It’s the beginning of a new week and as part of our tradition, Rural Reporters collates a weekly report on development in rural Africa and its environs. The reports include are some of our top picks of recent must-read research, interviews, reports, blogs and in-depth articles to help you keep on top of global crises.

Here are top updates from the previous week.

My Experience With A Child-Bride

“Sunnana Balira, ni sabowar amayar cha,ama ban san shakaruna ba,ni kam ko makaranta, ko kuwa aura duk wanda an yi mi, zan karba,” Balira said in Hausa.

This means, “my name is Balira, I am newly wedded but I’m not certain of my age. If either school or marriage is being asked of me, I will accept any.”

New UN Report Finds Bulk Of World’s Rural Populations Excluded From Healthcare Access

The majority of the world’s rural populations continue to live and work without essential healthcare services, in stark contrast to their urban-dwelling counterparts, according to a new report released today by the United Nations International Labour Organization (ILO).

The ILO’s findings – published in the Global evidence on inequities in rural health protection report – show that 56 per cent of people living in rural areas worldwide remain bereft of critical healthcare access, with the most acute instances being in Africa where an overwhelming 83 per cent of rural inhabitants are uncovered. The most affected countries are also those which face the highest levels of poverty, the report observes.

Ghana’s First Digital Library Hosted At The Back Of A Van

Mobile network operator Tigo Ghana, in partnership with social enterprise Street Library Ghana, has established a mobile digital library to boost digital inclusion for children in rural Ghana. But the library is actually the interior of a van fitted with tables, chairs and laptops. It also holds a mobile extension that can be set up outside the van to cater for more children.

South Africa: Public Toilets Could Curb Sexual Assaults

Investing in public toilets could reduce the number of sexual assaults in South African townships by almost a third and lower the economic cost of the crime on society, public health experts said.

Many women in South Africa must walk long distances from their homes to public toilets, leaving them vulnerable to sexual assault, according to a study by researchers at the Yale School of Public Health and School of Management.

Scores of often violent crimes including rape, robberies and murder are recorded every day in South Africa, earning it a place among the most violent countries in the world outside a war zone.

Rural African Diet May Reduce Bowel Cancer Risk

A new study has found that bowel cancer risk may be reduced by a rural African diet. Tests on subjects who swapped a fatty, meat-heavy diet for foods rich in beans and vegetables found a drop in biological markers for cancer in just two weeks. Professor Jeremy Nicholson from Imperial College London was involved in the study.

A Year On, Guineans Finally Lay Ebola Souls To Rest

Forty-six-year-old Maurice Ouendeno stares silently at the arm of his blue plastic lawn chair. He waits a few minutes before beginning his story.
“They said we did not have the right to bury him,” he says, finally looking up. Sadness, mixed with a bit of anger, flashes briefly across his face. “We understood why, but it was painful. It was so painful not to be able to give him the send-off he deserved.”

Forty-six-year-old Maurice Ouendeno stares silently at the arm of his blue plastic lawn chair. He waits a few minutes before beginning his story.
“They said we did not have the right to bury him,” he says, finally looking up. Sadness, mixed with a bit of anger, flashes briefly across his face. “We understood why, but it was painful. It was so painful not to be able to give him the send-off he deserved.”

Winners of the Participatory Slum Upgrading Project video competition announced

A video awards ceremony took place recently to award winners of the recently concluded UN-Habitat Participatory Slum Upgrading Project video competition at the just concluded 25th session of the Governing Council. The awards went to Burkina Faso, Cameroon and Nigeria in first second and third place respectively for their films that came out on top in the video competition on the topic of ‘documenting change towards improving living conditions in slums and integrating slums into the formal city.’