ArchiveJune 2009

June 30th, 2009

• South Africa: Country passes World Cup test - now for 2010 
• East Africa: Is Obama following in the disliked footsteps of Bush in East Africa? (opinion) - He "is essentially on the same path" as was Bush

June 29th, 2009

• SOMALIA: Somaliland in plea for food aid - urges the international community to come to its aid to avert severe food shortages and hunger
• KENYA: Hundreds of families displaced after clashes in north - Five people were killed and hundreds of families displaced on 27-28 June following fighting over pasture in Isiolo and Laikipia districts
• PAKISTAN: IDP hosts under pressure - More mouths to feed imposes new strains on host families
• SOMALIA: Conflict timeline from 2000 - fighting has resulted in many deaths
• MYANMAR: Fresh visa headaches for aid workers - Securing visas has almost become impossible
• GLOBAL: Cross-border diamond deals sidestep Kimberley Process - In many African countries the illicit diamond trade has been used to finance wars

June 28th, 2009

• Experts describe the river as one of the dirtiest in the world - Citarum River drying along its banks
• An IDP woman with her child at one of food distribution centre in Jalozai camp in NWFP
• Patients line up for consultations at a TB centre - tackling TB
• AFGHANISTAN: 800 civilians killed in conflict in January through May

June 27th, 2009

• Natural disasters such as floods are set to intensify
• A wealthy dealer examines rough diamonds in the DRC
• East Africa: Somali pirates delay Seacom undersea cable - initially planned to debut this weekend, will now have to wait for another month till July 23
• Mauritius: Labouring through a class four economic cyclone - The country's economy mainly depends on exports of textiles to Europe and the United States as well as on tourism.
• Gambia: AU envoy says government must release reporters - The National Intelligence Agency has arrested seven leaders of the Gambian Press Union

June 26th, 2009

• Uganda: Seize idle land, says security coordinator - Gen. David Tinyefuza, stunned Parliament yesterday when he called for radical land reforms
• Niger: On alert for a constitutional coup? (analysis) - It is impossible to pledge constitutionality while planning an unconstitutional vote
• South Africa: Few prosecutions after xenophobic attacks, says report - Research indicates that many of the groups and individuals who instigated the attacks are still free and on the streets
• Rwanda: Jury still out on effectiveness of 'Gacaca' courts - Gacaca means "grass", and trials are designed to take place in the open, where survivors point to suspects
• Rwanda: Kagame wants genocide trials moved to Kigali - Will the trials be fair there?

June 25th, 2009

• Troop commanders are trained to carry out HIV tests -  title given to a group of young activists working with Development Aid from People to People
• Selling sex to live, and now other mouths to feed
• Rebel activity halts exams for hundreds of children - Child rights activists called for a truce in eastern and northeastern Congo
• A watchdog for children - Who is his advocate?
• Flooding occurs almost annually along the Zambezi in Mozambique

June 24th, 2009

• Mass rape in Goma prison -  At least 20 women were raped when prisoners attempted to escape from a prison in Goma, eastern Congo
• A new book explores the relationship between modern refugee law and Islamic law
• The World Health Organization has paved the way for children in Africa and Asia to be vaccinated against a diarrhoea-causing virus
• Opening up for vitamin A in Sudan - Vitamin A supplements in malaria-endemic areas can help reduce infections
• Locusts - Swarms have migrated from northwestern Somalia and spread to seven regions of Ethiopia

June 23rd, 2009

• Jury still out on effectiveness of `Gacaca’ courts - The traditional justice system was set up in 2001 to try some of those responsible for the genocide
• Special permit for Zimbabweans on hold - Zimbabwean migrants
• Male circumcision - Young boys rescued from an illegal initiation school in Orange Farm, South Africa
• No guidance on caring for HIV-positive children - No rule book on caring for HIV-positive children

June 22nd 2009

• Using new technology to get cameras airborne could prove useful for humanitarian workers in the future
• Serious shortage in ARV funding - Not enough people are accessing ARVs
• Health workers report rise in HIV - Condom use remains low in the south

