DEVELOPMENT-COTE D’IVOIRE: Debt May Cause Cotton Season to Unravel

The planting season for cotton is fast drawing to a close in Côte d'Ivoire: Jul.10 is the cut-off date. But cotton growers in the north of the country still lack the fertilizers and pesticides essential for producing a successful crop.

RIGHTS-CAMEROON: Finally, a Law Against Female Genital Mutilation?

Recently, Cameroon's female legislators could be found under a tree in the garden of the country's parliament, listening to Hannah Kwenti: 17, the mother of a five-month-old baby girl - and a victim of female genital mutilation (FGM).

RIGHTS: An Empty Stomach? Tell It to the UN!

Citizens may soon be able to complain to the United Nations when their governments are not treating them well - if these administrations have agreed to a host of new economic, social and cultural rights, that is.

POLITICS-CAMEROON: NGOs Endorse Code of Conduct to Promote Transparency

Cameroonian civil societies have welcomed the first global accountability charter that leading international campaigners have publicly endorsed in Glasgow, Scotland, to govern the way non-governmental organisations (NGOs) do business.

WEST AFRICA: Mixed Feelings Over Charles Taylor’s Transfer to The Hague

Former Liberian head of state Charles Taylor was flown to The Hague, Tuesday, to face trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity associated with the conflict that took place in Sierra Leone during the 1990s.

RIGHTS-CAMEROON: An Unwelcome “Gift of God”

Josiane Matia, making her way along a school route in the Cameroonian capital of Yaoundé, is far less carefree than other 11-year-olds. Walking slowly, she complains of the pain caused by a breast band that her mother has forced her to wear for three months.

DEVELOPMENT-COTE D’IVOIRE: Water Supply to Rebel Zones Cut Off

The tap ran dry at the home of Namizata Timite in this central Ivorian town two months ago. There is no supply of potable water to either drink or cook with.

RIGHTS: “War on Terror Is Sending People Into the Hands of Terrorists”

Political repression and the war on terror are expected to be amongst issues discussed at the five-day CIVICUS World Assembly that begins in the Scottish city of Glasgow on Jun. 21.

COTE D’IVOIRE: The Cost of War – Children That Do Not (Officially) Exist

The political crisis in Côte d'Ivoire, sparked by a failed coup in 2002, is further disrupting the registration of children born in areas under rebel control.

HEALTH-GUINEA: Mice Away, Virus at Bay

Scientists who discovered a new variant of the hantavirus, in Guinea, have advised that measures be taken to avoid its possible transmission to humans. The virus is carried by a type of mouse, Hylomyscus simus, which is found in forested areas of Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana.

RIGHTS-CAMEROON: Will a New Penal Code Lead to New Attitudes?

An information campaign is underway in Cameroon concerning a new Code of Penal Procedure that authorities say will strengthen the rule of law - making the Central African country a standard for human rights.

ECONOMY-GUINEA: Micro-Finance, Macro Interest Rates

Since being introduced in Guinea in 1989, micro- credit organisations have made their mark. Take the case of Batouly Diallo.

COTE D’IVOIRE: Spread of Light Weapons Reaches “Worrying Proportions”

Efforts to identify potential voters and disarm combatants are expected to begin Thursday in strife-torn Côte d'Ivoire, in preparation for elections that must take place by the end of October. However, the guns held by rebels and fighters that support the government aren't the only weapons giving cause for concern.

POLITICS: Legislators Debate Whether Democracy Fits the Bill in Africa

A meeting of parliamentarians may seem an odd place to hear the virtues of regular elections questioned. But discussion on this, and a variety of other issues, has taken place with IPS over the past few days at a meeting of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in Kenya's capital - Nairobi.

HEALTH: A Weapon Against AIDS That Looks Just Like Hair Gel

"Mafuta" is the word used by Kennedy Mundia to describe the colourless, odourless gel that he wants 1,500 women in the Southern African country of Zambia to try out, starting next month.

NIGERIA: Discrimination Against ‘Non-Indigenes’ Threatens Civil Peace

The Nigerian government must take the lead in ending discrimination against millions of "non-indigenes" - citizens who cannot show that their family roots are native to the community in which they live - in part to better secure the country's increasingly fragile unity, according to a report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) released here Tuesday.

POLITICS-AFRICA: Tough Questions for Former Heads of State

A public discussion with eleven former African leaders attending an African Presidential Roundtable, crowned the two-day event held at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in Johannesburg recently.

POLITICS: Showing Former African Leaders the Carrot, Rather Than the Stick

With eleven former African heads of state gathered at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa (Wits) for the fourth African Presidential Roundtable, questions are being asked as to what they can achieve after leaving office.

LIBERIA: Political Will and Resources Needed to Cut Child Mortality

Of the ten countries in the world that have the worst rates of child mortality, six* are in West Africa - a region that has seen more than its share of repression and civil strife over recent years.

HEALTH-AFRICA: “An Opportunity to Change the Course of History”

An Africa-wide campaign has been launched to halt HIV infections, this as the continent continues to be the worst affected by AIDS globally.

EDUCATION-AFRICA: Spare the Plough, and School the Child

Delegates to a workshop held recently in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, have highlighted concerns about how child labour is undermining efforts to achieve universal primary education.