Cameroon has signed an agreement with the IMF for a new three year Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) programme to the amount of US$26.8million. Cameroon's last PRGF arrangement expired in December 2004 and the IMF has been monitoring Cameroon's performance since then under a 'staff-monitored programme'. According to the IMF, Cameroon has made progress in improving economic policies and 'implementation of the program resulted in a substantial fiscal adjustment, especially in non-oil revenue, and improved public financial management and reporting.

More work is needed urgently to prevent potentially fatal releases of gas from two lakes in Cameroon, scientists say. Lakes Nyos and Monoun contain high concentrations of dissolved carbon dioxide. In the 1980s, thousands died when the gas was suddenly released. Pipes have been installed to remove CO2 from the bottom of the lakes, but new research shows they are not enough. Scientists warn more pipes must be put in place to avert the danger of further catastrophic releases of gas. "With one pipe in each lake, we are currently removing more gas than comes in each year," said George Kling, from the University of Michigan, US.

Seven percent of women in Cameroon are infected with HIV, compared with 4% among men, according to the latest Demographic and Health Survey (CDHS), conducted from February to August of 2004, the third DHS of its kind in this country. HIV-infected women are more likely to be educated than not: 8.2% of women with a secondary school education or higher are infected, compared with 3.4% of women with no education; as for the men, the results are respectively 4.3% and 2.7%. The prevalence increases also with the socio-economic level: among women and men living in relatively wealthy households, the risk of HIV infection is more than three times higher than among those living in the poorest households.

Contrary to its earlier stance, the government of Cameroon has admitted that the German Anti-Corruption NGO, Transparency International, TI, was right when it classified Cameroon as the most corrupt country in the world for two consecutive years. Five years after that classification, government seems to have come out of its shell to admit that TI was right. "When Cameroon topped the chart as the world champion of corruption, the entire nation was disturbed and traumatised. Some citizens considered it a betrayal or even a show of hatred for our country by certain donors or super powers. A closer look would, however, reveal that many indicators seem to confirm the classification in almost all sectors of national activity."

Almost 400 delegates from across Africa and beyond, met in Yaoundé on the occasion of the 2005 biennial conference of the International Association for Community Development, organised with the cooperation of the government of Cameroon. The conference addressed the theme of 'Building civil society through community development'. Throughout the five days of the conference, and in eighteen workshops, delegates from a wide range of community development backgrounds formulated a series of issues relating to the role of community development in building civil society in Africa.

"What do you do before reading your textbooks," the Mayor of Akono asks the shy schoolgirl, about nine years old. "I wash my hands," the kid replies. Such reading etiquette is rare in Cameroon. But in a sprawling rural settlement in the heart of Cameroon's luxuriant equatorial rainforest, most kids would give a similar response. These kids are not extraordinary. They are simply products of an ingenious programme aimed at increasing literacy and raising the standards of education that the municipality of Akono has been experimenting for a year now.

Just over a decade ago, Cameroon drafted a law that was intended to regulate commercial use of the country's forests. In spite of this, corruption and uncontrolled exploitation are putting forest areas at risk, say non-governmental organisations (NGOs). The 1994 Law on the Regulation of Forests, Fauna and Fishing contains clauses that limit logging, with a view to protecting the environment. Those who wish to exploit Cameroon's forests must obtain permits from the Ministry of Forests and Fauna.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has welcomed the release of "Le Front" editor-in-chief Joseph Bessala Ahanda on 21 July 2005, two days after a delegation of journalists met the director of criminal affairs at the Justice Ministry. "The end of this arbitrary imprisonment is good news for Cameroon's journalists," the organisation said.

The prologue was a violent outburst of tempers on a stage occupied by armed men against calm students. In the tragic melodrama of the insurrection and anti-riot, the students and the troops portrayed violence apparently prompted by the Governor of the Southwest Province, Thomas Ejake Mbonda's instructions. The real drama began when the Governor arrived on University Street in the morning of Monday 24, where students had assembled to further search for a solution to their problem, for, previously, the usual imperial solution to insoluble problems of appointing a commission to report, and the report noted and filed for life did not seem to work.

Antiretroviral drug researchers, study sponsors and AIDS advocates in a meeting that began last week in Seattle reached some agreement but failed to resolve completely conflicts over the conduct of clinical trials testing whether the antiretroviral drug Viread, which is made by the pharmaceutical company Gilead, can prevent HIV infection among people in developing countries, the Wall Street Journal reports. At issue is whether researchers should provide lifelong antiretroviral treatment - not just a referral for care - to people who become HIV-positive while participating in the trials.

In the run-up to examinations, students frequently complain that teachers pile too much work on them. In Cameroon, however, the opposite is true. Since the academic year got underway in 2004, strikes by teachers have disrupted the education of millions of secondary school pupils, and the sight of small groups of students roaming the streets when they should be in class has become a common one. Figures on the number of teachers involved in the stay-aways are hard to come by; what is known is that most of the strikers are staff who have been going without pay - some for up to two years.

A meeting recently aimed at checking the ongoing strike action that has paralysed activities at the University of Yaounde I since April 29, has came to naught. The meeting that lasted for over eight hours came to an abrupt end when Higher Education Minister, Prof. Jacques Fame Ndongo, failed to agree with the delegation of the striking students.

A cholera outbreak which has killed at least 42 people and infected almost 1,400 since the beginning of the year in western Cameroon despite government measures to contain the disease, is finally receding, health officials told IRIN on Monday.

Two university students have been shot dead in a clash with soldiers at Buea University in English-speaking western Cameroon, the government said on Friday. The deaths follow several days of protests at the English-speaking university in Cameroon's southwest province bordering Nigeria, and come as angry students at the country's largest university, Yaounde One, negotiate with officials to end 10 days of trouble there.

On 26 April 2005, a court sentenced two journalists from the regional weekly "L'Oeil du Sahel" to five months in prison with no parole and a fine of five million CFA francs (approx. US$9,800; 7,600 euros) for defamation. Reporters sans frontières (RSF) expressed concern over the continuing practice of jailing journalists in Cameroon for press offences. "Exposing serious abuses in an article does not constitute a crime, even in Cameroon," the organisation said.

Minority Rights Group International (MRG) has raised serious concerns with the government of Cameroon regarding its respect for the due process of law following the acquittal of a military police captain on charges of arbitrary arrest and torture of a member of the Mbororo pastoralist community. The rights group has complained directly to the government about the actions of a military tribunal and called for an independent appeal hearing, highlighting a list of judicial irregularities, which cast doubts over the validity of the acquittal.

The Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), supported by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is looking for an Associate Professional Officer to work on CIFOR research and communications activities. This program gives promising young researchers/professionals invaluable on-the-job training under guidance by established scientists/professionals.

CIFOR is looking for a Regional Coordinator for its Central Africa office (Yaounde, Cameroon) and a Senior Principal Scientist for its Forest and Livelihoods Program (Bogor, Indonesia).

The ComICT Centre project is going to launch a computer and internet training centre in the rural community of Buea. What marks out this project is its intention to use university graduate volunteers as trainers. There will be three levels of training. Level 1 will impart basic computer knowledge and internet skills. Level 2 will proceed to offer intermediate training in one or more of the following: operating systems, internet access and, Word processing, spreadsheets, desktop publishing, Graphical design, and typing. Level 3 will offer advanced training in hardware and software maintenance, web page design and hosting, networking, computerized accounting, databases, and other related fields.

Cameroon says widespread corruption in its finance ministry has cost it 1bn CFA francs ($2m; £1m) a month. About 500 officials are accused of either awarding themselves extra money or claiming salaries for "non-existent" workers.