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SIERRA LEONE: Government tightens control of NGOsDAKAR, 10 October 2008 (IRIN) - Officials in Sierra Leone are drafting a new law that will tighten controls on non-profit organisations working in the country, joining other governments demanding more accountability from their donors.
Source : IRIN | 11-Oct-2008 01:22
MALI: When the world’s deserts flood
DAKAR, 10 October 2008 (IRIN) - In August floods loosened the dry caked Sahelian earth in Gao, northern Mali, affecting more than 1,000 people, many of whom temporarily took refuge in area schools. While displaced families have since vacated schools in time for the beginning of the school year on 6 October, many families remain homeless, according to the Mali Red Cross.
Source : IRIN | 11-Oct-2008 01:22
GUINEA: Drug trade “potentially more dangerous than Guinea-Bissau”
CONAKRY, 10 October 2008 (IRIN) - Guinea has become a major drug-trafficking hub and the trade there is now potentially more dangerous than in Guinea-Bissau, according to Antonio Mazzitelli, regional representative of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime.
Source : IRIN | 11-Oct-2008 01:22
DRC-RWANDA: Fighting flares as civilians run in eastern Congo
BUNIA/KIGALI, 10 October 2008 (IRIN) - Serious fighting has broken out in the Democratic Republic of Congo's North Kivu province and in the neighbouring district of Ituri, with thousands of civilians displaced, and others cut off, amid claims that foreign troops had deployed in parts of the east.
Source : IRIN | 10-Oct-2008 19:33
ZIMBABWE: How do you rein in 231 million percent inflation?
JOHANNESBURG , 10 October 2008 (IRIN) - Zimbabwe's official annual inflation rate reached 231 million percent in early October, from the July estimate of 11.2 million percent, and the deadlock in talks between the ruling ZANU-PF and opposition parties is likely to push hyperinflation higher.
Source : IRIN | 10-Oct-2008 19:33
UGANDA: New centre to boost paediatric HIV care
KAMPALA, 10 October 2008 (IRIN) - Children living with HIV in Uganda have been given greater access to treatment with a new paediatric HIV care centre opened at the main referral hospital in the capital, Kampala.
Source : IRIN | 10-Oct-2008 19:33
AFRICA: ‘Sexually-transmitted grades’ kills quality education
DAKAR, 10 October 2008 (IRIN) - Sexual exploitation in African schools has become so widespread that children have come up with their own terms to refer to sexual relations with their teachers. From ‘Sexually Transmitted Grades' to ‘BF', or bordel fatigue, which refers to exhaustion from multiple sexual activities with teachers, this slang hints at the prevalence of exploitation in Africa's learning environments.
Source : IRIN | 10-Oct-2008 13:34
UGANDA: Children eke out a living on the streets
GULU, 10 October 2008 (IRIN) - John Kibwola, 14, braves the scorching afternoon sun as he sells his collection of plastic bottles along Acholi Street in the northern Ugandan town of Gulu.
Source : IRIN | 10-Oct-2008 13:34
KENYA: Government launches anti-malaria campaign
NAIROBI, 10 October 2008 (IRIN) - Kenya's Ministry of Health has launched a four-day nationwide campaign to retreat at least 1.8 million bed nets with long-lasting insecticide to control the spread of malaria as the rainy season sets in, a senior health official said.
Source : IRIN | 10-Oct-2008 13:34
SAHEL: Voices from clandestinity
AGADEZ, 9 October 2008 (IRIN) - The International Organization for Migration estimates that up to 35,000 sub-Saharan clandestine migrants leave for North Africa and Europe every year. But researchers concede the near impossibility to track what is carried out in secrecy, facilitated by family connections and favours, bribes and beatings. Despite increased security crackdowns and forced mass expulsions by North African security forces, thousands of West African migrants still attempt the desert crossing from northern Niger through the gateway town of Agadez. The following migrants IRIN met asked to remain anonymous.
Source : IRIN | 10-Oct-2008 01:18
SWAZILAND: Go west young man or woman
MBABANE, 9 October 2008 (IRIN) - King Mswati has directed Swaziland's college graduates to leave the country to find employment, admitting that a lack of jobs at home gives them no alternative.
