Jamal Osman , Reporter

Somalia used to be a byword for war and hardship, and thousands of Somalis escaped to this country to seek safe refuge.

“Gender-based violence is a national crisis that we are determined to end.” – the words of South African president Cyril Ramaphosa last month as he promised the ruling ANC party would tackle the alarming rise in sexual assaults against women. The statistics are staggering. In South Africa the murder of women is five times higher…

Sierra Leone is facing a crisis of teenage pregnancies, caused in part by the Ebola outbreak two years ago.

In Somalia, poverty is forcing women into sexual exploitation as men from the country who’ve emigrated to the west return to take advantage of them. Many of the women are refugees who are lured by the offer of a better life abroad. They often go through a fake wedding ceremony. The women are later abandoned…

The first funerals have already begun, as Somali officials said more than 300 people are now known to have died in Saturday’s horrific truck bombing in Mogadishu. There’s a warning the death toll is almost certain to rise. Hundreds of others were hurt in the blast, overwhelming hospitals with the sheer numbers of injured, many…

This year, East Africa has been hit by one of the worst droughts in recent decades. Nowhere more so than in Somalia, where the UN estimates that six million people are at risk of famine. Half the population live under the Islamist militant group Al-Shabaab, who are aiming to prove they too can provide for…

One of the places most affected is Somalia, where a drought, described as the worst in living memory, is causing record levels of rising hunger. Political unrest and the insurgency of jihadi groups haven’t helped.

Many of the people fleeing famine and political instability in places like Sudan and Somalia end up in refugee camps like Dadaab in Northern Kenya.

Somalis don’t have a word for autism. Indeed the lack of understanding, and the stigma which surrounds the condition means many people in the Somali community are turning to unorthodox methods in an effort to cope. We’ve been to find out more – and we should warn you – there are images which some people…

A high-profile Al-Shabaab preacher has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group. Is it a sign of closer ties between the two Islamist militant groups, or a one off?

A photo showing South African President Jacob Zuma remaining on the phone while greeting Barack Obama causes a stir in the press.

Migrants are being demonised by some politicians and many people believe they are a burden on the state. This is why they are wrong.

Jamal Osman reports on the boom in Somaliland attracting migrants seeking jobs and opportunities from Yemen, Ethiopia – and London.

This has been one of the longest and toughest holy months for Muslims living in Europe, with some fasting 20 hours a day in the summer heat.

Al-Shabaab militants killed 148 non-Muslim students in the northern Kenyan town of Garissa last month. Jamal Osman finds that a growing number of Christian residents are now fleeing the community.