The violence that followed a cattle-rustling incident last month in Kakuma refugee camp, northwestern Kenya, was unprecedented in its deadly impact. Displacing 30,000 people and killing two Turkana, nine Sudanese, and one Ethiopian caught in the crossfire, the effects are still being felt four weeks later.

Mothers infected with HIV/AIDS will receive free medicine from the Kenyan Government. The Health ministry has developed a programme to provide the anti-retroviral drugs to minimize mother-to-child transmission. Health minister Charity Ngilu said children had been neglected in anti-AIDS campaigns despite their vulnerability.

Kenyan writer Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor is this year's winner of the 2003 Caine Prize for African Writing. She was awarded for her short story Weight of Whispers, published in Kwani? magazine in 2003. Yvonne beat five other African writers drawn from Zimbabwe, Congo and two from South Africa who were all highly commended by the panel of judges, led by Abdulrazak Gurnah. The prize that is awarded annually for African creative writing is named after the late Sir Michael Caine, former chairman of Booker Plc and chairman of the Booker Prize management committee for nearly 25 years.

The Government will employ 100 more doctors next month to ease the current shortage, Health Assistant Minister Gideon Konchella has said. At the same time, Konchella expressed disappointment that some health personnel have disobeyed a directive to prescribe treatment free of charge on certain ailments.

When he took over the reins of power on December 30, President Kibaki promised Kenyans that the days of corruption as a national pastime were over and that his administration was committed to a policy of zero-tolerance to corruption. And because he made this declaration in the presence of his predecessor, whose regime is blamed for runaway corruption in the public sector, Kenyans were convinced that things would change for the better. But have they? Is the Government’s war on corruption losing steam? Although it has demonstrated an impressive commitment to erasing the sad legacy of corruption from the public domain, the goals it set for itself may, after all, have been too ambitious, says this commentary from the Daily Nation newspaper.

The Sudan peace process may be concluded in mid-August if the latest round of talks - adjourned in a stalemate Saturday over a power-sharing disagreement - resumes next week, Kenyan mediator Lazarus Sumbeiywo said in Nairobi Wednesday.

ACORD is working in alliance with others to promote social justice and development. With an income of £8 million p.a. it implements long-term development programmes in 18 African countries that unites practical work with advocacy, research and social action. As a result of the relocation to Nairobi and the restructuring of our Head Office, ACORD is looking for an experienced English and French or Portuguese speaking Human Resource Manager to be based in our Nairobi office.

The Africa Population and Health Research Centre (APHRC) invites applications from qualified candidates for the position of Research Trainee. The description of the position is available through the link provided. For more information about APHRC, please visit the website:

In and around the Kiunga National Marine Reserve on Kenya's northern coast, basic services are hard to come by. Pushed by poverty and the decline of marine ecosystems the use of resources is intensifying. In Kiunga, the World Wildlife Fund is supporting a small number of girls' scholarships. These are paired with environmental education, including in-school activities and a week-long conservation camp.

President Mwai Kibaki has called on African countries to unite against corruption, tribalism and poverty, which he termed enemies of unity in the continent. The President said most of Africa's problems were caused by poor governance.

Kenya's National AIDS Control Council, the agency that coordinates the country's response to the AIDS epidemic, has recently cut off funding to four fraudulent nongovernmental AIDS organisations and is investigating another 10 organisations, the New York Times reports.

Human rights education has for a long time been considered the missing link in Kenya's education system, leading to stop gap measures like civic education. Teaching human rights to students can yield huge benefits in terms of building a culture of human rights and democracy. As a result, the government has now decided to incorporate human rights in the formal school curriculum, targeted for implementation in January 2003, barely beating the 2004 deadline for the United Nations Decade for Human Rights Education.

Many schools in Kenya are coping with a 100% or more increase in student numbers that are triggered by the new government's free and compulsory primary education policy. Average class sizes have risen while facilities remained the same. With the influx of so many new children, latrine use might go up to 200 pupils per latrine. Poor hygiene at schools may add to the region's health problems, where already over 85% of illnesses reported at local clinics are water-related.

The European Union (EU) has donated Sh500 million to the Government for the setting up of a recovery plan to market Kenya.

Working with the Representative in Nairobi and other Ford Foundation staff, the Program Officer will be responsible for the Foundation's Eastern Africa programming on human rights and social justice in the region.

A truth, justice and reconciliation commission should be set up immediately to address human rights violations and economic crimes committed in Kenya between 1963 and 2002, a national conference has recommended.

HIV infection is a major cause of death in sub-Saharan Africa. Within that region, existing studies have found higher levels of HIV infection in urban over rural areas, but no clear relationship between socio-economic status and risk of HIV infection. This study examined the link between socio-economic status (SES) and risk of HIV infection in an urban city with high prevalence of HIV. It found that new infections may be taking place fastest among women of low SES.

As a result of a combination of decades of poor governance and a fragile ecological system characterised by recurrent drought, the pastoral regions of northern Kenya are caught in a vicious cycle of violent conflicts that fuel poverty and diminish the prospects for development. This is all made worse by the easy availability of arms. What causes the proliferation of small arms? Can regional and national gun control policies be implemented in local contexts? Can grassroots campaigns find alternative ways of reducing the numbers of small arms in circulation?

They were "mannerless boys" for whom rape was a sport after a day on the army firing range and who perhaps never imagined their alleged deeds would come to light. But now, their victims - Kenyan Maasai and Samburu women who claim they were raped by British troops training in east Africa - are emerging from anonymity to tell of their ordeal.

In the heat and dust of Kakuma and Dadaab refugee camps, in northern Kenya, there is little for the estimated 220,000 inhabitants from Somalia and Sudan to do but survive. But despite the staggering odds, a flicker of hope is emerging among young refugees who are not only learning to cope with their predicament, but are also looking towards a brighter future.