ETHIOPIA: Dam Critics Won't Go Away
Addis Ababa - Ethiopia is building a 240-metre high dam on the Omo River that is intended to end the country's electricity shortage and supply power to neighbouring countries. Not everyone's happy.

UGANDA: Early Diagnosis of HIV Still Elusive
Kampala - HIV-positive Justine Kirumira* torn between doing what is right for her daughters She suspects that her eight and 12-year-old daughters may also have the virus. But she may never know the truth of their status because she refuses have them tested.

Nigeria: No Oil Company Will Know Peace in the Creeks
Yenagoa - Three flow stations in the oil-rich Niger Delta have had to be closed after a pipeline was sabotaged, according to Royal Dutch Shell.

SIERRA LEONE: World Social Forum Goals unsustained
Freetown - The World Social Forum held in Nairobi in 2007 inspired Sierra Leonean activists to organise themselves to demand things like housing, health care and greater accountability from their government. That inspiration was not sustained.

UGANDA: Fugitives in Their Own Country
Kampala - Every morning Pepe Julian Onziema wakes up not knowing if she will live to see another rising sun. Onziema is transgender and she lives in fear for her life because of a national campaign against gay people.

KENYA: Documenting Sexual Violence
Nairobi - The testimonies of women who survived sexual violence during post-election conflict in 2008 should be heard, say advocates. The magnitude of the crimes committed against women because of their gender must be recorded and prosecuted to prevent such violence from occurring again.

SWAZILAND: Dreams of Free Education Deferred
Mbabane - Ten-year-old Tembuso Magagula sat outside her classroom crying in the cold today, her long-awaited first day of school had turned into a nightmare.

UGANDA: Sharing the National Cake
Kampala - Their caricatures show great wealth and status, being driven in flashy four-wheel drives surrounded by bodyguards, and receiving benefits including mansions, cars, medical care and travel and sitting allowances.

ZIMBABWE: One Million Casualties of Land Reform
Johannesburg and Cape Town - The seizure of large commercial farms - almost all white-owned - has continued despite the formation of a unity government in Zimbabwe. The country's farm workers say they are the biggest losers.

ZIMBABWE: Water Scarcity No Obstacle To Bulawayo Farmers
Bulawayo - A new project is creatively using "marginal water" to ease water scarcity while helping residents provide food and earn a living.

EGYPT: Economists Blame 'Neo-liberalism' for Region's Woes
Cairo - Egypt embarked on "neo-liberal" economics more than three decades ago reorienting its socialist-oriented policies towards those of the "free market." Now, however, many critics call the strategy a failure and blame it for the country's rampant poverty and unemployment.

MAURITIUS: These Women Chose the Sea
Port- Louis - Although she cannot swim, Marie-Claite Hector is not afraid of the ocean. The 53-year-old pushes her small boat with all her strength towards the blue lagoon, starts the engine, and sets out to sea.

MALAWI: Women Fight Harmful Cultural Practices
Blantyre - After a forced marriage to a 77- year old man, 13-year-old Belita Simpokolwe, a grade six pupil at Kawale Primary School in the northern Malawi district of Chitipa is unable to concentrate at school, The ordeal has been etched into her memory.

ZIMBABWE: New Threats to Media Freedom
Harare - Death threats allegedly made by a senior police officer to a journalist and the arrest of a photographer, all in the space of a few days, have heightened fears of a new onslaught on the country’s media.

JUBA: tensions over oil revenue
South Sudan - Sudan’s future looks grim as it is at the crossroads. Only a miracle can save it from disintegrating as disputes over oil revenue emerge.

GHANA: Quietly Extending Options to Women
Accra - The first time she witnessed an abortion, Juliana Kweais received a blow to her lip form her grandmother for asking why her auntie had birthed a bloody sack.

KENYA: Clash Over Abortion Rights in New Constitution
Nairobi - A harmonised draft constitution has now been handed over to Kenya's Parliamentary Select Committee. Influential Christian leaders are warning that the question of abortion could derail the constitutional review process.

Malawi: Green Belt Initiative Taking Shape
Blantyre - Let the rains fail, even for several successive seasons, and Malawi should still be able to produce enough to feed itself.

ZIMBABWE: Training Teachers to Cope with HIV-positive Students
Harare - Eleven-year-old Memory’s grandmother wanted her to drop out of school because she is not going to live long enough to complete her studies. The sentiment was also echoed by her teacher.

MALAWI: Women’s Group Sues Govt Over Abortion Rights
Lilongwe - An influential women rights organisation in Malawi, Women in Law in Southern Africa-Malawi (WILSA-Malawi), is suing the government of Malawi for preventing women from accessing safe abortion.

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