Numerous non-governmental organisations used the World Water Forum (WWF) held in Marseille as an opportunity to remind the international community about the serious global impacts of large dams all over the world. Defined as dams higher than 15 metres or with a reservoir volume of at least three million cubic metres, large dams number no less than 48,000 worldwide and present numerous issues, not least of which is a considerably negative impact on the livelihoods of local populations.

Three illegal fishing vessels - the Five Star, Marcia 777 and the Kum Myeong 2 - have fled Sierra Leone, escaping fines for doing illegal fishing and transhipment in the country's Inshore Exclusion Zone, IEZ. The disclosure was made by the Project Coordinator of Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF), Andy Hickman at a press briefing held at the conference room of the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources.

This paper argues that the unprecedented acceleration of growth in the developing world in the new millennium in comparison with advanced economies is due not so much to improvements in underlying fundamentals as to exceptionally favourable global economic conditions, shaped mainly by unsustainable policies in advanced economies. For Latin American and African commodity exporters, gaining greater autonomy and achieving rapid and stable growth depend on their success in reducing reliance on capital flows and commodity earnings.

Al Jazeera has premiered the first part of a two-part documentary on the Occupy movement. The film was made for Fault Lines, the award-winning public affairs documentary program. Part one of the film can be watched through the link provided.

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has called on President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to make it her priority to protect the life of Mae Azango, a female reporter of Front Page newspaper who has been threatened for having published last week a story on the Sande society which practices Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in Liberia. 'The threats made by the Sande society are unacceptable and a throw-back to dark ages of journalism which have no place in a modern democracy led by a female president for that matter,' said Gabriel Baglo, Director of the IFJ Africa Office. 'The Government of President Sirleaf should warn the Sande society of its direct responsibility for any attack on the journalist’s life.'

The small west African state of Guinea-Bissau went to the polls on Sunday to elect a new president - an office no one has yet held for a full five-year term. Ahead of the voting, the appeals for calm multiplied from the international community well aware of the impoverished country's violent history. Since independence from Portugal in 1974, achieved after an 11-year armed conflict, three presidents have been overthrown by coups, and one was assassinated in office in 2009.

'Before We Set Sail' is about the eventful journey of an eleven year old African slave boy within the deep interiors of West Africa in the years 1755-56. Written by 'himself' as a freed slave resident in London in 1796, the narrative focuses on the thrilling adventures he encountered during the time he spent as a boy slave in West Africa prior to being sold to British slave merchants.

The Financial Times reports on how Portuguese people are fleeing their homeland in search of economic opportunities in Mozambique. The paper estimates that there are 20,000 Portuguese people in Maputo with the number of people registering at the Portuguese consulate up by 10 per cent in recent years.

South Africa will not probe allegations that mobile operator MTN paid bribes to win a license in Iran, in exchange for Pretoria backing Tehran's nuclear program, the foreign minister said Monday. MTN - which operates in 21 countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East - has said it would investigate the allegations, but denied any wrongdoing. MTN owns a 49 per cent stake in the Iranian telecom Irancell, which holds the operating license.

Black and coloured Grabouw residents guarded their schools against attack from either side following violent protests, the Cape Times reported on Tuesday. Coloured Pineview residents and black Siteview residents clashed on Monday 19 March. Police had to form a human shield to prevent the groups from entering each other's territories.

The Malawi Government has stepped up security in the country’s major cities, with armed riot police officers seen patrolling all over. This has raised questions among people who are not used to such heavy security. There is now more security after sporadic political riots that started in Area 24 in Lilongwe where UDF MP Atupele Muluzi was stopped from holding a rally. The development also follows the tension that preceded the Public Affairs Committee (PAC) conference in Limbe whose objectives included mobilising key stakeholders and efforts towards a common agenda and collective redress to Malawi’s political and economic challenges.

The April 6 Youth Movement has issued a demand to have at least one member involved in the process to draft a new constitution for Egypt. The movement issued a statement saying that they reject parliamentary proposals on drafting the new constitution. The movement said that 'the temporary majority of the parliament does not have the power to elect the members of the constituent assembly slated to draft a permanent constitution for Egypt and all of its communities'.

A new report by the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) points out that millions of hectares of farmland in Africa, Southeast Asia and Latin America have been leased to foreign countries, sovereign wealth funds, and private corporations over the past four years with little or no explicit legal agreement on how water can and will be used on the acquired properties. With 70 per cent of global water withdrawals used in agriculture, the rapid increase in cultivated farmland will require significant quantities of water to sustain production.

According to a report by the UN Country Team in Swaziland, released on 16 March, a fiscal crisis which started early in 2011 has put an additional strain on poor households like Thwala’s and worsened poverty in a country which already had high rates of unemployment and food insecurity and the highest HIV rate in the world. The report, based on a November 2011 survey of 1,334 households, found that poor households have had to adopt extreme measures to cope with reduced incomes resulting from job losses and wage cuts, as well as higher food and fuel prices and reduced access to social services.

Almost a year after the West African nation was shaken by six months of violence and terror when former president Laurent Gbagbo refused to cede power to Alassane Ouattara who won the November 2010 presidential elections, Ivorian children are still trying to recover from the psychological and social trauma the unrest caused them. 'Children were major victims of the post-electoral violence. Many heard gunfire and shelling, saw people running, saw adults afraid and witnessed brutalities, fighting and killings,' says Désiré Koukoui, the director of the International Catholic Children’s Office (BICE) in Abidjan, an organisation protecting children’s rights.

With the popularity of social media platforms continuing to grow, users should brace themselves for more and more players in the market. Google last week raised its stakes in the battle for South African social media users with the launch of its Google+ platform in Zulu and Afrikaans. In the same week, Yookos, an 'Africa-specific' social media network, announced its entry into the space, claiming 6-million users across the continent.

Libya's investment authority says it is suing Zambia's government for seizing its controlling share in a mobile phone network. A Libyan telecommunications enterprise that owns 75 per cent of the Zamtel network says the seizure last year by the government of newly elected President Michael Sata was 'illegal and unconstitutional'. The investment authority said in a statement that the network filed demands at the Zambia High Court for $480-million worth of compensation in asset value along with unspecified additional payouts for operating losses should the business not be handed back.

The shocking video Afrikaner Blood by Elles van Gelder and Ilvy Njiokiktjien from the Netherlands has just won first prize in the World Press Photo multimedia category. This slideshow comprises photographs of young white South African teenagers who attend a holiday camp set up by a right-wing racist group.

To mark the occasion of the restitution by the Berlin Charité Hospital of the first 20 mortal remains of Namibian victims of the German genocide, the German NGO Coalition presented the Namibian delegation with a Book of Condolences, in which people from all over the world commemorated the dead. The book is still online and open for condolence messages. In the following, we have put together a representative selection of these messages.

'While the idea of this campaign against the LRA leader Joseph Kony is welcome, the steam it has created overshadows the real concerns of the sufferers and survivors of this conflict in Uganda. Many former child soldiers and former abductees, women and girls are now struggling with so many challenges such as reproductive health problems, post traumatic stress disorders, food insecurity and livelihood support among others.'