Source : IRIN | 09-Oct-2008 19:27
KENYA: Rising demand for male circumcision
KISUMU, 9 October 2008 (IRIN) - Health facilities in Nyanza Province in western Kenya are struggling to meet the demand for medical male circumcisions since politicians threw their weight behind efforts to promote the procedure as a way of reducing HIV infections.
Source : IRIN | 09-Oct-2008 19:27
ZIMBABWE: WFP makes emergency US$140 million appeal
JOHANNESBURG, 9 October 2008 (IRIN) - Emergency food assistance for nearly half of Zimbabwe's 12 million population could run out at the peak of the crisis if donors fail to provide US$140 million, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said in a statement on 9 October.
Source : IRIN | 09-Oct-2008 19:27
WEST AFRICA: Migrants risk all to cross desert
AGADEZ, 9 October 2008 (IRIN) - Sub-Saharan migrants continue attempting dangerous and illegal crossings into Libya and Algeria. They pick their way through Niger's Air mountains, circumventing a mountain rebellion, increased mountain banditry, and North African border crackdowns, according to migrants and smugglers in Niger's mountain gateway town of Agadez.
Source : IRIN | 09-Oct-2008 19:27
SOMALIA: Floods add to IDP misery in Lower Shabelle
NAIROBI, 9 October 2008 (IRIN) - Thousands of internally displaced persons living in camps in and around Somalia's southern port town of Marka have been left without shelter after heavy rains pounded the area, officials said.
Source : IRIN | 09-Oct-2008 19:27
NIGER: Freddy Kasseri, “Migrants are dying out here”
AGADEZ, 9 October 2008 (IRIN) - AGADEZ, Freddy Kasseri, 23, travelled from Ghana to Niger intending to cross the desert into Libya. He did not make it. Libyan security forces return migrants via land to a military post in northern Niger, where the migrants are turned over to Nigerien soldiers. Kasseri was transferred 650km to Agadez, where he is working to save money for a second attempt.
Source : IRIN | 09-Oct-2008 19:27
ETHIOPIA: Can't eat, won't learn
HWASSA, 9 October 2008 (IRIN) - Ethiopia's schools have opened for the new academic year, but severe food insecurity in some regions has kept thousands of children out of class.
Source : IRIN | 09-Oct-2008 13:21
ZIMBABWE: You have to plant before you can harvest
BULAWAYO, 8 October 2008 (IRIN) - Zimbabwe faces yet another disastrous agricultural year: with hardly a month to go before the planting season starts, many farmers have not received the fertiliser and seeds they need.
Source : IRIN | 09-Oct-2008 01:21
BENIN: Blood shortage proves deadly
COTONOU, 8 October 2008 (IRIN) - Fear, a lack of blood donation supplies and ill-trained health staff have led to a dangerous blood shortage in Benin, said the head of the country's blood donor association.
Source : IRIN | 09-Oct-2008 01:21
GUINEA-BISSAU: Government workers strike for back pay
BISSAU, 8 October 2008 (IRIN) - Hundreds of public sector workers across Guinea-Bissau, including nurses, doctors and civil servants, are striking over salary arrears, leaving basic services running at minimum capacity.
Source : IRIN | 09-Oct-2008 01:21
ZIMBABWE: Activists shout from the sidelines
HARARE, 8 October 2008 (IRIN) - The new board of Zimbabwe's National AIDS Council (NAC) has a glaring omission: not one member is living openly with the HI-virus. AIDS activists have slammed the move, describing it as "discriminatory" and a step backwards in the fight against the epidemic.
Source : IRIN | 08-Oct-2008 19:19
UGANDA: Christine Auma: "Life is meaningless when you are sick"
AMURU, 8 October 2008 (IRIN) - Christine Auma has lived in a camp for internally displaced persons in northern Uganda's Amuru district for more than 20 years. Relative peace has returned to the region over the past two years, and she has watched neighbours and friends move out of the camp into resettlement camps closer to their villages. But her case was different, she told IRIN/PlusNews.
