| SOMALIA: Activists laud ban on FGM/C, say implementation will require more |
 | NAIROBI، 13/8/2012 (IRIN) - Activists have welcomed a ban on female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) in the new constitution of Somalia – a country where 96 percent of women undergo one of the more extreme forms of the practice – but warn that translating the law into action will require more than just a legal declaration. full report |
| ETHIOPIA: Surge of doctors to strengthen health system |
 | ADDIS ABABA، 14/8/2012 (IRIN) - Ethiopia is preparing for a flood of medical doctors within "three to four years", an influx meant to save a public health system that has been losing doctors and specialists to internal and external migration. full report |
| SOMALIA: Next stop Kismayo |
 | NAIROBI/MOGADISHU، 15/8/2012 (IRIN) - Even before it kicks off in earnest, the assault on Somalia's port city of Kismayo is causing jitters.
A preliminary push by UN-backed African Union troops on the last bastion of Somalia’s Al-Shabab insurgency has already added to Somalia’s civilian casualties, and there are fears that more may lie ahead as air, ground and naval operations in the strategic city escalate. full report |
| KENYA-SOMALIA: Repatriating Dadaab refugees "unrealistic" |
 | JOHANNESBURG/DADAAB، 16/8/2012 (IRIN) - Repeated calls in recent months by Kenyan government officials to repatriate half a million Somali refugees currently living in the Dadaab refugee complex to so-called safe areas of southern Somalia have been described as unrealistic by aid agencies and by the refugees themselves. full report |
| SOMALIA: Political transition could be deadly for journalists |
 | MOGADISHU، 16/8/2012 (IRIN) - The recent murders of two Somali journalists have brought to 10 the number of media workers killed in the country since December 2011. Journalists and rights groups fear that more targeted killings lie ahead as the country prepares for a new government. full report |