Ethiopia is boosting its health worker numbers, building thousands of health centres and working with donors to prioritize the prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission (PMTCT). Even so, most women still prefer to have their babies at home. An estimated 2.4 per cent of pregnant women in Ethiopia are thought to be HIV-positive - rising to 3.5 per cent in the 15-24 age group. The national average is just over 2 per cent. About 20 per cent of children born to HIV-positive mothers annually are also infected with HIV, according to government statistics.

The Israeli government is employing Eritrean asylum seekers to help build a border fence designed to keep out other migrants seeking to enter the country from Africa via the Sinai Peninsula. A man who gave his name as August, one of four Eritreans working for a contractor along the fence route, said he had sought work for a long time before he was told a construction job was available near Eilat.

'Fighting the scourge of Acid Mine Drainage becomes not only a matter of environmental importance, but also one of protecting vulnerable, local communities that depend upon South Africa's finite natural resources,' says this article from the Consultancy Africa Intelligence newsletter published on the Sangonet website. 'The AMD scourge may place undue stress upon the country's resources and industries, and potentially undermine the overall stability of the country.'

On 8 March, Olivier De Schutter, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, presented his new report 'Agro-ecology and the right to food' before the UN Human Rights Council. Based on an extensive review of recent scientific literature, the report demonstrates that agroecology, if sufficiently supported, can double food production in entire regions within 10 years while mitigating climate change and alleviating rural poverty. The report therefore calls States for a fundamental shift towards agro-ecology as a way for countries to feed themselves while addressing climate and poverty challenges.

is an online video and photographic archive documenting the Egyptian revolution.

Almost five months after the anti homosexuality bill was tabled before the National Assembly of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transsexual (LGBT) organisations and activists say they have not had the opportunity to mobilise or even undertake any action to oppose the bill due the lack of funding to support the activities. Jean Bedel Kaniki of Hirondelles Bukavu, an LGBTI organisation in the DRC, said organisations had solely depended on financial support promised by an international funder, which they did not get.

There is a ray of hope for millions of poor Zambians - thanks to the unwavering anti-corruption efforts of many organisations like Transparency International Zambia (TIZ) and the Medicines Transparency Alliance (MeTA). Supported by the UK’s development agency DFiD, since 2008, the international initiatives have been spearheading a project aimed at helping to increase access to essential medicines by low income and disadvantaged people in Zambia. MeTA and TIZ want to improve transparency and accountability in the selection, procurement, sale and distribution of essential medicines in Zambia. And it involves the key sectors in government, the pharmaceutical industry, civil society and the donor community.

A new programme, funded largely by the United States President's Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (Pepfar), will provide $130-million in grants to African institutions, with the aim of strengthening medical education and research training. Dr Francis Collins, director of the National Institute of Health (NIH), said the goals of the Medical Education Partnership Initiative (Mepi) are ambitious. 'The intention here is, over five years, to train no less than 140 000 healthcare workers and to provide a real platform for a wide variety of research activities going forward. This is not something that has been attempted before,' he said.

To mark the centenary year of International Women's Day on 8 March, Panos London has produced a case study media pack profiling extraordinary women from around the world who have taken on roles previously deemed just for men. 'Breaking Barriers: Women in a Man's World' is a showcase of exceptional women who are breaking stereotypes to change their own lives and inspire other women and girls around them.

Tunisia's interim authorities have disbanded the country's feared state security apparatus, notorious for human rights abuses under the ousted president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. Seeking to assert their authority and gain legitimacy in the eyes of protesters who forced Ben Ali to flee in January, the authorities appear to be attacking the remaining vestiges of his 23-year rule, one-by-one.

The independent news magazine Kontext TV, supported by Noam Chomsky and others, was at the World Social Forum in Dakar, Senegal in February and has produced a series of broadcasts on the occasion of the Forum's 10th anniversary. The first programme is now online in English and German versions under The programme reports about some of the key issues at the Forum such as the impacts of the revolutions in North Africa and the formation of a worldwide movement for climate justice and land grabbing. Another broadcast focussing on Africa is going to follow.

