Full Coverage: East Africa

29.07.2005 The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Italian government on Thursday signed an agreement in Maputo, that establishes mechanisms of multilateral financing for a project to develop Mozambican human resources in the sphere of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs).

29.07.2005 Over the past five years, Zimbabwe's economy has collapsed--causing the death of nearly 4,000 children per year. While President Mugabe blames the economic problems on external forces and drought, the Center for Global Development reports that government misrule has caused the county's woes.

28.07.2005 Twenty-four hours after UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s special envoy on human settlements called for an immediate end to demolitions and evictions in Zimbabwe, thousands of people on a settlement 20 kilometres from the capital watched helplessly as bulldozers destroyed their homes for the second time in a month.

27.07.2005 Campaigners and police in Kenya have started advertising ‘rape red spots’ on the city’s billboards to warn and protect women. Winnie Onyimbo reports for InterWorld Radio on whether it’s doing any good. (realPlayer required)

25.07.2005 HP Invent and NEPAD e-Africa Commission have launched the first NEPAD e-school at Bugulumbya Secondary School in Kamuli district.

25.07.2005 Connectivity through mobile phones in Africa is growing at a very fast pace. 97% of all Tanzanians have access to mobile phones and this has led to the creation of a new sector within the economy.

25.07.2005 A stinging U.N. report released Friday condemns President Mugabe's urban clean-up operation, saying it was carried out "with indifference to human suffering," and was a breach of both national and international human rights law. The report calls for an immediate halt of the demolitions, urging the government to pay reparations to the affected and punish those who carried out the forced evictions.

22.07.2005 In an attempt to tackle the problem of poverty and increase their technical knowledge base, the Rwandan government will focus on developing its Information and communications technologies (ICTs) capacity.

22.07.2005 Some 65,000 HIV-positive Ugandans are now on anti-retroviral (ARV) treatment, achieving the government's 2005 target six months ahead of schedule. The government attributed the success to international support and promised that if more resources continued to come into the country, Uganda could triple the number of people accessing ARVs by the end of 2006.

21.07.2005

21.07.2005 If they want to build a "modern and credible continent," African leaders must speak out against Robert Mugabe's highly controversial housing demolition program, said former U.S. president Bill Clinton Wednesday. Thus far the continent's leaders have been reluctant to criticize Mugabe, saying the removals, which have left thousands homeless including many who supported Mugabe's political rivals, are an internal matter.

21.07.2005 Wracked by years of conflict, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo recently requested the International Criminal Court (ICC) investigate atrocities committed in the region. ICC action could advance long-term stability and provide the international community with a new strategy for building global peace and security, reports Citizens for Global Solutions.

20.07.2005 The Sebeta School of the Blind in Ethiopia has introduced computerised braille technology.

20.07.2005 After voicing concerns over Ethiopia's post-election violence, the Christian Relief and Development Association (CRDA)--representing over 250 charities in Ethiopia--has been accused of political bias and "illegal and destructive activities." Semira Alhadi, CRDA's deputy director, believes the threat illustrates the stifling of free speech in the country.

20.07.2005 South Africa is taking a tough stance on Zimbabwe, announcing on Tuesday that it will impose stringent political and economic conditions on a loan request from its cash-strapped neighbor. Zimbabwe is facing expulsion from the IMF for failing to make debt payments, and strong condemnation from the U.N. for its notorious urban clean-up campaign, Operation Restore Order.

20.07.2005 Zimbabwean artist Owen Maseko says public toilets are "the only democratic place left where members of the public can say exactly what they want to say without fear of retribution." His installation of toilet walls adorned graffitti-style with political sentiments drew much attention at the Khululeka Exhibition in Bulawayo.

19.07.2005 After evicting nearly 10,000 people from the Mau Forest complex, Kenyan officials said the evictions were simply part of the process of rectifying past misdeeds, when land titles were given away by corrupt officials as political favors. A spokesman for the Maa Civil Society Forum, however, charges that the government is targeting poor farmers, while ignoring rich landowners.

18.07.2005

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Filmed in Afghanistan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Burundi, Argentina and the US, this documentary takes viewers into the lives of courageous women working to build peace out of conflict and crisis. For a limited time, VHS and DVD copies are available to PEACE X PEACE donors at the $40 level. Click here to make a donation and receive your copy.

18.07.2005 French journalist Jean Hatzfeld and Lt General Romeo Dallaire, former head of the UN Peacekeeping forces in Rwanda and author of Shake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda, will discuss their experiences of the genocide 11 years ago. Foyles Bookshop, London, 30 August. Call 0870 420 2777 to reserve. Ticket sales will be donated to Survivors Fund.

18.07.2005 Raped, and abandoned by their husbands for "shaming their honor," a group of Kenyan women started their own village ten years ago. Today the all-female community continues to flourish and act as a safe haven for young women escaping violence and forced marriage. The women run their own tourist campsite and a cultural center where they sell traditional crafts and jewelry, and have been so successful they are able to send their children to school for the first time.