The Paris Club of creditor nations said on Thursday it had reached an agreement with Togo to cancel $347 million of the country's debt. The accord followed the International Monetary Fund's approval in April of a new lending programme to support economic development.

Togolese officials have embarked on a nation-wide consultation on the creation of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) to heal the wounds of the 2005 political violence in the West African country

A desperate shortage of antiretroviral (ARV) drugs in the West African country of Togo has temporarily eased with the arrival of a two-month supply of the life-prolonging medication. The stopgap consignment of the generic drug, Triomune, arrived from its Indian manufacturer on 28 November, four months after the original order had been placed; distribution began the next day. "They are making efforts to try to catch up on lost time," said Augustin Dokla, president of RAS+ (the network for people living with HIV in Togo).

Togo's Prime Minister, Yawovi Agboyibo, on Tuesday said he had tendered his resignation to President Faure Gnassingbe ahead of the formation of a new, post-elections government. "I came to hand in my resignation to the president of the republic," Agboyibo, leader of the opposition Action Committee for Renewal (CAR) party, told national television.

Togo's Constitutional Court has confirmed that the ruling party won a majority in the 14 October election, after the main opposition party had contested the results, charging fraud. On 30 October the Court said the ruling Rally of the Togolese People party took 50 of 81 seats in the poll, seen as pivotal to the country's regaining favour with the international community after years of isolation.

Landmark weekend parliamentary elections in Togo were "free, fair and open", observers from the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) concluded in a report on Tuesday. "In spite of a few shortfalls, the legislative elections on Sunday were free, fair and open," stated the 15-nation group, which sent 152 military and civilian monitors to the small country to track Sunday's poll.

The High authority of audio-visual and communication (HAAC) of Togo has criticesed the use of SMSees in Togo's election campaign. In a watershed decision the High Court on Tuesday denounced the publication of short messages by a member of the RPT which is the rulling party in Togo to send SMS messages to potential voters.

A 'Center for Commercial and Agricultural Information' (PICA) for the collection and the publication of price lists via the internet has been launched in Togo to enable farmers and traders to interact over prices and availability of products.of the products by ICT. The center is equipped with computer and Internet facilities with a web page with a strong integration of data and mobile technology.

Civil society organisations in Togo have welcomed the sentences handed down to five child traffickers last week. The trials marked the first application of a law adopted in August 2005 against the trafficking of children.

In the southern Togolese village of Yoto Kopé, Akoua Amouzouvi and several other women emerge from the bush with bowls of charcoal balanced on their heads -- hands and faces smeared with black dust. They have been burning trees to make charcoal for sale. "It's our daily activity," says Amouzouvi.

Health authorities in Togo are carrying out a vaccination campaign in the north after the first outbreak of yellow fever in that region in more than 20 years. The World Health Organisation (WHO) confirmed four cases of the disease in the regions of Savanes and Kara in December and January.

Radio Victoire, a privately-owned FM station in Lomé, that was suspended for 15 days by the media regulator, Haute Autorité de l'Audiovisuel de la Communication (HAAC), on 24 January 2007, resumed operations after serving the full term of the suspension. On 9 January, HAAC suspended the radio station for an alleged professional misconduct.

Togolese NGOs warned on Tuesday that the end of a grant by the Global Fund against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria could put at least 24,000 HIV-infected people at risk. "It's a complete disaster, we're distraught," said Augustin Dokla, president of the main local network of NGOs for people living with AIDS in Togo. "Some 18,000 people are waiting for drugs and 6,000 patients will be at risk within two years. No new treatments are available as for today."

Nearly half of the 40,000 refugees who fled Togo during post-election violence last year have left refugee camps in Benin and Ghana, and the Togolese government says it plans to repatriate those remaining. The Togolese High Commissioner for Repatriation and Humanitarian Action (HCRHA) said it had repatriated 3,000 refugees and another 1,000 had requested repatriation. Fifteen-thousand have voluntarily returned.

The Togolese government and opposition parties have agreed to end a 12-year political impasse that had put off foreign donors, hurt the economy and triggered unrest last year that sent tens of thousands of people fleeing across the border.

In a step aimed at ending years of political hostilities, most of Togo’s feuding politicians have agreed on the general lines of a framework for holding free and fair elections. After several months of talks in the divided country, seven of the nine groups taking part signed a deal that aims to steer Togo onto a peaceful path to elections expected at the end of next year.

As seasonal rains begin to fall across West Africa, health officials in Togo fear outbreaks of malaria and cholera as people wade in filthy water up to their chests to go about their daily lives. Sources at Lome’s main Tokoin hospital say about 10 people a day have sought treatment for cholera since 20 June.

This booklet brings together the results of a research programme conducted on violence and abuse in schools in Togo. The publication describes the main forms of violence against children in schools: corporal punishment; forced labour; sexual harassment and sexual violence; and attempts to provide some understanding of the social framework within which such violence appears "normal".

In Ghana, UNHCR along with its government partners plans is to start a six-week verification exercise to confirm the presence of some 12,500 Togolese refugees in the Volta region of Ghana and facilitate the determination of refugee status by the authorities. The Togolese started fleeing to Ghana and Benin in late April last year during a violent political crisis. In Ghana, most found refuge with host families spread over a wide area.

When James Kouma completed his Bachelor of Arts degree at Lome University 15 years ago, he tried and tried but failed to find “a proper job”, he says. Now 38 and a father of two, he earns a perilous living driving a motor-bike taxi or “Zemidjan”, along with thousands of other young people. While West Africa’s big cities are jammed pack with jobless graduates who would agree with him, student life is far tougher nowadays across the region than it ever was.