SIERRA LEONE: Caught Between Leaving the Kitchen and Putting Food on the Table

When Iyesha Josiah told people last year that after the August 2007 general elections, she would stand before them as a new member of parliament for Sierra Leone, they thought she was joking.

TRADE-SENEGAL: Africa &#39&#39Will Not Be the Winner&#39&#39 of the EPAs

''I do not know if a winner will emerge from the signing of the economic partnership agreement under the current conditions but I know for sure that Africa cannot be the winner,'' says Amadou Ba, who heads the international negotiations division at Senegal’s ministry of commerce.

DEVELOPMENT-WEST AFRICA: History Just Waiting to Repeat Itself

Two years ago, several West African states found themselves in the grip of severe food shortages - with some three million people affected in Niger alone. Children died, aid officials wrung their hands, people marched in Niger's capital, Niamey, to demand food...But were lessons learned - really learned - to ensure that the crisis does not recur?

ENVIRONMENT-COTE D’IVOIRE: The Knock-on Effect of Disappearing Forests

Sogbéné Soro claims to be able to treat a variety of ailments: leprosy, diarrhea and ringworm to name a few. But, this traditional healer is finding it increasingly difficult to ply his trade. "I am faced with a shortage of certain plant species that have medicinal properties," he told IPS.

Q&A: “The Sahel Should Already Have Been Green”

For 'newTree-nouvelarbre', a non-governmental organisation (NGO) that works largely in Burkina Faso, good fences don't only make good neighbours - they also make a line of attack against land degradation.

WEST AFRICA: Shared River Basins, Common Problems

Nigeria and Niger, in West Africa, are neighbouring states. But the two countries have more than a border in common; they are also share a number of river basins that are under threat, and the responsibility for conserving them.

POLITICS-AFRICA: Slowly Does It

A gradual approach to pan-African government has won the day at the annual African Union (AU) summit that ended Tuesday in the Ghanaian capital of Accra, where a stormy debate on this issue continued into the night.

POLITICS: Conflicts In the Spotlight at African Union Summit

The conflicts in Somalia and Darfur have come under discussion at the African Union (AU) summit underway in Accra.

POLITICS: "Take The Bull By the Horns And Move Towards a New Country – Africa"

Positions are being staked out concerning the establishment of a pan-African government, this at the annual summit of the African Union (AU), underway in Accra. Heads of state and government from around the continent began meeting in the Ghanaian capital Sunday; they will wrap up talks Tuesday.

AFRICA: Regional Integration No Path to Continental Government, Says Gaddafi

The final leg of the 2007 African Union (AU) summit kicked off in the Ghanaian capital of Accra Sunday, with a three-day gathering of the AU Assembly - comprising heads of state and government.

DEVELOPMENT-MOZAMBIQUE: An MDG Temperature Check Gives Mixed Results

Only about 30 percent of Mozambicans think that their quality of life has improved since 2000, the year when the international community agreed on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), while about 42 percent believe life has not changed.

AFRICA: Food for 12 Billion. So Why Did 854 Million Go Without?

"As you are suffering from over-consumption, I am suffering from under-consumption. We need to strike a balance," said Mary Wahu Kaara from the Kenya Debt Relief Network with reference to the North and the South.

DEVELOPMENT: Chances of Achieving MDGs “Slim” Without Civil Society

Global civil society leaders called on non-governmental organisations (NGOs) Thursday to use both international channels and their muscle on the ground for applying pressure on governments to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

COTE D’IVOIRE: A Shot in the Arm for the Northern Livestock Sector

As Côte d'Ivoire tries to pick up the pieces after five years of civil war, efforts are getting underway to deal with a notable casualty of the conflict: the health of livestock in the north, formerly under rebel control.

DEVELOPMENT: “If Anything Goes Wrong, Africa Is Blamed” – Sachs

Development plans like the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are "just words" if financing is not made available to implement the plans, says Jeffrey Sachs, head of the Earth Institute at New York's Columbia University.

TOGO: Trees Disappearing, Even as Some Believe the Supply “Will Never End”

In the southern Togolese village of Yoto Kopé, Akoua Amouzouvi and several other women emerge from the bush with bowls of charcoal balanced on their heads - hands and faces smeared with black dust.

Q&A: “Too Few African Governments Have Had the Guts to Say ‘No'”

While Kofi Annan was the United Nations' secretary-general, he handpicked Eveline Herfkens to be the executive coordinator of the Millennium Campaign, a body which mobilises support for the achievement of the U.N. Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Herfkens had previously worked as the Dutch minister of international development and as an executive director at the World Bank.

Q&A: "After the Initial Warnings About Desertification, We Could Have Done More"

Years of working in West Africa have given agricultural technician Henri Girard many insights into what is needed to halt land degradation in the region.

RIGHTS-TOGO: Celebrations as Anti-Trafficking Law Is Put Into Effect

Civil society organisations in Togo have welcomed the sentences handed down to five child traffickers last week. The trials marked the first application of a law adopted in August 2005 against the trafficking of children.

COTE D’IVOIRE: Forests Sacred No More

In Côte d'Ivoire, the importance of a forest can go far beyond its environmental significance, as critical as this may be. Certain wooded areas are viewed as sacred.

AFRICA: “If You Want More Development, Include Women in Decision-making”

The '8th Triennial Commonwealth Women's Affairs Ministers Meeting' (8WAMM) has closed with an acknowledgement that gender equality is central to democracy, peace and economic growth; ministers also called for greater efforts to achieve parity between men and women.