It is an article of faith in development circles that assisting girls to complete their education – and postponing the age at which they have children – benefits both the girls and the communities they live in. This truth is proving difficult to entrench in Burkina Faso, however, where early marriages – and, worse still, forced marriages – are often the norm. This is despite a 1990 law that sets the marriage age for girls at 18, and for boys at 22.

Thirteen alleged coup plotters will appear on 6 April before a military court in Burkina Faso, state prosecutor Abdoulaye Barry said on Monday at a press conference. "The investigations were closed on March 12, and the job of the investigating magistrate has ended," Barry said.

A report from Article 19 explores the right to freedom of information, and specifically the right to access information held by public authorities in Burkina Faso. It looks at existing legal and other obstacles to free access to information. It looks into recent human rights violations where "official reluctance to provide information has prevented those responsible from being held accountable, and has denied the victims' relatives the right to truth."

A report UNDP issued in Burkina Faso recently calls for ethical conduct by politicians, adequate resources, audits and other preventative measures, and separation of institutional powers to stem corruption. Entitled "Corruption and Human Development," the report calls the fight against corruption crucial to strengthening government integrity and transparency in the west African country, one of the world's poorest.

The government of Burkina Faso has urged traditional healers in West Africa to collaborate with scientific researchers in the fight against HIV/AIDS by using herbal treatments to address AIDS-related illnesses such as tuberculosis and diarrhoea. Jean Gabriel Wango, the secretary general of the Ministry of Health, made the appeal at the opening of a week-long international exhibition of traditional medicines in the capital Ouagadougou on Monday.