Throngs of young Swazi women and girls gathered on Sunday to deliver bundles of reeds cut a week earlier and transported on foot to the Queen Mother's residence in Eludzidzini. In recent years Swaziland's annual reed dance ceremony has become a focal point for criticism of King Mswati III's handling of his country's HIV crisis and the rights of his female subjects. The dance is often framed in the international media as serving little purpose other than a showcase of virgins, from which sub-Saharan Africa's last absolute monarch can select yet another new bride.

Swazi businesswomen say the floundering national economy will benefit from their entrepreneurial talents when they are no longer constrained by discriminatory laws. Gender rights activists in Swaziland often use the story of businesswoman Thandi Khumalo to illustrate the personal and economic devastation that can result from Swazi women's lack of legal status as adults in traditional law. "She was robbed of everything she owned because, by Swazi custom, she was a minor. Her male relatives cheated her of everything she had earned as a brilliant businesswoman. That is why we are placing our hopes on the new national constitution, which is supposed to guarantee equality for women," said Cynthia Khumalo, Thandi's niece and a businesswoman in the central commercial city of Manzini.

Swazi King Mswati III has announced he will abandon a campaign meant to combat the spread of HIV by urging virgin girls to remain abstinent, coinciding with the release of a Ministry of Health and Social Welfare study showing that 29% of Swazi teens are HIV-positive, the SAPA/Independent reports. No official reason was given as to why the campaign is ending a year ahead of schedule, but it was considered unpopular among young people, according to BBC News.

Swaziland now has a national enforcement agency to ensure that its environmental laws are implemented: the kingdom, known for its lush forests, this week reconstituted the Swaziland Environmental Authority (SEA) and equipped it with some teeth. "The previous board did not have the power to take action against offenders - we do not want to close down businesses, we only want them to comply with environmental regulations," said Minister of Environment and Tourism Thandi Shongwe.

Toronto's Globe and Mail on Tuesday examined the "unexpected" rise in Swaziland's estimated HIV prevalence rate from 38.6% in 2002 to 42.6% in 2004 - the highest rate in the world - despite "massive efforts to stop the spread of the disease." African AIDS advocates said the results of the latest HIV sentinel survey conducted in 2004 among women at prenatal clinics are "shocking and devastating," according to the Globe and Mail.

A new 'child-friendly' court is making it easier for underaged plaintiffs in rape and abuse cases to deal with previously frightening legal proceedings. "Children need protection during the entire case, from the initial contact with doctors and police to the trial, where there is confrontation with the person the child is accusing. We have made an environment that is comfortable for children," said Superintendent Leckinah Magagula of the Royal Swaziland Police Department.

The children at Lubilini primary school in eastern Swaziland have never had a real playground. Now they get to spin a merry-go-round in the school's dirt courtyard, not only for exercise and entertainment, but to pump water out of the ground. The water is used to prepare their meals, for sanitation facilities and to irrigate the school vegetable garden.

Child rights advocates have banded together in a bid to cope with ongoing concerns about the welfare of Southern Africa's children. At a recent meeting organised by the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Swaziland, delegates from Lesotho, Malawi and South Africa highlighted the need to bolster care programmes targeting children under five years.

Can carved masks, toy drums and grass baskets pull Swazis out of the chronic poverty that grips two-thirds of Swaziland's population? Ntombi Dlamini, King Mswati's mother, is backing a new enterprise that will centralise the diversity of wood carvers and handicraft makers, and give them access to customers worldwide via the Internet. But environmentalists warn there is a price to pay: a loss of indigenous trees and their habitats.

The HIV prevalence rate among pregnant women in Swaziland increased to 42.6% in 2004 from 38.6% in 2002, according to preliminary findings from the country's latest HIV sentinel survey, IRIN News reports. The Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, which conducted the survey in 2004 among women attending prenatal clinics, said in a statement that the results showed "signs of hope as well as indications of huge challenges ahead".

Former South African first lady Graca Machel has called on women in southern Africa to tackle traditional practices that may contribute to the spread of HIV/AIDS. Addressing delegates from the region at a gender equality conference in Ezulwini, just outside Swaziland's capital, Mbabane, Machel highlighted the impact of the virus on women. "We are the ones who are most affected by AIDS: of the people infected with HIV, 58 percent are women; of the people dying of AIDS, 58 percent are women - it is time to say, 'enough!'"

