Full Coverage: Africa

29.04.2005 Nonostante la fine degli scontri, resta alta la tensione a Lomé dopo l'annuncio martedì scorso dei risultati delle elezioni. Fonti diplomatiche occidentali contattate dall'agenzia Misna puntano il dito contro gruppi di sostenitori del partito di governo (Rpt), che accusano la Germania di essere troppo vicina all'opposizione. Continua a crescere il numero di persone in fuga dal Togo: lo rifesisce l'Alto Commissariato delle Nazioni Unite per i Rifugiati, secondo il quale complessivamente 5.754 rifugiati sono arrivati nel vicino Benin, mentre in Ghana sono stati registrati altri più di 600 nuovi arrivi. Le presidenziali di domenica scorsa «non si sono svolte regolarmente e vanno annullate» - riporta Nigrizia citando fonti togolesi. E Lettera 22 pubblica un'approfondita analisi del giornalista Jean Leonard Touadi.

29.04.2005 Marginalised groups are the most affected by human rights violations. In the impoverished Northern Cape province, an inquiry concludes that the Khomani San community have been subjected to neglect and mistreatment by local authorities.

29.04.2005 The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) is launching a new ICT for Development partnership for preparing concrete strategies towards improving access to ICTs through boosting economic competitiveness of developing nations.

29.04.2005 Secondo quanto emerge dal rapporto dell’organizzazione americana Human Rights Watch sul Chad e sul Sud del Darfur è frequente la pratica del rapimento e dello stupro delle donne e delle ragazze anche giovanissime da parte di altri gruppi etnici per terrorizzare e per gettare nel caos le comunità rurali. I momenti più rischiosi per le donne del Darfur sembrano essere quelli in cui si recano fuori comunità per la raccolta dell’acqua e della legna da ardere. Una drammatica situazione che porta conseguenze gravissime anche sul piano strettamente medico con il diffondersi di molte pericolose malattie, quali Epatite B e C, e aids. Per Hrw è necessario incrementare i fondi per la protezione e l’educazione dall'Hiv. Ma in Sudan la sanità è diventata tutta a pagamento e si paga un biglietto pure per andare a trovare dei pazienti di un ospedale.

29.04.2005 Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo has agreed to let rival candidate Alassane Ouattara run in elections in October, reversing his stand that a referendum be held to decide the issue and paving the way for rebels to return to the negotiating table and bring an end to the country's three-year conflict.

29.04.2005 The April 19 conference of NEPAD, the partnership of African countries working to improve governance and encourage foreign aid and investment, was poorly attended and did not release key reports as promised. Professor John Stremlau of South Africa's University of Witwatersrand counsels patience, however, noting that several African states are making positive strides on the path to greater accountability.

28.04.2005

28.04.2005

28.04.2005 Will African governments have the capacity to regulate the use of GM crops in the face of US companies eager to penetrate new markets? The experience of Tanzania and nicotine-free GM tobacco is discouraging.

28.04.2005 Under proposals for UN reform, Japan and Germany are strong candidates for permanent seats on the Security Council. Aid promises may be one way to win valuable votes from African countries. Oxfam is unimpressed that poverty is becoming a political football.

28.04.2005 Charles Taylor, the former despotic ruler of Liberia nicknamed the "Murderer of Monrovia," is already manipulating the country's elections set to take place in October to avoid standing trial for war crimes, writes Douglas Farah, a former West Africa-based U.S. journalist.

28.04.2005 To date, 400,000 people have died in Darfur as a result of the government-sponsored genocide, says Africa Action. The Washington D.C.-based group is collecting 400,000 signatures for its petition calling on President Bush to assert U.S. leadership to prevent the mounting death toll. Here is how to sign on.

28.04.2005 LOME, Apr 27 (IPS) - Emmanuel Akitani-Bob, an opposition candidate in the presidential election held Sunday in Togo, declared himself winner of the poll Wednesday. This came a day after the National Independent Electoral Commission (CENI) announced that Faure Gnassingbe, son of deceased head of state Gnassingbe Eyadema, was the provisional winner.

27.04.2005 Despite the criticism aimed at many water privatisation schemes across Africa, Senegal has provided a successful model of a public/private partnership in water management. Senegalaise des Eaux, a subsidiary of the French firm Saur, the fourth largest water company in the world, has contributed in reconstructing Dakar's ailing water system, with the government claiming that the city's needs are met until 2015.

27.04.2005 There are fears that the annual pilgrimage of over a million Muslims to Touba, a town affected by a serious cholera outbreak, may cause the disease to spread to neighbouring countries.

27.04.2005 A bargaining session Monday in Nigeria, where both parties agreed to form a government of national unity, did little to pre-empt violence in the tiny West African country of Togo Tuesday once the ruling party was declared the winner of the weekend's elections. The opposition has urged the country's five million people to resist, and tensions remained high overnight.

27.04.2005 As Robert Mugabe celebrates the 25th anniversary of independence in Zimbabwe, concerns are rising that endorsement of the recent election results by President Mbeki of South Africa may dampen donor support for the entire continent.

27.04.2005 Ennen kuin Togon presidentinvaalien tulokset on julkaistu, eri puolueet ovat lupautuneet voittaessaan korostamaan maan kansallista yhteisyyttä ja väkivallan välttämistä. Kriisiherkkää tilannetta on ollut sovittelemassa Nigerian presidentti ja Afrikan Unionin puheenjohtaja Olusegun Obasanjo. Viikonloppuna pidettyjen presidentinvaalien kahakoissa kuoli ainakin kolme ihmistä.

26.04.2005 Confusion seems to be reigning in Togo after Sunday's hastily organized presidential election, which was supposed to determine a legitimate successor to Gnassingbe Eyadema, Africa's longest-serving ruler who died in office in February. But both sides have claimed fraud, and while the parties nominally agreed to a government of national unity Monday, Tuesday's announcement that Eyadema's son won the poll has sparked fresh violence.

26.04.2005 EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson demonstrates his old mastery of presentation in telling West African cotton producers that the EU cotton trade regime "has no distorting effect on the international market". The response is not recorded.