As part of a UN debate about the future of development in Africa, a senior Vatican representative has called for "authentic partnership" with the continent in tackling the many challenges of poverty and development.

A number of key African civil society organisations have come together with church development campaigners at the close of the United Nations climate change talks, to demand billions in compensation for the impacts of global warming.

The Rev Joaquina Filipe Nhanala was elected on 23 July as the first female United Methodist bishop in Africa. From 1 September, she succeeds Bishop João Somane Machado, retired leader of the Mozambique area.

A senior United Nations official in Burundi has pledged the support of the global body to the peace work of churches and others, paying a tribute to their efforts to stabilise the country after more than 10 years of war.

As part of a global coalition of church bodies, Christian Aid is working with the UN to assess the needs of the people of East Africa's Great Lakes region after it was struck by a major earthquake leaving 39 people dead.

Regional and international staff working for major church agencies involved in the region are consulting about relief interventions in the immediate aftermath of a series of quakes in Africa's Great Lakes area.

The All Africa Conference of Churches is pleading with Kenyans to see their current political crisis as not only a national one, but as one in which the whole African continent is looking on in sorrow at the formerly peaceful country.

UK-based international development agency Christian Aid is hosting a series of public events in several major English cities addressing the issue of unfair trade, African poverty and how they can be addressed by public and politicians.

Extreme rainfall in Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe has caused severe flooding with devastating consequences - including food shortages to come as farmers’ crops are washed away, warn international church and development bodies.