Full Coverage: East Africa

28.10.2005 Con 700.000 alberi piantanti solo nel 2005, il progetto di riforestazione "Tree is Life - Albero è vita" ha ricevuto il primo premio nella categoria delle organizzazioni non governative dalla Total Eco Challenge, progetto ambientale della Total Limited kenyota. Una vera soddisfazione accolta con molta gioia dai responsabili di progetto, "a dimostrazione di come la cooperazione tra comunità, in questo caso il Trentino e Nyahururu, abbia una forza superiore alla cooperazione delle grandi organizzazioni, che impiegano ingenti capitali ma non sono affatto radicate, come gli alberi, nel territorio". E la forza di "Tree is Life" sta proprio nella sua presenza capillare all'interno della comunità: per la sua realizzazione sono stati coinvolti complessivamente 60 gruppi e 60 scuole e in ogni villaggio della zona di Nyahururu c'è un vivaio curato dalla stessa comunità.

28.10.2005 Tragico bilancio dell'offensiva intrapresa dai ribelli nel nord dell'Uganda. Due morti e quattro feriti in due giorni tra gli operatori umanitari di Caritas e Acord. L'organizzazione non governativa 'Oxfam' ha deciso di sospendere le operazioni di assistenza ai civili. Sdegno è stato espresso dall'Ufficio delle Nazioni Unite per il Coordinamento degli Affari Umanitari. Lo scorso 2 ottobre il tribunale penale internazionale dell’ONU ha emanato un mandato d’arresto per il capo dei ribelli Joseph Kony accusato di torture, mutilazioni, rapimenti, stupri, reclutamento forzato ed uccisioni di persone. In vista delle elezioni legislative e presidenziali previste per il marzo 2006, pesa sul presidente Museveni l'accusa di sedizione che è stata fatta al giornalista ugandese Andrew Mwenda per aver scritto nel suo editoriale che l’Uganda pianificava un attacco contro il vicino Rwanda e per aver detto alla radio che il governo avrebbe organizzato l’assassinio di John Garang, vicepresidente del Sudan morto precipitando con un elicottero ugandese il 30 luglio.

28.10.2005 In a radio and TV appeal for help, Malawi’s President Binguwa Mutharika said the country was facing a national disaster from the worsening food crisis.

* OneWorld Guide to Malawi

28.10.2005 Water is life. But the people of Mkuranga district in Tanzania cannot take that fact for granted.

28.10.2005 As voters on Tanzania's semi-autonomous island of Zanzibar prepare to choose a new president Sunday, the main opposition candidate is expressing concern about the vote and its aftermath. Despite voter intimidation and a precedent of post-election violence, Seif Sharif Hamad hopes his party will bring about peaceful democratic change this time.

28.10.2005 Fifty years ago, the Tonga people were evicted from their lands along the Zambezi River when the construction of the Kariba Dam flooded their valley homes. Now, an oral testimony project is highlighting the voices of the Tonga, exploring the history and contemporary experiences of communities that paid dearly for their country's development.

27.10.2005 Three activists have won the prestigious Human Rights Defender Award: Omid Memarian, a journalist and web-blogger from Iran, Salih Mahmoud Osman, lawyer and human rights activist from Darfur, and Beatrice Were, an advocate for the rights of women and children affected by HIV/AIDS in Uganda.
* The "ladies in white", wives and mothers of imprisoned dissidents in Cuba, this week received the Sakharov Prize for freedom of thought, along with Nigerian lawyer Hauwa Ibrahim and Reporters Without Borders.

27.10.2005 Heavy-handed tactics by the Uganda army against northern rebels are condemned by a leading development charity, which seeks international pressure on the government to protect civilians and aid convoys.

26.10.2005 The Zimbabwean government is well known for its repressive treatment of critics and independent journalists. A crackdown on the press over the past five years has left the country with no independent daily newspapers, no private radio news coverage, and only two prominent independent weeklies. What is less documented is the toll that this crackdown takes on the country's journalists, including those flee overseas and struggle to rebuild their lives in exile, reports the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

26.10.2005 New mothers in Madagascar and Ghana have begun to hear about the importance of breastfeeding from many different sources--including their favorite singer--and the results are already beginning to show.

25.10.2005 Suomen Pakolaisavun Ugandan lukutaitohankkeessa työskentelevä Raphael Ogwetta nostaa sinisen laatikon moottoripyörän tarakalle ja kiikuttaa swahilin, englannin ja acholin kieliset kirjat seuraavalle pakolaisasutusalueelle. Pakolaisapu on pitänyt alueella lukutaito- ja englannin kielen ryhmiä jo keväästä 2004.

25.10.2005 The expansion of Information Communication Technology (ICT) would be strengthened in Amhara State during the current year, the State Capacity Building Bureau Ethopia said.

25.10.2005 Several months after Ethiopia's opposition accused the ruling party of rigging elections, they are now threatening to call peaceful strikes and demonstrations, accusing the government of arresting and killing its members.

21.10.2005 Conservation through Public Health (CTPH) in Bwindi, Uganda has built a telecentre in a bid to empower communities around Bwindi Impenetrable National Park to improve health and livelihoods.

21.10.2005 The food shortage in Malawi has worsened, with an estimated 4.6 million people in need of emergency food support and the situation expected to become more acute from December to March.

19.10.2005 Experts from Thailand are helping a Tanzanian drug company learn how to manufacture and distribute anti-AIDS drugs at home, making life-saving medications available in the country--where 1.6 million are living with HIV/AIDS--at a fraction of the previous cost.

19.10.2005 Mosambikin presidentti Armando Guebuza ja Tansanian presidentti Benjamin Mkapa muurasivat lauantaina maat yhdistävän sillan peruskiven. Rovuma-joen yli rakennettava sillasta on haaveiltu jo kolmekymmentä vuotta. Sen toteutusta hidasti Mosambikin konflikti ja rahoittajien puute. Nyt Mosambik ja Tansania rahoittavat sillan kokonaan itse.

17.10.2005 Investors and tourists can now gain information on Kenya using new technology.

14.10.2005 A new computerised global distribution system that enables service providers like airlines, hotels and car rental companies disseminate information about their services will be launched in kampala, Uganda.

13.10.2005 In developing country contexts, handheld computer applications are starting to show their benefits across development sectors. Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) and other types of handheld computers offer considerable advantages over desktops or even laptops. Health and microfinance have been particularly keen to test handheld applications.