Kenya: Young Men Bend Tradition With Fathering Skills

The repeated hooting of the Ostrich bus announces the break of dawn in Nguruman, a pastoralist village about 150 kilometers south of Nairobi near the Tanzania border. It also stirs… Read more »

Africa: Freedom Songs Sung to a Climate Change Tune

"This land belongs to women, they will never tire!" Chanted in Zulu, this South African freedom song from the anti-apartheid struggle was reworked into a protest song against… Read more »

Africa: Women Impacted by Climate Change - But Not as Victims

"I remember when we didn't have rainfall and my mother had to pay my school fees, so when there was no yield from crops she had to sell her fridge in order for me to go to school",… Read more »

Africa: In Zimbabwe, Change Like a River in Aids Fight

When social worker Charakupa Ngwerume was named by the village chief to serve as a counselor on a customary court, his first priority was to campaign for the nomination of female… Read more »

Africa: Tapping the Potential of Women Entrepreneurs

Secretary of State Hilary Clinton admits she is surprised when she speaks with male economists and government leaders who doubt the ability of women to contribute to economic… Read more »

Liberia: Collecting Stories to Heal a Nation

When journalist Agnes Fallah Kamara-Umunna returned to her native Liberia in 2003, she found a country that was a shell of its former self. As the nation sought to rebuild,… Read more »

Malawi: Engaging Local Leaders to Save the Lives of Mothers

Joyce Banda is Malawi's first female vice president. Before taking office in 2009, Banda served as a member of parliament, minister of Gender, Child Welfare and Community Services,… Read more »

Somalia: Let Somalis Manage Aid for Development, Doctor Says

Dr. Hawa Abdi is a woman of many firsts, including being Somalia's first female gynecologist and establishing one of the country's first NGOs. Along with her daughters, Deqa and… Read more »

South Africa: No More Loan Sharks

There are 10 people in Noamen Nongezi's household, including her husband and their three children, two children orphaned when her two sisters died of Aids, a child that her husband… Read more »

South Africa: The Woman Who Woke From the Dead

Nearly 10 years ago Zandile Malgas was rushed to hospital, declared dead, then woke up to find herself in a morgue. At this point she began to take her HIV status seriously, and… Read more »

South Africa: Savings Groups Help Rural Households Affected by HIV/Aids

A poor and HIV-positive South African may well hear advice about "living positively" with HIV, but this is guidance that many find impossible to follow. Read more »

South Africa: Poor Make Money by Saving in Groups

Bongiwe Dlamini thinks back to the financial crisis she faced a few years ago, a time when she was so deep in debt that she could not even buy for groceries for her family. Read more »

Nigeria: Beating Grim Odds of Childbirth

An expectant mother in northern Nigeria faces higher risks in childbirth than in most any other place in the world, according to international public health surveys. Read more »

Africa: 'Tellers and Cashiers' of Africa's Wealth Are Key to Development

When it comes to development policies, alongside all the statistics of hunger and need, and the totals of dollars spent, it must be remembered  that what matters most is that… Read more »

Liberia: Technology Eyed to Improve Lives of Women

In the densely populated community of Paynesville on the outskirts of Liberia's capital, scores of women are doing hard labor. Read more »

Africa: Empower Women to Realize the African Dream

It is hard not to be inspired by the widely-recognized economic growth story of Africa: more than a decade of robust growth for a region that has become a credible destination for… Read more »

Sudan: Rebecca Garang Promotes Accountability for New State

'Mama Rebecca', widow of John Garang - the charismatic leader of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) and commander of its army - welcomes the opportunity for southern… Read more »

Equatorial Guinea: Rights Group Appeals to Obiang to Uphold AU Principles

The African Union's choice of Equatorial Guinea's President Teodoro Obiang as its new chairperson challenges his government to fulfill the organization's standards for democracy… Read more »

Africa: Stronger Global Response Needed to Gender-Based Violence

Just a few weeks ago, as millions of families gathered in the United States to celebrate Thanksgiving, a lesser-known event went by unnoticed. The International Day for the… Read more »

Africa: Women and Children the Focus of Achieving MDGs

With five years remaining to achieve the targets of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has made it clear that a concerted,… Read more »

Africa: Focus on Women and Girls Key to MDG Success

As world leaders gather this week in New York to assess progress on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), they will face stark challenges to social and economic development,… Read more »

Africa: Giving the Millennium Development Goals a Human Face

Ahead of the United Nations Millennium Development Summit to be held in New York later this month, the UN Foundation and its partners have ramped up efforts to educate the media… Read more »

Africa: Africa's Women Turn 50

Five decades ago, 17 African countries threw off the brutal and degrading yoke of colonialism. The 50th anniversary of African national liberation is an opportunity to critically… Read more »

Liberia: Something New for the Senior Class: Girls

When students return to the classroom at Bopolu Central High School this year, there will be something not seen at the school since it reopened after Liberia's long civil war:… Read more »

Congo-Kinshasa: Improvements Necessary to Deal with IDPs, U.S. Official Says

Tens of thousands of people in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have been fleeing a government offensive against Ugandan rebels, adding to the nearly 2.5 million people… Read more »