At least 47 schools are unlikely to re-open today due to havoc caused by the heavy rains. The schools, in western Kenya, have either been cut off completely due to floods or have had classrooms and dormitories submerged in water.

The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), a multinational programme to promote economic and social development, is setting up a Commission on Science and Technology to explore ways of stimulating activity in both fields across the African continent. In particular, the new commission will follow a two-prong strategy of identifying centres of research excellence in different African countries, and establishing an African Science Fund to fund them.

Young people's needs for information about sexual and reproductive health are not being met in most countries around the world, despite a rapid increase in sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among those aged between 15 and 24, according to a new report.

The Special Session on Children, to be held 8-10 May 2002, is an unprecedented meeting of the UN General Assembly dedicated to the children and adolescents of the world. It will bring together government leaders and Heads of State, NGOs, children's advocates and young people themselves at the United Nations in New York in 2002. The gathering will present a great opportunity to change the way the world views and treats children.