Clarisse Kimbi barely ekes out a living from a tiny parcel of land in Kom village in the North West Region of Cameroon. Today, the mother of six finds it hard to put food on the table for herself and her children. But five years ago she, her husband and children were considered well-off. In 2007, farming on five hectares of land, Kimbi could comfortably feed her family, and still have enough surplus food to sell. In a country where 40 percent of the population lives below the poverty line, her family was counted among the wealthy. But things changed when her husband died five years ago. Almost everything was taken away from her and her children.

In this submission, ARTICLE 19 outlines its concerns that, over the last four years, there has been an escalation in violations of the right to freedom of expression and information, and the right to freedom of peaceful assembly in Djibouti.

Heavily armed men, believed to be state security agents, abducted two MDC-T officials in Bulawayo recently, torturing and interrogating them. They were released the next day. According to a statement from the party, Emanuel Kambarami and Andrew Vera were abducted from their homes in Mpopoma by five agents. Kambarami is the chairperson for Mpopoma, ward 9 constituency and Vera chairs the ward’s Youth Assembly.

An estimated 20 million people are alive today as a direct result of tuberculosis (TB) care and control, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Tuberculosis Report 2012. 'In the space of 17 years, 51 million people have been successfully treated and cared for according to WHO recommendations. Without that treatment, 20 million people would have died,' says Dr Mario Raviglione, Director of the WHO Stop TB Department. 'This milestone reflects the commitment of governments to transform the fight against TB.'

When the various media watchdogs sit down to collate their annual lists of the travails that African journalists on the continent continue to confront, there will be a feeling that this year has been a particularly tough one. Since the year began a total of 15 journalists have been killed in Somalia, mainly in attacks attributed to the Islamic militant group Al-Shabaab. Others have got off more lightly. In August, Malian radio reporter Malik Maiga Aliou was kidnapped during a live broadcast and beaten and left for dead at a cemetery in the rebel-head northern city of Gao.

Adolescent girls are not getting enough legal support to stop them falling prey to rights abuses, particularly sexual violence, according to legal advocacy group Equality Now. 'Legal systems around the world just don’t work for girls,' Yasmeen Hassan, global director of the New York-based organisation, told TrustLaw in an interview. Key legal obstacles include: girls’ ignorance of their rights or how to exercise them; the fear of stigma, not being believed or being blamed for abuse; further victimisation of girls by the justice system; and lack of tailored support services, says 'Learning from Cases of Girls’ Rights', a recent report from the Adolescent Girls’ Legal Defense Fund (AGLDF).

A landmark ruling on 12 October by Gaborone’s High Court found that gender discrimination based on Botswana’s customary law is unconstitutional. The court ruled on a case brought by three sisters, all over 65 years old, challenging a Ngwaketse customary law that holds the right of inheritance to the family home belongs to the youngest son. 'Critically, the judge made it clear that discrimination cannot be justified on cultural grounds before rejecting out of hand the argument put forward by the Attorney General that Botswana society was not ready for [gender] equality,' Priti Patel, deputy director of the Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC), said in a statement. SALC supported the sisters’ case.

Tunisia's ruling coalition, led by the Islamist Ennahdha movement, has said it had agreed to hold presidential and parliamentary elections on June 23 with the president being chosen directly by voters. The coalition's agreement early on Sunday on a date for elections and the establishment of an amended parliamentary system come after widespread criticism from the opposition that Ennahdha wants to control the government and avoid elections.

There are as many as 100,000 visually impaired people in Cameroon, but just one government school for the visually impaired. Most blind students struggle to afford their education. And girls with visual disabilities face special challenges around education and sexual health, Global Press Institute reports.

The Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa (SERI), which represents 20 families whose relatives were killed by the police on 16 August 2012 at Marikana, have engaged the services of Professor John Dugard SC, one of the world’s leading international lawyers, to consider whether police action in Marikana on 16 August 2012 met international legal standards. Osmond Mngomezulu, attorney for the families of 20 people who were killed by police fire on 16 August, said 'The evidence emerging from the Inquiry is consistent with a picture of sustained police brutality on 16 August. Professor Dugard’s wealth of experience – both in international and human rights law – will assist us in subjecting police conduct to the most searching examination.'

The Pan African Parliament (PAP), now in its third five-year term in Midrand near Johannesburg, is urging the continent's leaders to start taking it seriously by giving it the powers to do the real work of legislation and oversight that it was created to do. The continental institution, created as part of the African Rennaisance vision, has been little more than a talk shop since its inception in 2004.

Ghana’s former first lady, Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, was on Saturday endorsed as the presidential candidate of the National Democratic Party (NDP) as she continued pushing her ambition to lead the West African state where she was first lady for 19 years. Her breakaway party, formed in May following her humiliating defeat by the late President John Evans Atta Mills at the National Democratic Congress' (NDC) primaries last year, endorsed her by popular acclamation at its maiden national delegates’ congress Kumasi, central Ghana.

Loud explosions and gunfire have rocked Nigeria's northern city of Maiduguri, which has seen growing violence by the militant Islamist group Boko Haram. Details are unclear, but reports said at least 10 people had been killed, including several soldiers. A primary school and a radio tower were reportedly set ablaze.

Developed by the GBV Prevention Network in collaboration with over 100 Network members, 'In Her Shoes' is an interactive, educational tool that raises awareness about the day-to-day reality for women experiencing violence and encourages activism among service providers and community members. By 'walking in the shoes' of survivors, participants gain powerful insight into the many obstacles women face as a result of violence. Click on the URL provided to download in English or Swahili or to find out more.

The correctional services department owes about R1.3-billion in damages to prisoners and former inmates for bodily injury and rape while in prison. A recent report by the Judicial Inspectorate for Correctional Services (Jics) – the government-appointed oversight body – identified R71-million in wasteful expenditure and R215-million in irregular expenditure. There also appears to be confusion over how many prisons exist in South Africa. According to the department's annual report, there are 243 correctional centres, but according to the report there are 236. The department has not explained the discrepancy.

Kenya is seeing a rapid rise in the number of mobile phone apps built by local designers - and both farmers and cash-strapped councils are reaping the benefits. In Nairobi, 'tech-incubators' are springing up, places designed to give young IT entrepreneurs the space - and sometimes a bit of cash - to develop their ideas.

The UN Security Council has approved a resolution that presses West African nations to speed up preparations for an international military intervention aimed at reconquering northern Mali. The text unanimously approved by the council also urges authorities in Bamako and representatives of 'Malian rebel groups' controlling the north to 'engage, as soon as possible, in a credible negotiation process'.

Many Sierra Leonean women who are unable to repay small debts end up in prison for want of decent legal representation after their creditors report them to the police, meaning that civil disputes turn into criminal cases. An estimated 10 percent of all charges issued by the Sierra Leonean police involve the failure to repay small debts. The criminalization of debt upsets the livelihoods of the accused who are mostly petty traders. Their children at times are forced to live with them in detention and their incarceration often breaks up families and deepens poverty, said Advocaid, a Sierra Leonean civil society group helping women and children offenders.

South African police have arrested 90 people after a protest at a mine turned violen, officials say. The miners were from the Gold Fields KDC Kloof mine in Westonaria, about 45km west of Johannesburg. More than 5,000 workers reportedly staged a sit-in there to demand better pay.

Blog Africa is a Country has a post about the furore caused when one of Sweden’s most prestigious national dailies blew up an article on its front page about cultural director at Stockholm Culture House Berhang Miri (a Swede of Iranian descent) reshelving Hergé’s Tintin books because of their perceived colonial taint, generating heated press and internet debate. The blog post is an interview with Nathan Hamelberg, member of The Betweenship group (which probes racist structures from a young, mixed-heritage perspective), to explain the discussion and its wider implications in Swedish society.