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AFRICA ‘Welcome to My Taxi – Let’s Do Business with My Cell Phone’ By Chris Stein JOHANNESBURG - In cities across Africa, being an entrepreneur requires no office, business card or investors. All it takes is a cell phone, according to Adele Botha, a researcher at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in South Africa. MORE >>
Mali Nomads Flee Drought By Soumaïla T. Diarra BAMAKO - Nomadic communities in northern Mali's desert regions are facing one of the most serious droughts of the last twenty years. MORE >>
Burkinabé Women's Economic Empowerment Key to Girls' Education By Brahima Ouédraogo OUAGADOUGOU - An initiative to keep girls in school by supporting income-generating activities for their mothers is bearing fruit in Burkina Faso, where poverty and cultural values still deprive many girls of an education. MORE >>
Niger Facing Growing Food Crisis By Ousseini Issa* NIAMEY - In April, the United Nations World Food Programme estimated it would need 190 million dollars to respond to a food crisis threatening more than 7 million people in Niger. By July, the WFP had revised the amount needed upwards to $371 million: a month later, the U.N. agency has been forced to scale back aid for lack of funds. MORE >>
DEVELOPMENT-NIGER Selling Sand to Survive By Souleymane Maâzou NIAMEY - It's a trade that requires no capital, only courage and endurance. A group of 200 women are making ends meet - sometimes even a bit more - by selling sand. MORE >>
WORLD Cooking Up a Climate Deal Analysis by Laure Pichegru and Terna Gyuse* JOHANNESBURG - Another round of negotiations towards a global treaty on climate change concluded in Bonn on Aug. 6, with activists calling on parties to rediscover a spirit of compromise and make offers rather than demands. MORE >>
AFRICA Bring Water Into Climate Change Negotiations By Servaas van den Bosch BONN - Longer periods of drought, decreased river flow, higher rainfall variability and lower soil moisture content: water is at the heart of the impacts of climate change. Yet the precious commodity scarcely features in climate negotiations. MORE >>
Developing More Top African Women Research Scientists By Isaiah Esipisu NAIROBI - In a tiny village near Kisumu city in Kenya, scientific researcher Mary Anyango Oyunga spends most of her time educating women about something they have always done – grow sweet potatoes. MORE >>
BURKINA FASO Race to Achieve Goals on Sanitation By Brahima Ouédraogo OUAGADOUGOU - The government of Burkina Faso has embarked on the construction of 55,000 latrines each year to improve access to proper sanitation for the population from the present 10 percent to 54 percent by 2015. MORE >>
POLITICS-GUINEA Women Amongst Also-Rans in Presidential Elections By Saliou Samb CONAKRY - Celou Dalein Diallo gained a significant advantage over Alpha Condé, his main rival for the Guinean presidency, when a third candidate said he would back Diallo in a second round of voting in August. But what has become of women candidates for high political office in this West African country? MORE >>
SIERRA LEONE Defining New Role for Traditional Birth Attendants By Mohamed Fofanah FREETOWN - Posseh Sesay will never be able to bear children again following a tragic birthing experience at the hands of her village traditional birth attendant (TBA). MORE >>
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