KENYA: Proposed Constitutional Amendment Sets Back Women’s Rights
Nairobi - Lillian Mutuku, a 34-year-old mother of three, describes her home in Katine area, in Kenya’s Eastern province Tala, as a harsh place to live. The soil is poor, she says, the sun beats down mercilessly and vegetation is sparse.

NAMIBIA: Female Hip-Hop Artists Challenge Stereotype
Windhoek - African hip-hop prides itself on a more positive portrayal of women, but traditional cultural attitudes towards women still dominate the industry, say Namibian female rappers.

EDUCATION-TANZANIA: Pregnant Teens Forced Out of School
Dar-es Salaam. - Pregnancy is the leading cause of dropouts for school girls in Tanzania. And a national law forbidding young mothers to return to school after giving birth did not make it any easier for them to continue their education.

MALAWI: Patrilineal Inheritance Prevents Women’s Access to Land
Lilongwe - Mercy Gondwe, 51, from Rumphi in northern Malawi, was married for 34 years. When her husband died in 2008, she assumed she would inherit the land they had been cultivating together since they got married. But this was not the case.

HEALTH-SOUTH AFRICA: Five Years to Children Born Free of HIV
JOHANNESBURG - A world where all children are born free of HIV infection is possible in only five years if donors continue to fund global efforts to combat the virus.

ZIMBABWE: Constitution in the Limelight
Harare - A new play, Waiting for Constitution has generated great interest among politicians and civil society groups anxious to get consultations over drafting a new constitution under way.

ZIMBABWE: Informal Sector Lures University Graduates
Bulawayo - From the rickety old buses that miraculously make long cross-border journeys to the frustrating red tape at the border post, from fending off sexual advances from bus crews and customs officials to losing goods worth thousands of dollars, 28-year-old Irene Moyo has seen it all.

MALAWI: Catapults Against Cholera
Lilongwe - By this time last year, Mkanda had recorded 14 cholera cases as rainy season descended on central Malawi. This year, there has not been a single report of cholera.

EGYPT: Families Uprooted as Sphinxes Revive
Luxor - Hajj Khodari lifts a defiant fist at the demolition machinery now just meters away from his front door.

MAURITIUS: Plea for More Female Candidates
Port-louis - Sandhya Boygah considers herself a victim of male-dominated politics. In 2007, she was asked by her party, the ruling Labour Party, to step aside and allow a man to stand for the elected post she sought.

SOUTH AFRICA: Women Traders Demand Support
Johannesburg - Support for regional trade is one of the cornerstones of the Southern African Development Community (SADC). But the focus has been on large scale trade in goods and services, ignoring one important group trading throughout the region.

MIDEAST: Opposition Grows Against Egypt-Gaza Barrier
Cairo - Activists and opposition groups are stepping up pressure on the Egyptian government to stop constructing a barrier along the border with the Gaza Strip. Officials say the barrier will prevent cross-border smuggling, but critics say it will seal the fate of the people on the Gaza Strip.

AFRICA: "Women's Decade": Greater Attention to Implementation
Addis Ababa - Fears that the impact of the global economic meltdown would affect funding to various development areas have been rife. Already, several governments have cut their budgets for HIV and AIDS and bilateral and multilateral funding partners have done likewise.

ENERGY-SOUTHERN AFRICA: Small Is Beautiful, Say Independent Power Producers
Windhoek - Independent power producers argue that small hydroelectric plants have a key role to play in avoiding an energy shortfall in the Southern African region.

COTE D'IVOIRE: Crisis Within a Crisis Delays Elections Again
Abidjan - A week after President Laurent Gbagbo dissolved the government and the electoral commission, thousands marched in the city of Bouaké, damaging cars and shops. There have been almost daily demonstrations in cities across the country as Côte d'Ivoire's political crisis deepens.

EUROPE: Fight Female Mutilation Harder Activists Urge EU
Vienna - With hundreds of thousands of girls and women believed to be at risk of female genital mutilation (FGM) in Europe, rights groups have mounted a campaign to get EU leaders to stop what they see as a barbaric and dangerous procedure.

MALAWI: Free Education at What Price
Lilongwe - He fishes by night and sells his catch by day. He's the breadwinner for his family of six. Maliko Malombe is nine years old.

SWAZILAND: Dating in a Time of HIV
Mbabane - Jabulile Dlamini* is sweet sixteen and has never been kissed. And she is not expecting to be kissed any time soon or to even receive any gifts this Valentine’s Day.

ZIMBABWE: How Do You Solve a Problem Like Arrears?
Bulawayo - Faced with nearly six billion dollars of external debt, Zimbabwe's national unity government is considering applying for Highly Indebted Poor Country status.

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.

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