Africa

John Prendergast on the banks of the White Nile in southern Sudan. Marco Di Lauro/Reportage, for The New York Times

Young boys bathing in a river in Nigeria known to be infected with the parasite that causes river blindness. Some 27 million people in Nigeria need treatment for river blindness, also known as onchocerciasis.  The disease is spread through the bite of a black fly that breeds in fast-flowing water. However, if at-risk people take the drug ivermectin, also known as Mectizan, annually for 15-17 years, the infection cycle is broken for life.  Photo: IRIN

In Agbogbloshie, a slum in Accra, the capital of Ghana, adults and children tear away at computers from abroad to get at the precious metals inside. Left, David Akore, 18, and other foragers. At the dump, the machines are dismantled and often burned to extract metals for resale. The equipment in this digital cemetery come mainly from Europe and the United States, sometimes as secondhand donations meant to reduce the “digital divide” — the disparity in computer access between poor nations and rich. Photo: Pieter Hugo/New York Times

The Kimberley Process suspended the diamond exports in November in response to allegations of atrocities committed by security forces at Marange. Zimbabwe’s army denies allegations of abuse at the Marange fields. There have been weeks of deadlock over the negotiations and the deal came only after a Zimbabwean human rights activist was released on bail shortly before the decision. Photo: BBC

Therapeutic feeding centre in Niger in 2005. Photo: IRIN