With this package of articles, the Institute for War & Peace Reporting (IWPR) launches work in Africa. IWPR has been working elsewhere to strengthen peace and democracy in crisis areas through the development of responsible local media. Moving to include Africa for the first time, the Institute will be developing a programme of activities across the continent, with a focus on areas of conflict and acute crisis, and its long-standing themes - war crimes and conflict resolution, representative governance, minority and women's rights and development and social concerns.