The war in Ukraine is set to tip more families in the Horn of Africa over the edge. The region has become increasingly dependent on imported grains from Russia and Ukraine. Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia import 67 percent, 89 percent and 92 percent of their wheat respectively from the two countries. Russia and Ukraine also account for 53 percent of the global trade of sunflower oil and seed. However, supply lines are blocked and, in areas of Ukraine, agricultural production is in danger. The prices of cooking oil, bread and wheat flour are already reaching new records in local markets in the Horn of Africa. A dire nutrition crisis is expected to escalate.

A drive to vaccinate more than 9 million children against polio has been launched this week in four countries in southern and eastern Africa after an outbreak was confirmed in Malawi.

The Youth Harvest Foundation Ghana (YHFG), a youth development organisation in Ghana, has called on the Government to take steps to reconcile the laws on consent to sex and law on marriage to help address sexual and reproductive health challenges of adolescents.

Agencies in charge of fighting human trafficking have expressed concern over the increase of the vice in the country saying children are the most affected. According to Agnes Igoye, the Deputy National Coordinator Prevention of Trafficking in Persons at the Directorate of Citizenship and Immigration Control, in 2021 they received 421 incidents that had 1,000 victims involved. Out of the cases reported, 30 were successfully investigated and culprits were charged and convicted under the Prevention of Trafficking Act.

The Child Support Grant (CSG) should be increased so that children have enough to eat, according to a recent research report commissioned by Black Sash. The report on children, social assistance and food security found that at current levels the grant is not enough.

Zambia has made significant strides in the past two decades to improve maternal and newborn health outcomes. The maternal mortality rate dropped nearly 300 per cent in 16 years - from 729 deaths for every 100,000 live births in 2002, to 278 deaths per 100,000 in 2018. What has been critical in this achievement is greater availability of skilled midwifery personnel. The number of births assisted by a skilled attendant more than doubled over the same period, from 42 per cent in 2002 to 80 per cent in 2018.

Her tiny mouth is constantly open, trying to suck in air. Adama Assan is four months old, but tips the scales at a pitiful 3.3 kilograms (7.3 pounds) -- not even the average weight at birth of a typical newborn in Europe. "Normally, a baby of her age would weigh six kilos," said Ousmane Ahmat Mahamat, a supervisor nurse at a ward in a hospital in N'Djamena, the capital of Chad, that specialises in infant malnutrition.

Young people who grew up in alternative care are uniting to support one another and push for changes that can help in their transition to an independent life.

The goal is as simple as it is complicated to achieve: Shift the care of children from institutions like orphanages to a family or family-like environment. Catholic sisters in three African nations — Uganda, Zambia and Kenya — are leading the way in creating new models for caring for children. Their efforts are the core of the recent launch of Catholic Care for Children International (CCCI) under the auspices of the International Union of Superiors General (UISG) — one of many faith groups leading policy reform and family-based alternatives to institutional care.

The United Nations says food distribution in Ethiopia’s blockaded Tigray region has reached its “all-time lowest” while more than 50,000 children are thought to be severely malnourished, the latest sign of growing crisis amid efforts to end the country’s 14-month war.