Source : IRIN | 08-Oct-2008 19:19
DRC: Agencies unable to reach thousands displaced in North Kivu
KINSHASA, 8 October 2008 (IRIN) - Thousands of people who fled renewed fighting in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, between government forces and the rebel Congrčs National pour la defense du people, have yet to be located by aid agencies, a medical charity said.
Source : IRIN | 08-Oct-2008 19:19
DRC: Government forces, rebels clash in Ituri
BUNIA, 8 October 2008 (IRIN) - Thirteen fighters have died in clashes between the Democratic Republic of Congo army and rebel Front Populaire pour la Justice au Congo militia in the north-eastern Ituri region, an army spokesman said.
Source : IRIN | 08-Oct-2008 19:19
SENEGAL: Going solar could help poor
DAKAR, 8 October 2008 (IRIN) - Investing in solar energy (photovoltaics) could bring electricity to millions of Senegalese, significantly reduce electricity bills in the long term, and attract millions of dollars in development funding under the UN-brokered Clean Development Mechanism, says the UN, but only if investors step in.
Source : IRIN | 08-Oct-2008 19:19
MALAWI: Charcoal is a burning issue
BLANTYRE , 8 October 2008 (IRIN) - Faisoni Kandoje, 38, has sold charcoal for nearly two decades. Each day he sets up his stall along one of the major highways in Blantyre, Malawi's commercial hub, to provide for himself and his four children.
Source : IRIN | 08-Oct-2008 19:19
GUINEA-BISSAU: Assistance not sanctions needed to fight drug trade
DAKAR , 7 October 2008 (IRIN) - International experts say the UN's consideration of creating a sanctions panel so close to next month's scheduled legislative election could destabilise the country, which has been wracked by repeated coup attempts and increased drug trafficking in recent years.
Source : IRIN | 08-Oct-2008 01:43
AFRICA: Wiping out hunger— one fruit fly at a time
DAKAR, 7 October 2008 (IRIN) - For years, farmers in one of Senegal's most mango-rich zones, Keur Mbir Ndao, 80km east of the capital, were losing more than half their harvests. While some wrote it off to God's wrath, researchers told them the cause was actually an Asian fruit fly, Bactrocera invadens, first discovered in Kenya in 2003.
Source : IRIN | 08-Oct-2008 01:43
MADAGASCAR: No welcome for sex tourism
TOLIARA, 7 October 2008 (IRIN) - The warning posters start at the airport in the capital, Antananarivo, informing visitors that Madagascar says "NO to sex tourism" and "Malagasy women are not tourist souvenirs".
Source : IRIN | 08-Oct-2008 01:43
SOUTH AFRICA: Congo Fever scare
JOHANNESBURG, 7 October 2008 (IRIN) - At least three people have been confirmed dead in Johannesburg, South Africa, in an outbreak of what officials believe to be contagious hemorrhagic fever.
Source : IRIN | 08-Oct-2008 01:43
SOMALIA: NGOs urge international community to protect civilians
NAIROBI, 7 October 2008 (IRIN) - Insecurity, drought and record-high food prices have led to a rapid escalation of the humanitarian crisis in Somalia, with some 3.25 million people now needing emergency aid, NGOs said.
Source : IRIN | 07-Oct-2008 19:27
MALI: Returnees sceptical about new EU information centre
BAMAKO, 7 October 2008 (IRIN) - The European Union (EU) has opened its first multi-million dollar immigration centre in West Africa, but returnee migrants told IRIN the Bamako centre would not change their minds about migrating without visas.
Source : IRIN | 07-Oct-2008 19:27
SUDAN: Fears of violence as land tensions increase
NIMULE, 7 October 2008 (IRIN) - Nimule, a Southern Sudanese town on the border with Uganda, has boomed since war ended three years ago, but tension is brewing over land between returnees who fled the area years ago and more recent settlers.
Source : IRIN | 07-Oct-2008 19:27
UGANDA: Calls for Kony arrest “counter-productive”
KAMPALA, 7 October 2008 (IRIN) - Renewed calls for the arrest of Ugandan rebel leader Joseph Kony will create more animosity and hamper any efforts to conclude the ongoing peace process, a senior church leader said.
