Full Coverage: East Africa

30.09.2004 Three more states - - Burundi, Guyana and Liberia - - ratified the Rome Statute in support of the International Criminal Court (ICC) this week, bringing the number of signatories to 97. Liberia and Burundi join the ranks of countries like East Timor and the Democratic Republic of Congo that joined the ICC after suffering grave, prolonged atrocities.

29.09.2004 Police in Zimbabwe arrested 48 women on a protest march against new legislation that they say will be used to restrict human rights organisations. The members of Women of Zimbabwe Arise (Woza) had walked 400km from Bulawayo, the country's second-largest city, and were stopped just 30km from Harare, their destination.

29.09.2004 Kenya is pushing for an international ban on trade in lion trophies and skins, arguing that the number of the animals has declined sharply over the years as a result of hunting, loss of habitat and lack of prey.

29.09.2004 Zambia's capital city Lusaka is facing difficulties in dealing with waste management. The institute of Waste management recently organised a workshop to help the city authorities with information and new methods in waste management.

24.09.2004 Support from Canada will help the Kenyan government implement its e-governance strategy. The plan is already being implemented with key departments such as the government treasury.

24.09.2004 Support from Canada will help the Kenyan government implement its e-governance strategy. The plan is already being implemented with key departments, such as the government treasury, being linked up.

23.09.2004 Malawi's weather stations will be getting a major technological boost that will
improve forecasting and aid agricultural planning and disaster management. Over the next three years, the meteorology department will install Geographical Information Systems to map disaster-prone areas and forecast extreme weather conditions that ruin crop yields.

23.09.2004 Charges against Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe (ANZ) and its four directors have been dismissed by Harare regional magistrate, Lillian Kudya. The publishing company and its directors had been jointly charged with contempt of court and publishing "The Daily News" without a licence, in breach of section 72 of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA).

21.09.2004 When Kenneth Banya heard the voices of his former rebel colleagues on the radio calling for an end to Uganda's 18-year civil war, he knew it was time to surrender. "I wanted to go straight home the first time I heard them," Mr. Banya, a former commander in the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), says in a cramped radio studio before going on the air to persuade other members of the rebel group to lay down their arms. "I knew it was safe after hearing them."

20.09.2004 Chaltu Jeylu will never forget the day she was 'married'. As the 13-year-old made her way to school, her would-be suitor and 14 of his friends dragged her off the road. Forcibly married for two months, she suffered repeated rape. Chaltu is from Arsi, some 250 km from the capital, Addis Ababa, in eastern Ethiopia. Abduction of girls for marriage is widespread in this corner of Ethiopia. More than half of 'marriages' that take place in Arsi region are through abduction, sources said.

20.09.2004 Two years after Zimbabwean troops returned from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Zimbabwe's public remains largely unaware of the activities of the mission. Government has kept a tight lid on information about the controversial deployment, which was allegedly carried out to prevent Congolese President Laurent Kabila from being ousted by rebels. Kabila's son, Joseph, has since succeeded his father as head of state.

20.09.2004 A new report on illegal hunting in elephants identifies China, Thailand, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia and Nigeria as the most important suppliers, manufacturers, and customers of ivory worldwide. Co-sponsored by the World Wildlife Fund, the report points out that corruption and lack of law enforcement of domestic ivory markets in Africa and Asia are fuelling the thriving illegal international trade.

15.09.2004 Radio Mampita is a membership based community radio owned and operated by Malagasy farmers. Created in 1997, it plays a key role in strengthening communications between different segments of society.

14.09.2004 Donors have flocked to support Tanzania's pastoralist land rights movement. However, well-intentioned desires to promote democracy, indigenous rights, participatory development and community conservation have had perverse consequences. Leaders of pastoral non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have become less and less accountable to their communities. The pastoralist movement has lost momentum as its energies have been diverted into activities to please donors.

13.09.2004 The Ethiopian government has shifted 3,000 highland families on to the lowlands of cattle herders as part of a resettlement plan backed by the World Bank; violent outbreaks between the two groups are possible.

10.09.2004 The government of Zimbabwe and stakeholders have launched an e-survey as the first step towards finalising an ICT policy framework. The survey will take stock of the country’s infrastructure, equipment, skills and hurdles in policy implementation.

06.09.2004 The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) is seeking a share of the hundreds of millions of dollars generated from the sales of a popular detergent and a bleaching agent manufactured in the US whose active ingredients were acquired in Kenya illegally.

03.09.2004 A new study by the International Labor Office (ILO) says an estimated two million workers die each year from work related accidents and disease, while just eight percent of people across the world have favorable economic security, cautioning that rising insecurity spawns anger and anxiety and blocks development.

01.09.2004 Twenty doctors from Ethiopian cities and towns recently attended a training session as part of a pilot telemedicine project run by a multi-stakeholder partnership between the government and international organisations.