Demographic data are important for national development. They are useful in sectoral planning and should influence the direction of government priorities. A youthful population like Nigeria requires accurate information on characteristics like…
Child-focused non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Africa often use international policy guidelines in their effort to protect children. They also depend on international donors to fund their activities. NGOs rely on standardised childhood…
Kenya’s capital city, Nairobi, used to be known as the “Green City in the Sun” for its lush environment. There have been however recently been a lot of changes to Nairobi’s land…
In Ethiopia, the national army claims to have taken “complete control” of Mekelle, the capital of the dissident region of Tigray. But since the fighting started in November, there have been concerns…
The World Health Organisation has marked significant improvements in some aspects of adolescent sexual and reproductive health. Young people are having their first sexual encounters at a later age and are more…
A new military conflict is sadly unfolding in the Horn of Africa. On November 4th, 2020, a military conflict erupted between the forces of the federal government of Ethiopia and the regional…
Flowing through 11 African countries, the Nile River plays an important role in the lives of more than 24% of Africa’s population. To both upstream and downstream countries, the Nile waters are…
Africa is currently experiencing a changing pattern of diseases and deaths. The continent faces a double burden of infectious diseases and rapid escalation of non-communicable diseases such as stroke and heart disease.…
Twenty years ago treatment for HIV was a rare luxury in South Africa. Exorbitant costs and President Thabo Mbeki’s government’s fierce opposition to providing antiretroviral treatment (ART) kept it out of the…
In July 2009, a woman brought her husband to the hospital where our colleagues work in western Kenya. She reported that for several years he had been behaving abnormally, sleeping poorly, hearing…