A decade after ratifying and acceding to the famous Beijing Platform of action, women are still viewed as second class citizens throughout much of southern Africa. Gender based violence is still rampant. With the obvious feminization of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, there is an urgent need to critically analyse the current strategies for addressing gender. From April 5-7, 2005, SAfAIDS, the Southern African HIV/AIDS Information Dissemination Service (SAfAIDS) will be hosting a regional Gender Mainstreaming Symposium in Mbabane, Swaziland. The Symposium will bring together over 120 specialists and activists in development, gender, human rights and HIV/AIDS.

The custom of paying a bride price – referred to in Swaziland as "lobola" – is a longstanding tradition in this Southern African country, which is also home to Africa’s last absolute monarchy. But, changing times and social trends are bringing the custom into question – amongst men as well as women. "Lobola is a custom completely tied to a lifestyle that no longer exists," says social worker Sunshine Kunene.

Swaziland's poor economic performance is the direct result of the kingdom's inferior education system, which is producing functionally illiterate students, the minister of education, Constance Simelane, has warned. "The Swazi economy is struggling as a result of the current manpower crisis: an oversupply of underqualified labour, and a shortage of skilled and supervisory personnel," Simelane noted at a conference on remedial education.

Swaziland's main industries are sugar and forestry. Both require large areas of land. "They are a disaster for a country like Swaziland, where there are still feudal social relations," said Nhlanhla Msweli of the Swaziland Campaign Against Poverty and Economic Inequality (SCAPEI) at a meeting in South Africa in 2003. In a country where the majority of people are landless, industrial tree plantations cover almost 10 percent of the land. A new report written by Wally Menne of the TimberWatch Coalition, "Timber Plantations in Swaziland" describes the impact that industrial tree plantations have had on the people and the environment in Swaziland.  Although many of the plantations were established more than 50 years ago, the impacts of industrial tree plantations "still have a profound effect on society and the environment and will continue to do so as long as the plantations remain," writes Menne.

Professional Development and Training International (PDTI), Swaziland, will be organizing dozens of courses from April to June 2005 such as Advocacy, Lobbying and Fundraising, IT Skills for Managers, Advocacy, Behaviour Change Communication, Education and HIV/AIDS and Gender and Sustainable Development. If you or your officers are interested in attending any of the courses, please indicate this by requesting for an application form from: The programme Coordinator, Professional Development and Training International P. O. Box 5124, Mbabane, Swaziland. Tel.: 00268 4221882/6037576; Fax: 00268 4221882/4048262.

The Swazi government has launched an inquiry into why students finishing primary school are performing less well on test scores. The overall pass rate declined by just under one percent to 88.07 percent this year, but among the surprises was that students were having difficulty mastering the grammar and written skills needed to communicate in their mother tongue, SiSwati.

Said to be one of the ten most expensive cars in the world, the Maybach 62 is sleek, glamorous and – some might argue – a little out of place in a country where two thirds of the population lives below the poverty line. But if that country is Swaziland – and the person behind the wheel, so to speak, is King Mswati the Third – this argument would not stand in the way of him signing on the dotted line. The Maybach, produced by the German-American car manufacturer Daimler-Chrysler, has become the latest addition to the royal fleet – and Mswati took his first spin in the vehicle last week.

A coroner's inquest has accused the Royal Swaziland Police Force of torture and neglect in a case that has highlighted human rights groups' concerns over the treatment of suspects in custody. Mandla Ngubeni died in June 2004 after the police interrogated him over the disappearance of R28,000 (US $4,666) from his place of employment. Coroner Magistrate Lorraine Hlope, in a report presented to Prime Minister Themba Dlamini, concluded that Ngubeni had been tortured under questioning.

Swaziland's main trade union has begun a two-day general strike to press for democratic reforms. Union leader Jan Sithole told the BBC that roadblocks mounted by the security forces had stopped people from joining the protests in the capital, Mbabane. The unions say a draft constitution being debated by parliament entrenches the power of the monarchy.