Kenya should bar Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir from entering Kenya or arrest him for trial at the International Criminal Court if he enters Kenyan territory. The Sudanese state news agency has reported that al-Bashir will travel to Kenya on August 27, 2010, to attend the celebration of Kenya’s new constitution.

Authorities in Côte d’Ivoire and Nigeria should investigate and close down networks that traffic Nigerian women and girls to Côte d’Ivoire for forced prostitution. There should be collaboration among regional neighbors to improve border efforts to combat trafficking.

Women with disabilities in northern Uganda experience ongoing discrimination and sexual and gender-based violence. Many are unable to gain access to basic services, including health care and justice, and they have been largely ignored in post-conflict reconstruction efforts.

The tiny country of São Tomé e Príncipe is at a crossroads with a chance to benefit from its potential oil wealth. A new government is expected to form after the elections this month, and by the end of the year São Tomé is expected to announce the companies selected as the winners of an important round of bidding for the right to drill for oil in its offshore Exclusive Economic Zone.

Cameroon should decriminalize consensual sexual acts between adults of the same sex.

Widespread corruption in the Nigeria Police Force is fueling abuses against ordinary citizens and severely undermining the rule of law in Nigeria. Nigerian authorities should take immediate steps to improve budgetary transparency in the police force and to investigate and bring to justice police officers at all levels implicated in corrupt practices.

The new UK government has made it clear that an important priority of its foreign policy will be to promote British trade and investment abroad. But recent remarks in Sudan by the Africa minister, Henry Bellingham, raise concerns that, by blindly pursuing commercial interests, the UK runs the risk of undermining international efforts to protect human rights and promote justice for serious abuses.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization should cancel the Obiang Prize at its next session in October 2010.