Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has informed the General Assembly of his intention to appoint Judge Navanethem Pillay of South Africa as the new United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The tropical root crop cassava could help protect the food and energy security of poor countries now threatened by soaring food and oil prices, FAO said today. At a global conference held in Gent, Belgium, cassava scientists called for a significant increase in investment in research and development needed to boost farmers' yields and explore promising industrial uses of cassava, including ...

The World Bank has provided the sum of US$487,000, which is about N57.5 million in grant towards strengthening the African Diaspora Program of the African Union.

In a twist of realism, a new feature film, "Johnny Mad Dog", uses a cast of actual ex-child soldiers from Liberia to portray the violent lives of youth forced to participate in armed conflict.

WORLD Trade Organisation (WTO) boss Pascal Lamy has extended trade talks in Geneva with agreement on key issues still out of reach after four days.

Politics and Policy

BARACK Obama wants three things out of his tour of the Middle East and Europe.

The Catholic Church in Africa should find new and effective ways of presenting the gospel and preserving the great cultural values of the continent, Pope Benedict has said.

Some 100 delegates from 36 countries meeting at FAO today called on farmers to join the ongoing "Greener" revolution represented by a form of farming known as Conservation Agriculture.

The reaction of the African blogosphere to the Memorandum of Understanding signed by President Mugabe and MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai outlining a framework for talks on Zimbabwe's political crisis has ranged from guarded optimism to outright condemnation.

The current food crisis is yet another reminder of the feminisation of poverty. Women produce most of the food in poor countries, yet they have less access to seed, fertilisers and extension services.

While the mainstream media doesn't always ignore the pressing issue of hunger in Africa, it rarely explores the root causes of this problem. Behind most news on the issue, there's an assumption that casts hunger as a natural result of unfortunate weather conditions, coupled with bureaucratic inefficiency and bad economic planning.

Climate Change is accepted today even by die hard sceptics as a real crisis that must be urgently tackled for the preservation of the earth in a form that would sustain human and other life forms. The United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is the best known body of climate scientists who accepts that most of the observed warming of the last 50 years is likely due to the increase ...

Developing countries in the Global South, which have already introduced innovative technology such as mobile banking, need to drive the development of "eHealth" – the harnessing of Internet-enabled technologies to improve public healthcare, says Karl Brown, associate director of applied technology of the Rockefeller Foundation. He was interviewed by AllAfrica's Boakai Fofana, at a ...

Climate change has a profound effect on food security in Africa, as increasing temperatures and shifting rain patterns reduce access to food across the continent.

The International Criminal Court organized at the beginning of the month in The Hague a conference on visits to prisoners before asking the States Parties to take a decision on this issue.

TRADITIONAL rulers and religious leaders across the continent yesterday attributed the alarming rate of maternal mortality in Africa to inadequate education received by women, before, during and after child birth.

African Synergy against AIDS and Suffering (African First Ladies NGO) has formed a strategic partnership with US Doctors for Africa (USDFA).

Politics and Policy

Uganda's Nicollette will face off against Zimbabwe's Eric in the IDOLS final after Trinah (Zambia) fell during the final results show on M-Net (DStv Channel 101/2) last night (Monday July 21).

Kenya is among countries in the Horn of Africa facing a humanitarian emergency with more than 12 million people requiring urgent food aid and other assistance over coming months.

Change, as they say, is about the only constant in creation. It may materialise in the form of adversity or elation, hope or hopelessness, fortune or misfortune.

THE Africa Development Fund is to fund a consultant for a Sexual and Reproductive Health programme.

The South African Government has donated 160 elephants to Lusenga Plains National Park in Zambia's Kawambwa Disrict.

AllAfrica's Boakai Fofana, based in Monrovia, is one of a few media professionals brought to Bellagio, Italy by the Rockefeller Foundation to attend an invitation-only international conference on harnessing Internet-enabled technologies to radically improve public healthcare. AllAfrica - where pioneering technologies have made our work possible - was an early advocate of exploiting web-based ...