On the centenary of International Women’s Day 2011, FIAN calls for equal land rights for women worldwide. Access to and control over land is one of the most important means for men and women in rural areas to realise their right to food. Discriminatory practices, however, have driven women into increased marginalisation, especially when it comes to access to resources such as land, water or seeds. As a consequence, women are disproportionately affected by hunger and malnutrition.

Few people are aware that a group of women - calling themselves the Peace Women - were instrumental in bringing peace to Liberia. Their story, which begins with the simple act of sitting along the streets for months under the hot sun or torrential rains of Liberia, led to the exile of alleged warlord Charles Taylor in 2003, now awaiting his verdict in The Hague. In 1998, women united in their common goal for an end to violence, and played an essential role in the decommissioning of young rebels to install peace and democracy in a war-torn country. The movement took place under the auspices of the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP). Today the work of these Peace Women continues.

For Moroccan women, the International Women's Day on 8 March provided an opportunity to evaluate the status of their rights. Women still suffer from discrimination and have yet to achieve much-desired equality in the workplace, officials and experts say. According to the economy and finance ministry, the level of women's employment in the civil service is 36 per cent. Women account for 14 per cent of senior employees, constituting 10 per cent of division heads and 16 per cent of department heads.

Kenya's President Mwai Kibaki did not take strong action against Uganda for ‘grabbing’ Migingo Island to politically undermine Prime Minister Raila Odinga. That was the thinking by US embassy officials in Nairobi, as revealed by secret diplomatic cables made public by whistleblower website WikiLeaks. The cable analyses the background to the tiny disputed island on Lake Victoria, the way it has impacted on Kenya-Uganda relations and also become a political dispute in Kenya.

African academics are backing a drive to establish closer research and higher-education ties between countries on the continent to boost its development. The vision is set out in a document finalised in January by the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) - with the support of the African Union and the Association of African Universities - and recently seen by SciDev.Net.

To mark International Women’s Day on 8 March, Reporters Without Borders released a report on the problems of women who work as journalists. It reaffirms several important principles, contains interviews with women journalists throughout the world and describes all the different problems they encounter, ranging from everyday discrimination to the most tragic forms of violence.

In 2011 Oxfam will launch a new section of its website aimed at development and humanitarian professionals. The new site aims to share Oxfam's policy, practice and research with development practitioners, researchers, advocacy and campaign organisations, and policy formers worldwide. This site will replace the current Oxfam Publications website
Oxfam needs your help and your input by completing a short survey to help influence the development of the new site so that it can better support your work. This survey is an important part of building the new website, and we would be grateful if you could take a few minutes of your time to fill it in. The survey will take no more than 10 minutes to complete and your input is extremely valuable. If possible please share this survey with colleagues and pass it on to your wider networks. The closing date for completion is 25 March. This is the url for the survey:

Since 1992, 34 journalists have been killed in Somalia, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. This doesn't take into account journalists who die in car accidents, but only instances where deaths are work-related. In 2010 two Somali journalists were killed as a direct result of their work, Sheikh Nur Mohamed Abkey, who worked for state-run Radio Mogadishu, was gunned down near his home, and Barkhat Awale, director of Hurma community radio, was killed by a stray bullet from nearby fighting. No Somali journalists have been killed this year - so far. Death is the most extreme example of the many dangers facing journalists in Somalia. Already this year, two journalists have been captured by militia groups, although both have been released.

Just one woman has been included into the newly sworn-in cabinet. Essam Sharaf, Egypt’s new prime minister, has instead announced the creation of a committee that deals with the advancement of women, formed under the supervision of the cabinet. Throughout the uprising, women were at the forefront of the street protests. However, they have largely kept quiet about their gender rights in a country where they have faced rampant discrimination and received little legal protection against widespread violence and sexual abuse.