The main opposition party in the self-declared republic of Somaliland says it does not recognise the legitimacy of President Dahir Riyale Kahin, according to a statement issued by the party on Sunday.

Millions of women and children fleeing the world’s conflicts end up in refugee camps where sexual abuse is pervasive, sometimes by relief workers, according to a United States congressional report. Eighty percent of refugees are in Africa, but only 55 percent of U.N. personnel responsible for protecting refugees are on the continent.

An estimated 50,000 Burundian civilians have fled new fighting between rebels and the army near the capital, local officials said, reports AFP. The new exodus, from an area in the Kabezi region, began at the weekend when the army began an offensive against mainly Hutu rebels of the National Liberation Forces.

In a bid to fight malaria among refugees in West Africa, the UN refugee agency has started testing new anti-malaria tools in two refugee camps in southern Sierra Leone. Under a project co-funded by the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid Office, more than 16,000 refugees in Largo and Tobanda camps are taking part in a trial of insecticide-treated plastic sheeting.

Authorities in Malawi have opted to take advantage of the respect religious leaders command in society, to partner with faith-based organisations in anti-corruption campaigns.

Nelson Mandela's wife and South Africa's last white central bank head were among six people named Wednesday to Africa's first peer-review body, charged with pressing the continent's leaders to end war and corruption.

The head of the mainly South African peacekeeping force in Burundi says there is no reason for them to be seen as the enemy by rebels, who have threatened to kill them. This follows remarks by Gelase Daniel Ndabirabe, spokesperson for the Forces for the Defence of Democracy (FDD), who this week accused the peacekeepers of siding with government troops and accompanying them into the interior of the country.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Zambia will on Wednesday start registering the first of an estimated 90,000 Angolan refugees for their voluntary repatriation.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said the controversial decision of the independent Ethio-Eritrea Boundary Commission (EEBC) to place Badme town and surrounding localities within Eritrea was "wrong and unjust," the government press reported on Wednesday. Addis Ababa's objection over Badme going to Eritrea had raised fears of another war between Ethiopia and its former northern province, despite repeated assurances by Ethiopia that it wants a peaceful resolution.

United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan has presented a new plan to the Security Council to resolve the political future of Western Sahara. A spokesman for Mr Annan, Fred Eckhard said the plan proposed a transitional period of semi-autonomy for Western Sahara under Moroccan rule, ahead of a referendum on independence.

More than 11,000 people have been abducted in 20 years of slave-raiding in Sudan, a new report says. The East Africa and United Kingdom-based Rift Valley Institute released its report on the basis of thousands of interviews in the Northern Bahr-el-Ghazal province, which it says is worst affected.

The Nigerian President, Olesegun Obasanjo, is to be sworn in Thursday for a second four-year term of office - marking the first successful transition from one democratic government to another since the country's independence in 1960.

A significant number of people fleeing war-torn Liberia has continued to arrive in the southwest of Cote d'Ivoire through 13 border crossing points, bringing the number of those who have crossed to at least 15,000 in the past week, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said on Tuesday.

A team mandated to monitor the cessation of hostilities accord between the Sudanese government and rebels aims to have a permanent presence in the country by early next month.

Since the presidential elections on 14 April there has been an increased risk of violence and a significant rise in human rights violations, leaving Somaliland more vulnerable than it has been for many years, says the organisation African Rights in a recent briefing paper. The paper brings to light a series of human rights abuses, including beatings and illegal detentions, a ban on protests, unfair dismissals and a curb on freedom of movement.

The ruling ZANU PF will hold provincial congresses around the country in the next six months to ascertain from party supporters who they want to succeed President Robert Mugabe as ZANU PF president, The Daily News has established.

The "war on terror" has left people around the world feeling more scared than at any time since the cold war ended, Amnesty International claims. The organisation's annual report also said that the fight against terrorism was being used by countries including the US and Britain as an excuse to trample on human rights.

You are invited to participate in an online e-Symposium on Conflict Prevention, sponsored by the Japan Centre for Conflict Prevention and the Japan Times, with the support of the Tokyo Club. The theme of the e-Symposium is 'Terrorists or Freedom Fighters?-How Can Peace Be Achieved in Palestine, Chechnya and Other Conflict Zones?'. The dates during which the e-Symposium will take place are between Thursday 22nd May to Friday 30th May. Go to http://www.dwcw.org/3rd_e-symposium/

The only viable solution to end the crisis in Zimbabwe was through a process of serious and sincere dialogue, said Movement for Democratic Change president Morgan Tsvangirai at a recent meeting with G8 ambassadors. "Therefore, the urgency of international pressure being exerted to bring Mugabe to the negotiating table cannot be overemphasized. It is the only way to avert a catastrophe. A culture of democracy and political tolerance in Zimbabwe can only take root if all of us accept the principle of dialogue without preconditions, as a way out of political problems," he said.

How is globalisation affecting the lives of the 3.4 million inhabitants of the Angolan capital, Luanda? Can the state use wealth from oil and diamonds to lift the city's poor out of poverty? Can civil society release the potential of the poor to become development actors?