-laws said she would be taken care of by her husband's younger brother. It took her a moment to realise the "care" she was to receive would require that she become his third wife.

HEALTH-SAO TOME: The Forest is the Pharmacy

If you live in São Tomé, a good investment in your health is to plant a po-sabom tree (Dracaena aroborea) in your backyard. Leave space: it can grow up to 20 metres high, with sword-shaped leaves.

NIGERIA: Divorce a Tool To Relegate Women

The high rate of divorce in Kano state, northern Nigeria has become a worrisome phenomenon. Six months ago, an organisation of widows and divorcees tried to stage a massive march through the city of Kano to draw attention to their situation.

NIGERIA: Kano’s Women Still Seeking a Champion

Hajiya Altine Abdullahi cut a chastened figure in February. She was planning a million-strong march of widows and orphans through the streets of the northern Nigerian city of Kano.

NIGERIA: Slow Start for Niger Delta Amnesty

Nigeria’s president Umaru Yar’Adua is embarking on an ambitious move to end armed insurgency in the country’s oil-rich Niger Delta region.

DEVELOPMENT-AFRICA: Women in Pursuit of Knowledge

While Africa is still far from having adequate capacity for scientific innovation, women are more and more present in the field of research for the continent's sustainable development.

RIGHTS-GAMBIA: Hydara Six Convicted on Sedition Charge

A high court judge in Gambia has convicted six Gambian journalists on charges of defamation and sedition.

AGRICULTURE: Cultivating Rural Prosperity in Cameroon

Emilie Nyate has a two million CFA smile on her face these days. She's one of the beneficiaries of the Roots and Tubers Market- Oriented Programme, known better by its French acronym of PNDRT, which is transforming the lives of small-scale farmers in Cameroon.

HEALTH: Fighting AIDS in Conservative Mauritania

Campaigners against HIV/AIDS in Mauritania face an uphill task to put their messages across, especially those that deal with safer sex and condom use. Campaigners have to cut corners in order to avoid angering the country's powerful religious clerics.