Swazi community members and organisations are combining resources to set up a growing network of care centres for orphans and vulnerable children (OVC). The centres, called Neighbourhood Care Points (NCPs), cater to the nutritional, educational and emotional needs of the country's growing OVC population at 320 NCPs scattered throughout its four regions.

Angry residents of an informal settlement outside the central commercial town of Manzini have declared their neighbourhood a no-go area for Swazi police following a clash at the weekend between the security forces and political demonstrators. "The police invaded our homes [on Saturday] and beat up anyone they found inside. It is best they stay away to allow us to take care of our own affairs," said Philemon, a resident of Mbhuleni.

In a newly published report entitled, 'Swaziland: human rights at risk in a climate of political and legal uncertainty' Amnesty International has called upon the Government of King Mswati III to resolve the constitutional and human rights crisis that has left the country without a Court of Appeal since 2002 and undermines the Government's new international human rights obligations. Amongst the abuses alleged in the report are a failure to investigate and prosecute those responsible for torture and deaths in custody and a denial of the rights of freedom of association and peaceful assembly to those perceived as government critics.

A critical shortage of health professionals in Swaziland is undermining the public health system's capacity to expand its national antiretroviral (ARV) programme, health officials have warned. A recent situation analysis carried out by the World Health Organisation (WHO) revealed the extent of the problem in a country with one of the highest HIV prevalence rates in the world. The WHO study noted there was an overall lack of staff in key areas of the health sector resulting in services either being stopped or quality of care being compromised.

Faced with a growing population of orphaned and vulnerable children, Swaziland's policymakers have turned to the children themselves to assess their needs at a conference outside the central commercial town of Manzini. "I am happy they are asking me about my life, because it is hard, and I think they should do more for orphans," said Sifiso Nhleko, a form three student from Siteki in the eastern Lubombo district near the Mozambique border. Nhleko, who has hereditary dwarfism, is a resourceful teenager who crafted his own crutch when he grew weary of hobbling about on an iron rod he discovered beneath a bridge - "a carpenter gave me wood and screws and he showed me how to make a crutch," he said.

The largest of Swaziland's banned opposition groups has embarked on a two-pronged campaign to bring democratic reform to the country. The People's United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO) is pressuring other Southern African Development Community (SADC) nations to take a stand against repression in the tiny kingdom, and have joined other pro-democracy groups in a lawsuit challenging King Mswati's proposed constitution.

A high-powered delegation of Anglican bishops from five nations completed a two-day fact finding tour of Swaziland at the weekend, after examining issues such as constitutional reform and the high HIV/AIDS rate. Commenting on his country's controversial palace-driven constitutional reform process, Swaziland's Anglican Bishop Meshack Mabuza said: "It is not the content of the constitution that bothers us, it is the process of the constitution - it will only be legitimate if the people have a hand in the process."

Police said they were provoked into using force to prevent Swaziland's largest political opposition group, the People's United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO), from holding a rally at the weekend. "There is no freedom of assembly or speech in Swaziland. The brutal violence used yet again by police on unarmed peaceful protestors shows what type of government this is," PUDEMO president Mario Masuku told the press.

Swaziland's constitution-drafting exercise has been postponed again, as parliamentarians resumed work this week under a royal system that limits their political influence. King Mswati's brother, Prince David Dlamini, who has been in charge of the constitution-drafting exercise since 2001, said the latest deadline set by the king for September would not be met because of a royal function - a gathering of women in traditional groups who pay homage to the Swazi Queen Mother.

High school girls who fall pregnant will no longer be expelled from their schools, the Swaziland Schools Headteachers Association resolved last week. The policy change overturns what has been standard practice since before independence, when Christian missionaries established schools in Swaziland. "Expelling pregnant girls is inhumane, because in most cases they are impregnated by boys who are allowed to carry on with their education, while the girl stays home," Themba Shabangu, Secretary General of the headteachers' association, said in a statement.

