The UN children's agency says child mortality is decreasing, but the rate of decline is not enough. A new report says more than eight million children under five died last year with pneumonia and diarrhoea the two leading causes of death. Unicef says 40% of under-five deaths take place in just three countries - Nigeria, India and DR Congo.

On Friday morning, Philo Ikonya and Jacob Odipo appeared before Resident Magistrate Ireri in Kibera Law courts to answer to charges brought against them for allegedly participating in an unlawful assembly. They had been arrested Thursday while demonstrating outside Integrity House in protest of the re-appointment of Aaron Ringera.

Though political instability, violence and chaos surround them, surgeons and backup teams dedicated to ending the misery of obstetric fistula continue their work in the failed state of Somalia. The gratitude of their patients keeps them going in the most desperate of situations.

Ethiopian health authorities have dedicated three hospitals in the capital Addis Ababa to patients suffering from acute watery diarrhoea (AWD), according to a health official. Thousands of people have been infected and 34 killed by the outbreak, says the Health Ministry. Ahmed Imano, head of public relations in the ministry, said there were fears it could escalate with the rains.

Women and children are being increasingly targeted in the escalating attacks against communities in Southern Sudanese states, exacerbating the dire humanitarian situation, say officials. "We have seen a drastic escalation in violence across Southern Sudan this year - from the Equatorial States besieged by LRA [rebel Ugandan Lord's Resistance Army] attacks, to the brutal clashes in Jonglei, Upper Nile and Lake States," Jonathan Whittall, head of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in Southern Sudan, said.

Fernando Pacheco

Chased Chased by bullets In fumigated environment
Instinctually they run
Without a shelter.
Not knowing
What is ahead In that dark world.

My boys
Where are you running
Without knowing
What is ahead?
My boys
Do not be deceived
You can not
Outrun the bullets.

One of them uttered,
I run
To grow up somewhere,
With the hope
To return and pay back
With a barrel of a gun.

My boys If I take you out
From the fumigated environment
Which is full of hate and deceit,
Would you have a heart
To forgive and
A mind to forget?

One of them uttered,
I am that boy
Chased by a bullet
No doubt.
It is a promise not to forget,
But to pay them back. Here is my plea to the almighty,
To intervene and have mercy,
To stop such madness
Without divine interference.
The cycle continues In the name of nationalities
And boundaries.

Countries tackling food insecurity and climate change adaptation can greatly benefit from agroforestry - integrating fleshy plants and trees into their farming systems, environmental specialists say. Sub-Saharan Africa has a history of food insecurity brought on by meagre rains, land degradation, declining soil fertility and bad management of resources, among other factors.

Legislators in Mali will have to try harder to win support for the next draft of their new family code after the president sent it back to parliament on 27 August for re-drafting. The current draft code recognizes only secular marriages, increases the legal marrying age to 18, gives girls inheritance rights, and makes women equal with their husbands at home, according to lawmakers who said they had not done enough to get backing for controversial parts of the family code.

The Osun State Labour Party has condemned the unrepentant and highly irresponsible attitude of the federal and state governments to the demands of the university staff unions – Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Senior Staff Union of Universities (SSANU) and Non-Academic Staff Union of Universities (NASU) which are sine qua non to the revival of public education in Nigeria.

Zambian president Rupiah Banda has signed legislation regulating the operations of civil society, sending shock waves through the sector, which fears its independence will be severely compromised. Presidential assent means the 2009 NGO Bill, withdrawn in 2007 after widespread protests by civil society and opposition parties, now only needs gazetting to become legislation that will require "the registration and co-ordination of NGOs" and can "regulate the work, and the area of work, of NGOs operating in Zambia".

An ancient myth from Meru, eastern Kenya, tells of a war during which all the healthy men in the village were deployed to fight an enemy tribe, only to return and find the women had been impregnated by the men left behind, who had been deemed incapable of defending the village. From that day on, the legend continues, Meru women have had their clitorises removed to curb their sexual appetites and ensure their marital fidelity.

The Campaign for Democratic and Workers’ Rights (CDWR) in Osun State has comndemned the obnoxious policy of education privatization by the Ogun State. Our attention has been drawn to the handover of about 45 secondary schools to churches in the state. This action to us is anti-poor, fraudulent and reactionary. In a country where over 90 percent are living on less than $2 a day; a country where human capital development is at its abysmal level, the current privatization of secondary schools in the state is totally absurd.

The child rights act ratified in November 2008 in Sierra Leone criminalizes child labour, but some child rights experts say instead of prosecuting parents, the government should focus instead on getting children into school. “We don’t want to penalize or criminalize poverty. Many of these parents have few options,” said Annalisa Brusati, child and youth protection coordinator at the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in Sierra Leone. “The aim of the act is to reduce child labour, not to have everyone committing crimes. Parents need to be aware of how to make new choices,” she said.

Despite a two-year-old law in Niger penalizing discrimination against people infected with HIV, seropositive women say they still receive substandard health care, are denied employment and risk losing their children because of their status. “When a woman is divorced as a result of her HIV status, it is difficult for her to keep her children,” said Sona Soumaré Conté, president of a local NGO that works with HIV-positive women. "Their husbands are afraid their children will not be well taken care of or will become contaminated.”

This is a call for papers that address many issues involving all aspects of Africans in China: issues of history, society, culture, language, and Africa - China relations, among others. How are these Africans being influenced by their Chinese hosts and how do they in turn influence their hosts? How does their presence in China impact on trade between Africa and China and how do these Africans contribute to the economies of the countries they originate from? Is this new and emerging African diaspora different from other African diasporas? What theoretical and methodological insights does the study of these African migrants in China have on general theories of migration and diasporan studies?

The Nigerian government will not extend the 60-day amnesty offer to the country's oil militants when it expires 6 October 2009, according to President Umaru Yar'Adua. "Those who refuse to take advantage of (the) amnesty will be on their own after October 6, 2009," the President said at the opening of the 2009 Chief of Naval Staff Annual Conference in Uyo, capital of South-east Akwa Ibom state.

The International Monetary Fund has given Zimbabwe a windfall of more than US$500 million (Sh39bn) after almost a decade of financial restrictions imposed on the economically troubled country. This follows the injection of US$283 billion into the global economy to boost member countries dwindling foreign exchange reserves due to recession.

South Africa's ruling African National Congress has condemned as "racist" a decision by Canada to grant a white South African man refugee status. Brandon Huntley, 31, had told officials in Canada he could not return to South Africa after seven different attacks. They included three stabbings, which he said he had suffered as a result of his skin colour.

This resource guide introduces some of the best literature on the causes, characteristics and impact of state fragility and the challenge of aid effectiveness and lessons learned from international engagement in these contexts. It highlights the major critical debates that are ongoing within the international development and academic community in relation to understanding and responding to fragile situations.