Cholera has killed at least 51 people in the past few weeks in northern Cameroon, where health experts say safe water and proper sanitation are sorely lacking. “[The fight against cholera] here will be difficult because the hygiene conditions are awful,” said a health official who was not authorized to be quoted. He noted that most people defecate in open areas.

Countries where women's literacy rates and access to education are significantly worse than men's tend to have higher levels of hunger, according to the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). "Wherever women are not empowered you see high levels of hunger," Suresh Babu, a senior research fellow with IFPRI, said. The institute’s 2009 Global Hunger Index (GHI) calls for policy action on gender empowerment, social protection and governance to improve food security.

The African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights has issued a statement calling on the African Union to, among other things, intervene with immediate effect to ensure that H.E. President Sheikh Professor Alhaji Dr. Yahya A.J.J. Jammeh withdraws the threats made angainst human rights defenders, and to ensure that the Republic of The Gambia guarantees the safety and security of the members and staff of the African Commission, human rights defenders, including journalists in The Gambia, and all participants in the activities of the African Commission taking place in The Gambia.

The Guebuza campaign is making intensive use of four helicopters, and the Bulletin estimates that the cost will be nearly $1 million. This means that Frelimo is spending more just on helicopters than the total amount ($750,000) being given to it this year as state funding. (Total funding to all parties is $1.85 million). This shows that Frelimo has much more money to spend on this election than any other party.

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe will chair a weekly cabinet meeting on Tuesday without members from Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's party, which boycotted the unity government last week, state media reported on Sunday. Tsvangirai announced on Friday that his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party would disengage from Mugabe's "dishonest and unreliable" ZANU-PF party in the country's coalition cabinet set up in February.

Incorrect use in routine practice of a World Health Organization (WHO)/UNICEF HIV screening tool for children at primary health care clinics in Limpopo and KwaZulu Natal provinces, South Africa leads to the failure of life saving interventions, Christiane Horwood and colleagues reported in a study in the September 22 2009 edition of BMC Pediatrics.

It was, Malawian police say, a routine sweep for criminals at one of the country’s busiest border posts. They were looking for criminals. But when police arrested 14 prostitutes as part of their search, and then allegedly forcefully tested them for HIV and charged them for "deliberately trading in sex while having a sexually transmitted disease", human rights organisations had to step in.

The HIV/AIDS epidemic is one of the greatest challenges facing post-democracy South Africa. In 2007, the country, which is home to less than one per cent of the world's population, carried 17 per cent of the global burden of HIV infection — and the virus continues to spread relentlessly. The government's response to the epidemic during the last decade has contributed to this disproportionate burden. It not only questioned the reliability of HIV testing, the safety and efficacy of antiretroviral drugs and the accuracy of statistics on AIDS-related morbidity and mortality, but also the very premise that HIV causes AIDS.

The East Africa Internet Governance Forum (EA-IGF), which first convened in 2008, aims at creating a community of practice that will, in the long term, become a sustaining foundation for meaningful participation of East African stakeholders in internet public policy debates at the national, regional and international level. This year’s EA-IGF was held in Nairobi Kenya, with over 200 participants from varying sectors, from fifteen different countries. This year’s forum focused on cyber-crime, policy regulatory needs consumer issues, critical internet resources, and access to broadband.

The planting season in Zimbabwe is fast approaching, but farmers are struggling to access crucial agricultural inputs, bringing fears of yet another poor harvest. "Before the government of national unity came into being [in February 2009] ... new farmers would receive fuel, fertilizer, seed and implements at almost giveaway prices, and sometimes for free," said Thomas Chirandu, a large-scale farmer in Mashonaland West Province who had prepared his land but could not afford to buy maize seed and fertilizer.

More than 1,000 American and East African troops are to be deployed in northern Uganda next week as the United States carries out its biggest military exercise in Africa this year. Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi are each sending up to 150 soldiers to join 450 US military personnel in Kitgum for the October 16-25 exercise known as Natural Fire 10.

The Lesbian, Gay, Transgender, Intersex, Queer and Bisexual persons of the Gay and Lesbian Coalition of Kenya, has expressed support and solidarity with the LGBTIQ community of Uganda and Sexual Minorities Uganda as they face uncertainty following the tabling in Parliament of the Anti-Homosexuality bill no 18.on the 14th of October 2009.

Kareem is a young Egyptian blogger who was only 22 years old when he was sentenced to 4 years in prison by the Egyptian government for criticizing Islam and the President of Egypt on a personal blog. Kareem was threatened and harassed consistently for his writing, and was previously arrested prior to his sentence, all of which were attempts to silence his opinions which he should be free to express.

Guinea’s military government, facing international sanctions and heavy strictures over a mass killing of unarmed demonstrators, is highlighting a recent agreement with a Chinese company that could provide it with billions of dollars.

RK Naik, who has died aged 81, was the only Indian to have served as a member of the central committee of the Zimbabwe African People's Union (Zapu), the resistance movement started in the then Southern Rhodesia in 1961. Ramanbhai Khandubhai Naik was born in Bulawayo, Southern Rhodesia; his parents had migrated there from Gujarat, India. When RK was three, his father died during one of his visits to India. The family stayed on and RK completed his matriculation in India before returning to Southern Rhodesia at the age of 16.

Targets to cut the number of hungry people in the world will not be met without greater international effort, UN food agencies have warned. The UN's annual report on global food security confirms that more than one billion people - a sixth of the world's population - are undernourished. It says the number of hungry people was growing before the economic crisis, which has made the situation worse.

In the wake of recent events in Guinea and in light of information related to the alleged commission of crimes under ICC jurisdiction, ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo has confirmed that the situation in Guinea is under preliminary examination by his Office.

This is a video featuring a presentation on the role of women in peace-building efforts in the Casamance by Mme. Seynabou Male Cissé, coordinator of USOFORAL. She was invited to present on this topic by Leadership Africa USA that is running a leadership training program for young women in Casamance. The presentation is in French.

All public land will be identified, registered and handed over to a National Land Commission after the proposed National Land Policy becomes law. This will make it difficult for public land to be grabbed, a practice rampant in Kenya. There is no system for registration of public land and it is left to the Finance ministry permanent secretary, in whose name it is registered, to safeguard it.

African Union's top security organ, the Peace and Security Council (PSC), said targeted sanctions against Guinean junta leader, Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, and other senior leaders of his regime would take effect on 17 October, 2009. At its 206th session at which it discussed the situation in Guinea and Niger, the PSC said targeted sanctions against the Guinean junta leader would take effect on Saturday and the list of those to be targeted would be known after a regional Summit on the same issue.