Male circumcision as a method to reduce the risk of HIV infection is being hotly debated this week after a prominent politician announced that his four sons had been circumcised, contrary to Swazi tradition. "All male children should be circumcised. To show my seriousness, I have taken all my sons for circumcision," MP and former House Speaker, Marwick Khumalo, told his constituents at Lobamba, 20 km east of the capital, Mbabane. Khumalo said he wondered why circumcision, despite the evidence of its effectiveness, was not being stressed as a way to reduce HIV infection.

The latest death of a suspect in police custody in Swaziland has triggered renewed calls from the public and human rights groups for a probe into allegations of torture. Mandla Ngubeni, 28, was taken in last Friday for questioning by police in Mbabane, the capital, along with seven other employees of Fast Towing Services after Lilangeni 28,494.2 (US $4,363) was found missing from the company. Ngubeni was discovered dead in a police cell at 04h00 on Saturday. His family was not notified of his whereabouts until 10h00 on Sunday.

Swazi authorities and health workers have expressed concern over the rising rate of HIV infection among the country's truck drivers. The landlocked southern African country is heavily dependent on road transport and there are fears that the spread of the virus could have a serious impact on the economy.

Swazi children will provide a key data-collection resource to determine exactly how many orphaned, impoverished or otherwise vulnerable children (OVC) are not in school. The database will allow government and child welfare organisations to strategise bursary programmes to achieve universal enrolment of OVC. "We are dedicated to keeping orphans and vulnerable children in school. If they have dropped out for financial or other reasons, we need to get them back," Minister of Education Constance Simelane told IRIN. The first step in the new initiative is identifying the children, Simelane added.

The Swaziland Vulnerability Assessment Committee (VAC) predicts that the high HIV/AIDS prevalence rate will lower life expectancy to just 40 years by 2010. The first large-scale survey of Swazi homes to determine the impact of HIV/AIDS found a reversal of the decade-long trend of lower mortality rates, due to the pandemic. "Swaziland has entered uncharted territory", concluded the VAC's findings for 2003, released this week. Food aid was the main source of nutrition for rural residents in three of Swaziland's four regions, where drought has ruined harvests for the past three years.

Swaziland's nursing crisis is deepening as trained nurses leave the country for better salaries abroad and the Swaziland Nursing Association renews a call for strike action. Last month another 29 Swazi nurses left the country for better paying jobs in the United Kingdom - a third of all nurses who graduate each year.

Swaziland's cabinet is presently considering a draft ICT policy, which would provide for Swazi TV and the national radio station to become a public broadcaster run by an independent board, according to a report by the Media Institute of Southern Africa. However, the state broadcaster is resisting such a move, apparently arguing that Swaziland is a homogeneous country and therefore should not encourage different voices over the airwaves, according to Misa.

Swazi school children returned to their hostels Friday (May 7) in preparation for the second term of the academic year. However, a question mark hangs over the fate of thousands of AIDS orphans and other vulnerable children who may not be permitted to continue their schooling this term. In a speech delivered at the opening of parliament last month, King Mswati the Third said, "We will continue to do whatever we can do to ensure that no child is deprived of a basic education." Swaziland is Africa's last absolute monarchy.

Government and social welfare NGOs are seeking ways to offset a pending education crisis for orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) after school heads resolved this week to bar those unable to pay fees. Education Minister Constance Simelane ordered school principals to admit OVC in January, and promised to provide for the orphans' fees. The directive was controversial, with some education authorities and media pundits doubting government's ability to find and expeditiously release funding for fees as well as other needs, like uniforms and textbooks.

"Swaziland now holds the dubious title of [having] the highest [HIV] prevalence level in the world. ... [It] is a vivid microcosm of all the similarly afflicted countries of Southern Africa. At the grass roots, where it counts, there's a superhuman determination to bring the pandemic to heel, and to overcome the tremendous assault on the human condition." This is according to Stephen Lewis, UN Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa. Lewis highlights innovative national Swazi plans, supported by the World Health Organisation, for stepping up response to the pandemic. But Swaziland is also representative of other countries in that in practice implementation is still painfully slow. And other obstacles, ranging from U.S. congressional delays on trade legislation to Swaziland's own unresolved issues of democracy and women's rights, may still overwhelm the positive momentum of national efforts, according to a briefing on HIV/AIDS in Swaziland by the Africa Focus Bulletin.