The school year kicks off in Mozambique with more children enrolling for primary school than ever in the past. But, as Ruth Ansah Ayisi of IPS reports, educational prospects remain bleak for orphans like Regina Massango.

Amidst debates on whether or not to allow the use of cell phones in schools, the Meraka Institute has put its expertise in information and communications technology (ICT) to work in an effort to use these devices positively in a teaching and learning environment.

In spite of a global commitment following the 2002 UN Special Session on Children to end Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C) by 2010, the practice is still widespread, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East. To put an end to this harmful practice, UNICEF will spearhead a coordinated effort in 2007 to slash FGM/C in 16 African countries by 2015 – the target year for achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

The president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is being urged to release human rights lawyer and former presidential candidate Marie Therese Nlandu and her associates from prison. The calls come following the resumption of Nlandu's trial before a military tribunal in the Congo capital, Kinshasa, on January 24. The former presidential candidate and her associates have been charged with illegal possession of firearms and with organizing an "insurrectionary movement."