June 21st, 2009

• IMPORT EXPORT SELLING SOLUTION
• EGYPT: Needle sharing rife among drug users - This is very alarming
• AFGHANISTAN: Insecurity, lack of aid prompt IDPs to leave camp - abandon Zherai Dasht Camp in Kandahar Province
• THAILAND: More ethnic Karen flee to Thailand - Myanmar army attacks on Karen rebels.
• The US military distributed humanitarian aid to some Kuchi families in central Afghanistan to prevent potential conflict over grazing lands in the area
  

June 20th, 2009

• US reacts to alleged threats on Kenya MPs - Obama administration wants the Kenya government to take threats seriously
• Taking Kenyan leaders for trial at the Hague - Why fate of Waki suspects is sealed
• The Kenya PM Raila Odinga and Dr Kofi Annan, the main obstacle for Justice in Kenya  
• Southern Africa: President in SA for Extraordinary SADC Summit
• Resolve, Enough! So Called “Peace” Organizations Promote War In Uganda

June 19th, 2009

• Reclaiming ‘useless’ lands gives new lifeline to West Africa’s sidelined women farmers
• Radio, video key to agricultural innovation in Africa
• Gabon: Central Africa's 'most beautiful waterfall' under threat 
• Gambia: Fighting female genital mutilation
• Uganda: All citizens to get free mosquito nets
• Madagascar: Regional leaders call emergency summit
• Sierra Leone: Wave of violence or wake-up call? (analysis)

June 18th, 2009

• South Africa: "This time it will be different"
• Uganda: China is not a threat to continent, says Museveni
• South Africa: Quarter of men admit rape
• Gabon: Will Bongo's death signal a new chapter? (analysis)
• Rich food importers are acquiring vast tracts of farmland in various parts of Asia

June 17th, 2009

• Many schools in Vietnam, even in the capital, lack toilets
• IOM training on how to respond to the threat of pandemic influenza viruses
• New dates set for delayed polio vaccine drive - Previously polio-free countries in West Africa have seen scores of cases in 2009
• Up to 650,000 Liberian children will be vaccinated against the polio virus in Liberia

June 16th, 2009

• Children speak up for right to survive - One quarter of all under-five deaths in sub-Saharan Africa occur within the first month of life
• 28 days to save a life - tetanus vaccinations in Angola
• Give girls a chance - I want to be like their daughters; I want to go to school

June 15th, 2009

• Fresh violence in Casamance - A recent surge of violence in Casamance is breeding fear and threatening stability
• WHO move boosts fight against fatal diarrhoea
• Health warnings on tobacco packages are a simple, cheap and effective strategy that can vastly reduce tobacco use and save lives
• Impediments to speedier development
• Lewis inducted into boxing hall of fame 

June 14th, 2009

• Facing danger - Millions, possibly even billions of people will be affected by the impact of climate change
• More than a year after Cyclone Nargis struck Myanmar, food security shows signs of improvement
• The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is reviewing the way it operates in Pakistan
• Indonesia is experiencing a fresh influx of asylum seekers
• Ahmadinejad wins Iran election - The West is shaken by his win

June 13th, 2009

• Sudan: Fear of LRA rebel attacks and insecurity in troubled South
• Somalia: No one left to tell the story
• Somalia: The Thorn of Africa
• Zimbabwe: Amnesty International head will meet Mugabe on visit
• Kenya: Annan warns leaders

June 12th, 2009

• 1,001 things you can do with condoms
• Gabon: Country nominates acting President
• Financial crisis could force more girls into work
• Some rebels disarm, but no sign of olive branches – analysis
• Gabon: Omar Bongo (1935-2009) and power - till death part their ways (analysis)

June 11th, 2009

• Earlier ARV treatment saves lives
• Swine flu declared a pandemic
• Toll on civilians still unclear in Delta
• Improved infrastructure key to slum upgrading - UN official
•  Africa: Omar Bongo's demise should awaken continent's tyrants (opinion)