Source : IRIN | 07-Oct-2008 19:27
MALAWI: AIDS organisations face funding interruptions
JOHANNESBURG, 7 October 2008 (IRIN) - Grassroots AIDS organisations in Malawi are facing uncertainty as the National AIDS Commission (NAC) ends its dependence on international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) for dispersing grants.
Source : IRIN | 07-Oct-2008 19:27
SENEGAL: Thousands displaced from their Dakar homes
DAKAR, 7 October 2008 (IRIN) - Thousands of people have been displaced from their homes in two districts of Dakar where homes should never have been built, according to Seydou Sysall, the former Senegalese minister of development and urban planning.
Source : IRIN | 07-Oct-2008 13:28
TOGO: School year reopens with free primary schools
LOME, 6 October 2008 (IRIN) - For the first time in recent years, primary school students started a new school year on 6 October in Togo without paying enrolment fees. The government has waived primary school fees as part of a more than US$80 million investment in the education system. While parents celebrated the extra fees they will not have to pay for primary school students, administrators are taken aback by the surprise announcement worry how they will pay for school operations the fees had helped fund.
Source : IRIN | 07-Oct-2008 01:37
UGANDA: Shrubs and leaves on the menu as Karamoja food shortages increase
NAWAIKOROT, 6 October 2008 (IRIN) - Angelina Abura cradled her malnourished child in Nawaikorot, Moroto District of the Karamoja region, as she waited for his polio vaccination, thinking of her next meal.
Source : IRIN | 06-Oct-2008 19:22
SOUTH AFRICA: Rapid HIV tests not infallible
JOHANNESBURG, 6 October 2008 (IRIN) - The reliability of HIV diagnoses obtained from finger prick tests has come into question with the recall of a brand of rapid HIV test kits used at public testing sites in two South African provinces.
Source : IRIN | 06-Oct-2008 19:22
UGANDA: Christine Atto: "The journey is difficult, but I walk for my life"
GULU, 6 October 2008 (IRIN) - With the return of relative peace to northern Uganda, thousands of people displaced by the conflict have started the long journey home. Many are now living in transit camps between the mother camps and their villages. Christine Atto, who has lived in an IDP camp for over 20 years, told IRIN/PlusNews that since moving to a resettlement camp, she has to walk 36 kilometres every month to fetch her antiretroviral medication.
Source : IRIN | 06-Oct-2008 19:22
UGANDA: Going home is a mixed blessing
GULU, 6 October 2008 (IRIN) - As calm returns to northern Uganda, tens of thousands of people previously living in camps for internally displaced persons (IDP) camps are now in satellite camps mid-way between the IDP camps and their villages. The new camps are less crowded and people can cultivate their land, but the lack of healthcare is problematic.
Source : IRIN | 06-Oct-2008 19:22
MALAWI: Green belts to boost food production
LILONGWE, 6 October 2008 (IRIN) - Malawian President Bingu wa Mutharika has pledged to embark on a "green belt" programme to enable the country, in the long run, to say goodbye to hunger and international food aid.
Source : IRIN | 06-Oct-2008 19:22
EQUATORIAL GUINEA: Poverty rife in Africa’s “Kuwait”
MALABO, 6 October 2008 (IRIN) - Equatorial Guinea is one of the world's top 30 oil producers, according to its Ministry of Mines, but corruption watchdog group Global Witness says most in the country still live in poverty.
Source : IRIN | 06-Oct-2008 19:22
DRC: Diarrhoea outbreak kills IDPs in North Kivu
KINSHASA, 6 October 2008 (IRIN) - Scores of people have died while hundreds have been affected by an outbreak of acute watery diarrhoea in internally displaced people's camps in North Kivu Province.
Source : IRIN | 06-Oct-2008 19:22
BURUNDI: Fighting for land
BUJUMBURA, 6 October 2008 (IRIN) - Thousands of Burundians have returned home after years of refugee life in Tanzania, but finding shelter and enough land to farm remains a challenge.
Source : IRIN | 06-Oct-2008 13:33
RWANDA: Rains wreak havoc
KIGALI, 6 October 2008 (IRIN) - Torrential rains have caused extensive flooding, destroying homes and crops in Rwanda's western and northern regions, according to officials.
Source : IRIN | 06-Oct-2008 13:33