RIGHTS-SIERRA LEONE: Activists Will Accept Only Full Abolition

Sierra Leonean rights activists have served notice on the government that they will campaign against any attempt to retain the death penalty in the new constitution and insist the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission are fully adopted.

SIERRA LEONE: Commission Launches First Human Rights Report

A barefoot girl watches expressionless as men clad in expensive suits and women in designer clothes make their way on foot to the Community Centre in Kroo Bay, Freetown. They are here to launch the first ever State of Human Rights Report for Sierra Leone; Zainab, 12, is in the midst of another day on the narrow, muddy streets of the area, selling groundnuts to help support her family.

SIERRA LEONE: Activists Cry Foul Over Mining Policy

In December 2007, unrest broke out in the diamond mining region of Kono in the east, between kimberlite mining corporation Koidu Holdings and locals in the lease area. The company had promised to relocate hundreds of community residents to make way for its mining operation but the slow pace of implementation of this pledge, coupled with the repeated blasts of dynamite in underground mining sites set the company and its hosts on a collision course.

POLITICS-COTE D'IVOIRE: Anti-Xenophobia Law Gets Lukewarm Reception

Human rights organisations are wary of a new law against xenophobia, racism and tribalism adopted by the Ivorian parliament. Certain organisations fear it will lead to infringements on freedom of speech.

EQUATORIAL GUINEA: Human Rights Drowning in Oil

The oil interests of Angola, Brazil and Portugal could pave the way for former Spanish colony Equatorial Guinea to become the ninth member of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP) two years from now, despite the country’s poor human rights record.

ENVIRONMENT-CAMEROON: Operation Green Sahel Resumes

"I have come to plant trees - that is why I have left my jacket and tie in Yaoundé" declared Cameroon's Minister of Forest and Wildlife, Elvis Ngolle Ngolle, as he launched the tree planting at a small village near the town of Kousseri, in the north of the country. In four minutes, the minister and his staff planted a hundred trees as a bulwark against rapidly encroaching desert.

SIERRA LEONE: Partisan Politics Threatens Peace

A violent showdown on August 13 in the heart of Freetown, Sierra Leone's capital, demonstrated the political tension that has been brewing between the country's two main political parties, the ruling All People's Congress (APC) and the main opposition Sierra Leone's People's Party (SLPP).

DEVELOPMENT-TOGO: High Cost of Living Exacerbated By Floods

Recent flooding in Togo caused the collapse of over 10 bridges connecting the capital of Lomé to the north of the country. The consequences have been increased transportation costs and a steady climb in the price of consumer products.

SIERRA LEONE: Former Rebel Commanders Awaiting Judgment

Final arguments in the lengthy trial of three former commanders of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) have ended in Freetown, making way for judgment which is expected by the end of this year.

DEVELOPMENT-SENEGAL: Water Still A Problem In Dakar

Dakar's suburban communities still deal with irregular access to water. The problem is especially pressing for neighborhoods such as Yeumbeul, Diamaguene et Cambérène.

POLITICS-SIERRA LEONE: Women Candidates Progress, But Not Enough

Official results from the July 2008 local council elections in Sierra Leone have been announced by the chairperson of the country's National Electoral Commission. Despite numerous reports of harassment and intimidation, more women were elected to councils than in polls four years ago. But results fell short of the 30 percent representation set by gender activists.

HEALTH-NIGERIA: Little Progress on Maternal Mortality

Over half a million women die in childbirth annually around the world, according to the World Health Organisation. Nigeria alone accounts for 10 percent of these deaths.

ENVIRONMENT-BURKINA FASO: Winning People Over to Fight Deforestation

In the West African nation of Burkina Faso, millions of trees are planted every year to reverse desertification. However the growing socio-economic needs of local populations pose a constant threat to these efforts.

SIERRA LEONE: Tighten Security to Curb Drug Trafficking

Nineteen suspects, including eight men from Colombia and Venezuela, have appeared before a Freetown High Court on charges of smuggling illegal drugs into the country.

DEATH PENALTY-NIGERIA: MPs Shout Down Abolition Bill

Hopes of a reprieve for hundreds of death row inmates in Nigeria were dashed when MPs threw out a bill which would have commuted all death sentences to life imprisonment and down-graded robbery with violence to a non-capital crime.

HEALTH-TOGO: Increased Drug Use Shadows Growing Trafficking

As the Togolese capital becomes a regional hub for drug trafficking, many drug addicts in Lomé are seeking assistance to kick the habit.

SIERRA LEONE: Activists Angered By Poor Results for Women

Sierra Leone’s women’s advocacy group "50/50" has expressed disappointment at the poor showing of women in the July 5 local council elections.

Q&A: 'With the Right Methods, You Can Be Self-Sufficient'

The U.N. High Commission for Refugees says that in the five years since camps were established in Southern Chad for Central African refugees, U.N.-administered agriculture programs have reduced external food assistance to a minimum.

AGRICULTURE-CHAD: Farmers, Herders Collide In Southern Refugee Camps

Clarisse Larlombaye was nearly ruined when a herd of cows got into her rice field one night. The tiny 900-square-meter plot, outside the U.N.-run Gondje refugee camp in lush southern Chad is the sole source of income for Larlombaye and the two other Central African refugees she shares it with.

DEATH PENALTY-NIGERIA: Big Debate May Herald End of Punishment

Three Nigerian MPs have stepped in to end years of political inertia over ending the death penalty in Africa's most populous nation, forcing a parliamentary debate and vote on their Private Members’ Bill for abolition.

ENVIRONMENT-CHAD: Peacekeepers Try To Tread Lightly

Polish army Lieutenant Colonel Marc Gryga didn’t realize he was planning on building his country’s major base here in eastern Chad on top of a cemetery. "It didn’t look like any cemetery you see in the United States or Europe," he says, referring to absence of headstones.