DEVELOPMENT: Report Details Toll Taken by Lack of Water, Sanitation

The 2006 Human Development Report, 'Beyond Scarcity: Power, Poverty and the Global Water Crisis', focuses on the ongoing problems that surround provision of potable water and sanitation. The document is being launched Thursday in Cape Town, South Africa, by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

RIGHTS-NIGERIA: “People Always See Us As Health Hazards”

"When I go home, I often notice that as soon as I come, all the towels, soaps and sponges that were in the bathroom will disappear," says Isaiah Ojeabulu. He chairs the Human Rights Association of Persons Affected by Leprosy, an organisation in Nigeria, and has himself suffered from leprosy.

POLITICS-COTE D’IVOIRE: Another UN Resolution, Another Controversy

For Siméon Konan of the non-governmental organisation Initiative for Peace (Initiative pour la paix), based in Côte d'Ivoire's financial centre of Abidjan, efforts to bring peace to the West African country leave something to be desired - a recent United Nations Security Council resolution on Côte d'Ivoire notwithstanding.

RIGHTS-COTE D’IVOIRE: Disability and Sex Can Share the Same Bed, Say Women

Marginalised by society because they have few legal or institutional forms of protection, disabled women in Cote d'Ivoire are now coming out of the shadows and demanding their rights - particularly those related to their sexual and reproductive lives.

CHINA: Winning Friends and Influence in Africa

Accused of supporting corrupt African regimes to facilitate its imports of oil and raw materials from the resource-rich continent, China is staging a grand diplomatic forum to defend its dealings with Africa.

DEVELOPMENT-AFRICA: Think Global, Eat Local

It's certainly a logical suggestion: in an effort to make cocoa-producing countries in Africa less dependent on consumers abroad, why not increase domestic consumption of cocoa products?

POLITICS-AFRICA: The Ultimate Golden Handshake

Various African researchers and civil society groups have given a mixed response to the launch of a five-million-dollar prize for African leaders who relinquish power and promote good governance.

COTE D’IVOIRE: Reconciliation Through Education

Four years after a military and political crisis divided the education system of Cote d'Ivoire, the country has finally found a way to make all schools begin their academic year at the same time again.

POLITICS-COTE D’IVOIRE: Extended Political Transition Raises Temperatures

An African Union (AU) recommendation to extend the political transition period in Côte d'Ivoire for a year will be put to the United Nations Security Council this week - even as various groups in the war torn nation oppose the plan.

SOUTHERN AFRICA: No Ivory Sales Now Doesn’t Mean None Later

Concern about ivory sales in Southern Africa is persisting among environmental groups - this after the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) granted Japan stockpile buyer status earlier this month.

DEVELOPMENT-AFRICA: The Toll Taken by Illegal Migration Remembered

About a year ago, headlines were dominated by the latest tragedy to befall African migrants who try to enter Europe illegally. According to rights group Amnesty International, at least 11 were killed over the space of a few weeks as thousands of Africans tried to scale fences surrounding Ceuta and Melilla.

RIGHTS-COTE D’IVOIRE: Impunity Lays the Ground for Sexual Abuse

Increasing sexual violence in Côte d'Ivoire has prompted rights organisations to call for an end to a culture of impunity which they claim has encouraged this trend - particularly as concerns the military.

ECONOMY: The Curate’s Egg That Is Africa-Asia Trade

Emerging global powers China and India, both thirsty for new markets and energy resources, are increasing efforts to secure a dominant position in Africa.

POLITICS: Mixed Signals on Whether Moroccans Who Live Abroad, Can Vote Abroad

Moroccan expatriates may not be permitted to take part in legislative elections in their home country in 2007. Certain analysts believe this is because the government fears Islamic fundamentalists will make a clean sweep in the poll; others claim that the state is simply not able to meet the logistical challenge of allowing people living abroad to vote.

HEALTH-SENEGAL: Clay as Delicacy and Danger

You can find them at the rear of the large shed in the market at the train station, amidst dust, shouts of laughter and the "thwack" of sacks being thrown onto pushcarts. These are some of the kaolin sellers that frequent the Senegalese capital, Dakar.

HEALTH-UGANDA: USAID’s Malaria Control Plan Risks Public Disapproval

A population explosion in the highlands in south-west Uganda has turned fertile wetlands into breeding grounds for malarial mosquitoes.

DEVELOPMENT: From the Margins of Society, to Centre Field

Nelson Mandela delivered his first speech there after leaving prison. The square has also been the scene of anti-apartheid protests and military parades. This coming week, however, Cape Town's Grand Parade will be a venue for something entirely different: street soccer matches played during the 2006 Homeless World Cup (HWC).

HEALTH-AFRICA: Bringing Traditional Birth Attendants Into the Mainstream

In an ideal world, all of Africa's women would have access to clinics, nurses, obstetricians, medicines: the panoply of staff and equipment needed to make the process of giving birth as safe as possible.

FINANCE: World Bank Careless About Development Goals – Report

Several developing countries are not reaching sustainable development targets fast enough despite numerous international agreements, says a report, launched here amidst criticism that World Bank energy and mining projects were not doing enough to protect the environment and improve the plight of the poor.

HEALTH-AFRICA: “There Hasn’t Been Adequate Emphasis on Family Planning”

The problem of limited access to contraceptives is taking centre stage at an African Union (AU) meeting currently underway in Maputo.

DEVELOPMENT-AFRICA: Few “Positions Vacant” for the Young

A billion young people aged 15 to 24 unemployed, 85 percent of them in developing countries - with several hundred million more expected to enter the job market by the end of the decade: grim statistics indeed. However, a recent conference offered some ideas as to how they could be addressed.