August 01

• Africa: Study Links Hygiene and Height in Childhood Growth

  Soap and clean water for effective handwashing can help boost a young child's growth, according to the first large-scale scientific review to link hygiene to height - one measure... Read more »

• Swaziland: The Cost of Hunger [analysis]

  Swaziland's reliance on international donors has averted famine but masked the reality of chronic food shortages and widespread malnutrition and stunting, according to a new study... Read more »

• Central Africa: LRA 'Weaker Than It Has Been in At Least 20 Years'

  Joseph Kony is losing his grip on the fighters of his rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), with many wanting to defect, according to a new report by The Resolve LRA Crisis... Read more »

July 31

• Africa: How Will the UN Look in 2023? [analysis]

  The UN and other aid agencies face ever-increasing levels of humanitarian need: the number of recorded disasters has doubled in the past two decades, according to the UN, while the... Read more »

• Africa: Getting Outside the HIV Prevention 'Comfort Zone'

  Despite years of scientific advances in HIV treatment and prevention, more than two million people are newly diagnosed with HIV annually, demonstrating how community-driven... Read more »

• Egypt: Analysis - Egypt's Way Out

  After a weekend of violence that brought the country back to the brink, Egypt now stands at an impasse: Tens of thousands of supporters of deposed President Mohamed Morsi remain in... Read more »

July 30

• Zimbabwe: Elections Maybe Peaceful, but Fair?

  Though civil society has reported isolated cases of intimidation and violence, particularly in rural areas, the general consensus is that Zimbabwe's general elections, to be held... Read more »

• Zimbabwe: Zimbabwe's Elections May Be Peaceful - but Fair? [opinion]

  Though civil society has reported isolated cases of intimidation and violence, particularly in rural areas, the general consensus is that Zimbabwe's general elections, to be held... Read more »

July 29

• Congo-Kinshasa: Rights Abuses On Both Sides in DRC Conflict

  As fighting continues in North Kivu Province between the Democratic Republic of Congo's (DRC) army and the rebel group M23, both sides have been accused of committing human rights... Read more »

July 27

• Mali: Frustration and Hope Ahead of Mali's Polls

  Malians vote on 28 July in the first ever polls since a military coup and an insurgency 16 months ago set off violence and instability hoping to turn the page on the turbulent... Read more »

July 26

• Madagascar: Volunteer Health Workers Filling the Void

  A legion of over 35,000 community volunteers has been created to fill the health void left in Madagascar's remote rural villages in the wake of the country's 2009 coup... Read more »

• Mali: Malian Refugees Trickling Back Home

  Malians are slowly returning from refuge in neighbouring Burkina Faso, Mauritania and Niger as stability improves more than a year after a military coup and an insurgency shook the... Read more »

• Somalia: Somaliland to Stiffen Human Trafficking Penalties

  The government of the self-declared republic of Somaliland will stiffen penalties for human trafficking to stem illegal migration, particularly by the region's youths. Read more »

• Africa: The Future of Food Aid [analysis]

  By the end of the next decade food security could deteriorate in some of the world's poorest countries, according to a recent global forecast by the US Department of Agriculture... Read more »

July 25

• South Sudan: Why the Violence in South Sudan's Jonglei State [analysis]

  Vicious inter-communal violence, an ongoing rebellion and reports of state-sponsored human rights violations have left more than 100,000 people in desperate need in South Sudan's... Read more »

July 24

• West Africa: West Africa Cholera Down but Officials Vigilant

  Some 1,700 people in West Africa have contracted cholera since mid-June, showing a significant decline compared to the same seven-week period in 2012 when 11,834 were affected. Read more »

July 23

• Africa: Govts Still Underfunding Health

  Twelve years after African governments pledged in the Abuja Declaration to allocate at least 15 percent of their annual budgets to healthcare by 2015, just six countries have met... Read more »

• South Sudan: Food Fears for Tens of Thousands in Jonglei

  Tens of thousands of people face severe food insecurity as they hide in the bush in South Sudan's Jonglei State following another wave of violence that has cut off aid to them. Read more »

• West Africa: Worrying Climate Outlook for West Africa's Volta Basin

  Drastic water loss in West Africa's River Volta basin - covering Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Mali, and Togo - could deprive millions of people of food and... Read more »

July 22

• Africa: Counter-Terrorism Laws Can Hurt Humanitarian Action

  The growing body of counter-terrorism legislation is having a direct impact on humanitarian action, restricting funding, stalling project implementation, and resulting in an... Read more »

July 19

• Malawi: Can Oil and Water Mix in Malawi?

  Civil society's shorthand for Malawi's drive to expand its extractive resource sector is T2 - "trouble or treasure". Read more »

July 18

• Guinea Bissau: Hunger Warning As Cashew Price Dips

  A slump in cashew nut prices in Guinea-Bissau has left nearly half of the population eking out food, with families skipping meals or selling livestock to survive until the next... Read more »

• Egypt: Syrian Refugees Caught Up in Egypt's Turmoil

  A thin wall was all that separated Syrian refugee Ahmed Al Hemsi from his 62-year-old father at Cairo International Airport when immigration officers told his father he would not... Read more »

• Africa: Political Cost of Defending Gay Rights in Africa

  US President Barack Obama's recent call for equality for gays during his Africa tour drew assurances by his Senegalese counterpart that the country was not homophobic. Yet... Read more »

• Somalia: Debating Reform of Somaliland's House of Elders

  Over the past 20 years, clan elders in Somaliland's Guurti, the upper house of parliament, have negotiated inter-clan disputes and kept the peace, carefully steering the... Read more »