Video killed a star charity: The downfall of Invisible Children →

It’s been nearly four years since Jason Russell sat down for a talk with his then-five-year-old son Gavin and sparked an international discussion. The father-son chat sets up "KONY 2012," a half-hour-long advocacy video for Invisible Children. Russell co-founded the group after a 2003 trip to northern Uganda exposed him and two friends to the atrocities the warlord Joseph Kony was perpetrating in the region. The video’s unexpected success catapulted Russell to global fame, but also cast Invisible Children as an archetype in an emerging debate about the nature of humanitarianism and the possible harms it might cause.

Even now, nearly a year after the organization handed control of its programs in northern Uganda over to local staff members and left the region, the community there is still grappling with the questions raised in the wake of the video’s release. There is deeply felt gratitude for the work the group did, but an uncertainty about what legacy they leave behind.

Read more.

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Emmanuel Gasakure →

Cardiologist and former Dean of the then National University of Rwanda's Faculty of Medicine. Born in Butare, Rwanda, on April 13, 1958, he died in Kigali, Rwanda, on Feb 25, 2015, aged 56 years. Read more.

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South Sudan unexpectedly drives Uganda and Sudan's détente →

When Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni took a surprise mid-September trip to Khartoum to meet his Sudanese counterpart, Omar al-Bashir, it solidified the unexpected rapprochement in what had been one of Africa’s thorniest relationships. Two of the continent’s longest-serving leaders, Museveni and Bashir have spent much of the past two decades sniping at one another publicly as each secretly worked to destabilize the other’s government. Read more.

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Uganda's test and treat HIV program hauls in fishermen →

Last year, the Ugandan government began rolling out test and treat within communities at high risk, called “key populations” – people who maintain high HIV transmission rates, but are often difficult to reach. In Uganda, this means sex workers and long-distance truck drivers, as well as people living in the highly transient fishing communities – where HIV rates are often more than double the national prevalence of 7.2 percent. Read more.

Can South Sudan's leaders get peace right the second time? →

When South Sudan’s president, Salva Kiir, inked a new agreement in late August to end his country’s 20-month conflict, he seemed to be following a pattern the two warring sides had set in reaching or recommitting to an earlier deal to cease hostilities: Temporarily stave off international and regional pressure by signing, then allow it to collapse under the weight of continued fighting. True to form, clashes have continued into September, with each side accusing the other of attacks. Read more.

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A victory on the path to maternal healthcare in Uganda →

Irene Nanteza went into labor late on the morning of May 5, 2011. It was her fourth pregnancy, so she and her husband, David Mugerwa, were prepared. By 1:30 p.m. she was checked into the maternity ward at nearby Nakaseke Hospital, one of the best medical facilities in central Uganda. And when the nurse on duty looked in on Nanteza just before her shift ended at 3:30 p.m., she noted that, “everything looked normal.”

Six hours later, her uterus ruptured, Nanteza and her unborn baby were both dead.

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Violence in Burundi triggers refugee crisis →

Political turmoil in Burundi has caused tens of thousands of people to flee their homes, many to refugee camps in neighboring countries. Read more.

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For Burundi refugees, a shift to long-term temporary status →

As political violence has increased following Burundi’s presidential vote late last month, at least a thousand people continue to flee the country each week — necessitating the continuation of emergency response that has gone on for months. With few of the refugees prepared to return imminently, aid agencies are attempting to implement long-term assistance strategies for the displaced Burundians. And they are doing it all amid a significant funding shortfall. Read more.

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McLeod Ernest Chitiyo →

Leading pathologist in Zimbabwe. He was born in Old Umtali Mission, Zimbabwe, on Nov 30, 1932, and died in Harare, Zimbabwe, on March 2, 2015, aged 82 years. Read more.

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South Sudanese refugees in Uganda receive generous welcome →

When fighting broke out in December 2013 in South Sudan’s capital, Juba, it spread rapidly toward the country’s northeast – directly towards John Aleu’s home. He wanted no part of the conflict and hoped the remoteness of his village in northern Jonglei state would insulate him.

But in September last year, a group of fighters came to steal his cattle. As he tried to spur the animals to flee, he was shot in the foot. It took his neighbors three days to carry him to the nearest hospital. His foot was saved, but he will never be able to walk without crutches again.

By April he was well enough to travel, so together with his family he journeyed across the border to Uganda. “If I’m going back, I can’t feed my family,” he said. “I’m in need of something that can promote my life and my family’s life.”

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Can the world's newest nation survive its complex humanitarian crisis? →

There is little to celebrate as South Sudan marks its fourth independence anniversary today. Even if peace arrives soon, humanitarian agencies warn, it would take the country decades to recover from the effects of the ongoing violence. Read more.

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Students flee U.S. embassy camp in Burundi, claiming police harassment →

University students in troubled Burundi have claimed they are being targeted for harassment, including death threats, by security forces and the police – especially the hundreds who took refuge near the American embassy after the government closed the University of Burundi. Read more.

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Burundi votes, and violence looms →

Residents are scrambling to leave Burundi as voting in parliamentary and local elections threatens to turn ugly fast. Read more.

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Uganda's Museveni succeeds where others fail in eluding term limits →

Burundi’s Pierre Nkurunziza and other presidents trying to subvert term limits could all take a lesson from their neighbor, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni. Having disposed of term limits a decade ago, Museveni is set to run for his fifth term next year, in a campaign that seems as much a coronation as a contest. Read more.

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Uganda's NGO law: Most repressive in East Africa? →

Uganda is poised to pass a law granting a government-appointed board nearly incontestable power to reject or dissolve nongovernmental and community-based organizations. Read more.

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