June 10th, 2009

• GLOBAL: HIV, the silent partner in emergencies  
• Amos Lerasia, "Now the drought comes almost every year" 

June 9th, 2009

• Elections entrench sectarian divisions, analysts say
• Buying local food is cheaper but not always easier

June 8th, 2009

• Searchers retrieve six bodies - Airbus plane mishap killed all 228 people on board
• Mugabe launches customs union - Members will have up to 3 years to implement the new tariffs.
• 19 EU states cast their ballots - Fringe parties likely to benefit most from low voter turnout
• North Korea jails US journalists - United States considering putting the reclusive North back on its list of states that sponsor terrorism.

June 7th, 2009

• Fear of violence over president’s tenure - Tandja determined to extend stay in office despite strong opposition to plan
• End conflicts; says Mugabe  - He takes over as head of COMESA blessed by many African heads of state
• Nigeria: Country leads in gas emission reduction campaign - effort in furtherance of the global Clean Development Mechanism
• Africa: Camel farming could be the answer - 20 million to 35 million people living on semi-arid land in Africa could benefit
• Are Kenyan men on the road to emancipation?

June 6th, 2009

• Agony of Kibaki crash families - Kibaki should personally be touched by our plight and talk to us
• Rwanda: 'Ghost' NGO under fire over false aids figures - Ndengera organization, a church-affiliated Non-Governmental Organisation
• Congo DRC: Women “prisoners” in their own homes - the Congolese rape epidemic
• Madagascar: Deposed president to return? - Ravalomanana, whom his supporters call the leader of the “legaliste” in Madagascar, would return by June 26.
• Uganda: US Senate wants Obama to crush LRA for good - eliminating the threat posed by the Lord’s Resistance Army

June 5th, 2009

• KENYA: Clashes leave nine dead, several injured - Tension remains high in the area, with ongoing fighting
• Somalia - Fighting between insurgents and government troops has resulted in deaths, injuries and displacements
• PAKISTAN: Raising awareness on water conservation - Using a full tank when flushing consumes up to 45 litres of water per flush
• UGANDA: Immunize against polio or face the law - Ugandan authorities are planning to use the law to rein in parents who have not immunized their children
• GAMBIA: Street children persist despite crackdown - the phenomenon continues, with hundreds of children vulnerable to violence, exploitation and abuse

June 4th, 2009

• Kenya should legalise Dual Citizenship for its Diaspora
• Greater efforts must be made to ensure that Sudan’s North-South peace deal holds in the face of rising tensions
• More than 1.1 million primary-aged children in Uganda do not attend school
• The chaos of the conflict has separated some families, the very young and old have been worse affected

June 3rd, 2009

• Fatima, from northern Nigeria, married when she was 14 and fell pregnant soon after - childbirth deadly 
• A Genta staff member counsels 19-year-old Isah. Thousands of women fall victim to traffickers each year
• Rapist roaming freely - Women are increasingly at risk from militia attacks in eastern DRC
• Hardier camels and donkeys could provide an income
• The survey attributed the high malnutrition levels to few children being exclusively breastfed and low consumption of vitamin A-rich foods, as well as a lack of dietary diversity

June 2nd, 2009

• Zimbabwe needs Sh57 billion in aid  - The southern African country suffered economic implosion, pushing inflation to a record 231 million per cent last year in June
• Aid agencies in Afghanistan say international forces must stop using white cars to clearly distinguish them from aid workers and civilians
• The US government's bail-out of one insurance company, American International Group (AIG), could have wiped out the entire debt of all sub-Saharan Africa countries.
• Without the Tripartite Core Group (TCG) the humanitarian impasse may have dragged on

June 1st, 2009

• The international humanitarian community has increased its donor appeal for Zimbabwe by over 30 percent
• Health officials warn that taking unregulated medicines can kill - fighting black market medicines
• Should governments assume sole responsibility for HIV treatment?
• Somalia: The threat next door to Kenya
• Herdsmen kill Ugandan soldiers  - Uganda has no regard for Kenya now that they continue to occupy Migingo island