Full Coverage: Africa

30.06.2004 Kenya is to develop a national strategy for both promoting and regulating the use of traditional medicine, and providing alternative forms of treatment to the country's poor.

30.06.2004 Etiopia on vastakohtien maa. Vaikka maasta löytyy äärimmäistä köyhyyttä, sen vastapainona on myös vaurautta, omaleimaisuutta, vuosituhantista historiaa ja kulttuurin rikkautta. Suomen Lähetysseuran tuottama Akasian suojassa-multimediaesitys tarjoaa värikkään kuvamatkan Etiopiaan.

30.06.2004 Mentre Kofi Annan e Colin Powell stanno per giungere in Sudan, varie ong internazionali richiamano le "gravi responsabilità" del governo di Khartoum per il "genocidio" e la "pulizia etnica" in corso nella regione occidentale del Darfur. Solo nei giorni scorsi il presidente sudanese Omar el Beshir ha ordinato il disarmo di tutte le milizie presenti nel Darfur, comprese quelle filogovernative Janjaweed e solo ieri ha annunciato l'eliminazione di tutti gli ostacoli che impediscono l'arrivo di aiuti umanitari destinati alla popolazione del Darfur.

30.06.2004 Le gravidanze in età adolescenziale hanno spesso inflitto un colpo mortale alle aspirazioni delle giovani africane: una soluzione al problema può essere l'istituzione di leggi che impongano alle scuole di riammettere le giovani madri. Ma occorrono anche forme di sostegno per permettere alla giovani madri di tornare a scuola - sottolinea una recente Conferenza tenutasi a Nairobi. Dei 42 milioni di minori che nell'Africa sub-sahariana non hanno accesso all'istruzione, il 60% sono femmine.

29.06.2004 Après 20 jours de détention, Gustave Kalenga Kabanda, éditeur-directeur de "La Flamme du Congo", hebdomadaire paraissant à Kinshasa, a été libéré, le 26 juin 2004 en début de soirée, sur décision du parquet général près le tribunal de Grande Instance de Kinshasa/Gombe. Le journaliste a payé une caution de 20 000 francs congolais (environ 53 $US).

29.06.2004 Tansaniassa ympäristön saastumiseen herätään harvoin ilmiön itsensä vuoksi, mutta monet elinkeinot ovat riippuvaisia luonnonympäristön tilasta. Paikallisten ympäristöjärjestöjen suurin haaste onkin saada ihmiset ajattelemaan kauemmas tulevaisuuteen. Ongelmista ei voi syyttää yksin köyhyyttä, vaikka monet ympäristöhankkeet tehdäänkin köyhien parissa, järjestöt muistuttavat.

29.06.2004 Konfliktit ja levottomuudet, tulvat, kuivuus, epidemiat ja räjähdysonnettomuudet työllistävät toistuvasti Nigerian Punaista Ristiä. "Laajan vapaehtoisverkoston ansiosta olemme konflikteissa ja onnettomuuksissa yleensä ensimmäisenä ja usein myös ainoana paikalla", kertoo piirisihteeri Asukwo Etuk.

29.06.2004 “This is the most serious humanitarian emergency in the world today," Hilary Benn told MPs on 9 June. Yet the crisis in Darfur is happening because the Government of Sudan wants it to happen, and the rest of the world does not care enough to stop it, writes IDS research fellow Stephen Devereux. (See Sudan emergency appeal.)

29.06.2004 Citing first-hand accounts from human rights organizations and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) satellite photos showing 300 non-Arab villages completely destroyed, U.S. Committee for Refugees is urging President Bush to declare the Darfur crisis genocide and to act swiftly.

28.06.2004 As three African leaders attempt to revive peace talks between the government and rebels in Côte d’Ivoire, the plight of as many as 600,000 displaced Ivorians must not be overlooked, the Global IDP Project of the Norwegian Refugee Council has warned in a report released.

28.06.2004 Fear that the deteriorating situation in the eastern parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo could lead to full-scale war have stepped up diplomatic activity with interventions from three African Presidents, as well as the UN Security Council.

28.06.2004 With the paucity of humanitarian response and the onset of seasonal water-borne diseases, relief agents are warning that pregnant women and children under five in refugee camps may not survive the on-coming famine.

27.06.2004 Il Segretario Generale dell'Onu Kofi Annan ha annunciato che la sua visita in Sudan coinciderà in parte con quella del Segretario di Stato Usa, Colin Powell. L'intento è di fare pressioni sul governo di Khartoum per disarmare le milizie di predoni arabi (note col nome di Janjaweed) che da tempo imperversano nella regione del Darfur dove è in atto un conflitto che "rasenta la pulizia etnica". Gli sfollati continuano ad essere vittime di violenti attacchi, mentre è devastante la carenza di aiuti - ribadiscono Medici senza Frontiere e Amnesty International.

25.06.2004 Famines and Ethiopia have been linked in the public mind since Bob Geldof’s Live Aid Concert in the 1980s. Yet, as Sue Edwards reports, remarkable successes in reviving the traditional farming practice of pit composting have now convinced Ethiopia to adopt organic agriculture for the entire country.

25.06.2004 FARM-Africa has criticised the Department for International Development for promoting direct budget support to Africa governments with limited capacity. This makes it difficult for agriculture to receive the resources needed to stimulate growth and reduce poverty, says the agricultural development NGO, which calls for specific targeting of funds to agriculture to deliver pro-poor growth.

24.06.2004 Sotilaallinen toiminta Kongossa ja sen ympäristössä lisääntyy ja pakolaisvirta itäisestä Kongosta kiihtyy. Tarkkailijat varoittavat, että maa voi luisua toiseen afrikkalaiseen suursotaan. Vuosina 1998-2003 alueella sotivat kuuden maan joukot ja konfliktin kuolonuhreja oli kolme miljoonaa.

23.06.2004 Training-of-Trainers, a program designed to build a network of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) professionals in West Africa, will draw its first participants from different organizations across the region in August. The program was developed by Kabissa to provide support for civil society groups in West African communities.

23.06.2004 On the eve of what is expected to be rancorous annual meeting of angry shareholders, Royal Dutch/Shell is coming under strong attack by environmental activists who charge that the oil giant is not living up to its promises of environmental and social responsibility.

23.06.2004 Responding to the demands of past Time to Get Online workshop participants, Kabissa launches a new Training-of-Trainers program for West African civil society organizations in August. The Time to Get Online curriculum combines self-learning materials and hands-on workshops to help African civil society organizations to build capacity through internet-based information sharing and advocacy initiatives. The Training-of-Trainers model enables us to have an even greater impact on civil society organizations throughout the region by creating a network of ICT training partners empowered to deliver this curriculum in their own communities.

23.06.2004 There's an eery familiarity to the military maneuvering in and around Congo, a giant nation in the heart of Africa. Some observers worry that the region is slipping into a second African "world war" - a repeat of the 1998-2003 conflict that involved troops from six nations and left 3 million dead.