President Kibaki has assured Kenyans that he was in charge of the nation and that he would lead the fight against corruption from the top. Delivering his first public address since being sworn in on December 30, Kibaki said corruption had undermined most of Kenya's important institutions and tarnished the reputations of Kenyan leaders.

As abortion-related mortality continues to rise, attitudes and lack of supportive policies on reproductive health are conspiring to send more young women of reproductive age to the graveyard. There is apparent need to increase the awareness on risks of unsafe abortions, but for those who abort, the intervention would be to improve post-abortion care, argues this commentary.

As the new Government takes office Amnesty International has called on the newly-elected leaders to commit themselves to respect and uphold the fundamental rights and freedoms of the people, enshrined in domestic law as well as in the international human rights treaties signed and ratified by Kenya.

Kibera is famous, not as a centre of learning, but as one of Africa's largest slums. The majority of Kibera dwellers have poor incomes and lack basic amenities such as toilets and clean water. But all is not gloom in the sprawling slum. A school in Kibera was last week hailed as a shining example of how children from poor communities can successfully access free primary school education.

Recent gains made in making HIV/AIDS treatment accessible and affordable to Kenyans are being threatened by a deal currently under discussion at the World Trade Organisation (WTO), which would severely restrict access to such drugs, a group of local NGOs has warned. ActionAid Kenya, EcoNews and Medecins Sans Frontieres on 14 February said the WTO meeting, convened in Tokyo, Japan, was negotiating a proposal to restrict use of compulsory licensing for many developing countries only to extreme national emergencies.

A section of the human rights fraternity in Kenya has welcomed the new government's intention to open up fresh inquiries into human rights violations attributed to the previous Kenya African National Union (KANU) government.

Declining numbers of women students pursuing science and technology courses in Kenya's institutions of higher learning are causing concern in this East African country. According to current Ministry of Education figures, women, who form 21.5 percent of Kenya's 45,000 university students, constitute less than 20 percent of students studying these courses.

The job includes devising, in collaboration with the members of ICG's Central Africa team and the Africa Program Co-Director, a detailed schedule of field research and writing tasks to be carried out; Conducting field research into prevailing security, social, political and economic conditions in Central Africa and; Analysing specific issues linked to the political stability, economic regeneration and the prevention of further conflict.

Free and compulsory primary education for Kenyan children was one of the key pre-election promises that led the current government, led by President Mwai Kibaki, to power in December 2002. Since then an estimated 1.5 million children, who were previously out-of-school, have turned up to attend classes. "We will not be content until every child of primary school age is enrolled…By educating the children we are investing in the future of this country. In the long term, educating children is one way to eradicate poverty," said the Minister for Education, George Saitoti, last week. Parents and children alike have greeted the move with euphoria.

People living with HIV/AIDS (PWAs) in rural Western Kenya are learning to improve the quality of their lives through better food production. The Kenya AIDS Intervention Prevention Project Group (KAIPPG) is a local NGO that has been running HIV/AIDS programmes in rural communities in the small town of Mumias, 50 km from the Uganda border.

At a United Nations Environment Program Governing Council meeting, Environmental Ministers are expected to agree on taking immediate actions and consider further measures - including an international treaty - to address the significant adverse impacts of global mercury.

Kenyan women's rights groups have expressed outrage at recent incidents in which policemen have been accused of rape, and urged the authorities to take appropriate action to instil discipline within the force in order to stamp out such crimes.

Hoping to make sustainable living more "cool," the United Nations Environment Programme is launching a new initiative aimed at improving the image of environmentally friendly lifestyle choices. The plan, devised with the help of social scientists, was announced Tuesday at the agency's weeklong Governing Council meeting in Nairobi.

Invasive species are devastating Africa's wetlands, crowding out native species and costing billions of dollars in environmental and economic damage, warns a new report from international conservation groups. The groups have released a booklet describing the seven worst offenders, hoping to draw attention to the problem and promote ways of controlling - and perhaps profiting from - the invaders.

UNDP Sudan Country Office is in a transitional phase, having terminated many projects that were initiated in its earlier cycles of assistance. It has prepared a forward looking Country Co-operation Framework (CCF) covering the period 2002-2006, which has been approved by the Executive Board in September 2002. The new programme focuses on peace planning and peace building and improving governance and environmental management.

A wave of strikes continued to sweep across the country this week as thousands of workers downed tools over various grievances. In the recent past, there has been a wave of workers strikes country-wide protesting exploitative employment.

Barely a month in power, the new government of President Mwai Kibaki is coming under fire from certain sectors regarding the latest senior appointments. The latest voice of discontent has come from the Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) - Kenya chapter, which claimed that recent political appointments were particularly unfair to women.

The Ogiek, who number around 20,000, are arguably the largest hunter-gatherer community in Kenya. They have identified themselves as an indigenous people, as defined in Article 1(b) of International Labour Organisation Convention No. 169,1 and the United Nations (UN) and the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights have recognized them as such. This report from Minority Rights International focuses on the displacement of the Ogiek people from their land, their underdevelopment and the threat to their culture. It also assesses the impact on the Ogiek of the loss of their land.

Once a sport restricted to men, soccer is slowly picking up among young women in Kenya. When the country's soccer federation launched a women's league, it quickly attracted a dozen teams.

In late 2001, Nairobi's Kibera slum experienced a bloody conflict over rents. By the time the police had brought the fighting under control, 15 people had died while many more were injured. The violent confrontation was to later spill over into Ngu Nyumu in Korogocho slums. The "rent revolt" had an interesting beginning, with the then president Daniel Moi and then minister for energy Raila Odinga, now Minister for Roads and Housing, being accused of being agents provocateur for urging tenants not to pay hiked rents.