Saudi Arabia is the most recent country to grant women the vote. Pakistan has some serious work to do. And Vatican City really needs to get with the programme.
Somali soldiers and peacekeepers from the AU Mission during an operation in 2014.
Reuters/Feisal Omar
Obesity is on the rise among urban African women of reproductive age in all of the 24 countries studied.
Zawadi Juluis Saidi had reconstructive surgery on her cleft lip at a Dar es Salaam hospital. African children face huge barriers to surgery.
Reuters/Sala Lewis
Fixing facial birth defects helps a child’s optimal growth. But collaboration is needed if developing countries are to increase access to reconstructive surgery.
Paul Kagame has exercised firm personal control over Rwanda’s politics since becoming president in 2000.
EPA/Phillip Guelland
The Rwandan model can’t be replicated easily given that it depends heavily on political dominance and tight, centralised control of patronage networks.
A Malawi boy sits among drying tobacco leaves in 2014.
Jeffrey Drope
The tobacco industry claims that tobacco- growing is essential to the livelihoods of millions of small-scale rural farmers in Malawi, Zambia and Kenya. Research shows that’s untrue.
Antiretroviral treatment prevents the virus from multiplying and prolongs the lives of HIV positive people.
Thomas Mukoya/Reuters
HIV self-testing is a potential strategy to overcome access to testing. However, there are emerging concerns on the lack of counselling, possible user error and accuracy of the kits.
High voltage electrical pylons on the outskirts of Kenya’s capital Nairobi.
Reuters/Thomas Mukoya
Kenya’s government, while promising cheaper power to consumers may actually be undercutting this promise in its pursuit of nuclear power plants and other costly projects.
People move around the outskirts of Dagahaley settlement at Kenya’s Dadaab Refugee Camp.
Reuters/Jonathan Ernst
UN Refugee Agency special envoy Ambassador Mohamed Abdi Affey, explains what caused the reversal of the decision to close Dadaab, and what the future holds for Kenya’s Somali refugees.
A strong judiciary isn’t enough to keep democracy in place. Kenya’s Supreme Court decision nullifying the re-election of Uhuru Kenyatta is a case in point.
Reuters/Baz Ratner
The past 12 months provided further evidence of the danger of democratic backsliding in Africa. But it also saw powerful presidents suffer embarrassing setbacks in a number of countries.
An image by MeerKAT shows hydrogen gas in M83, a famous spiral galaxy.
SKA SA
A precursor to the Square Kilometre Array- the MeerKAT telescope - is being built right now and remarkable progress has been made in the last 12 months.
Most malaria cases and deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa.
Susana Vera/Reuters
After an exceptional period of success in global malaria control, the progress has stalled. New strategies are needed to suit a variety of transmission patterns.
An aerial view, using drones, could make a big difference to mapping land across Africa.
Reuters/Adriane Ohanesian
After the fall of autocratic ruler Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe faces a difficult choice between the stability of a transnational government or a potentially divisive election contest.
The Black Mamba is a is a venomous snake endemic to parts of sub-Saharan Africa.
Shutterstock/NickEvansKZN
Reptiles add socioeconomic value but when it comes to accessing detailed reference information about them, students and naturalists can face serious challenges.
A Zimbabwean man harvests maize from a field outside Harare.
Reuters/Philimon Bulawayo
The Food and Agriculture organisation estimates that 30 to 40% of total food production is lost before it reaches the market. The losses in Africa are greater and sustainable strategies are needed.
An armed policeman searches for Al-Shabaab gunmen during the deadly Westgate shopping mall terrorist attack in Nairobi in 2013.
Reuters/Goran Tomasevic
Kenya faces a serious threat of terrorist attacks given its strategic geopolitical position, its tourism and corruption. The country needs to squarely face this and take appropriate measures.
Kenya needs to develop effective cancer testing and treatment options.
Olivier Asselin/Reuters
There is an urgent need for affordable cancer treatment services, lower drug costs, better equipped facilities, favourable national cancer policies and specialist doctors in Kenya.
Kenya needs to expand its energy transmission network which is plagued by flaws dating back decades.
Reuters/Thomas Mukoya