Full Coverage: North Africa

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.

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.

20.04.2005 Through GlobalGiving, you can contribute directly to the rebuilding of Darfur, where more than 1.6 million people have been displaced, and an estimated 300.000+ Sudanese have perished since the conflict began in 2003. Entire villages have been bombed and burned, and civilians have been slaughtered, tortured, and raped.

20.04.2005 As part of the international donor package of aid for Sudan announced last week, the European Commission has agreed to contribute 600 million euros. There appears to be no specific conditionality on the behaviour of the Sudanese government in Darfur.

15.04.2005 Earlier this week international donors agreed a substantial aid package for the rebuilding of southern Sudan following the peace agreement. Why was there not more linkage to the crisis in Darfur? Amnesty reports that government-backed atrocities continue.

13.04.2005 International donors at a conference in Norway have pledged more than $4.5 billion to Sudan in support of the end of the 22-year north-south conflict. Sudan had asked the international community for $2.6 billion to rebuild the northern and southern regions until 2007. The extra funds will be used to cover the costs of peacekeeping, demobilization, and humanitarian needs.

13.04.2005 The conflict in Darfur is far from over, and the government of Sudan still refuses to acknowledge the causes and consequences of the war. Refugees International asks people to join them in urging Secretary of State Rice to travel to Darfur and put pressure on the Government of Sudan to end the violence.

12.04.2005 The worrying state of freedom of expression in Tunisia has been highlighted at a panel discussion organized by the International Publishers' Association (IPA) and International PEN in Geneva during the annual session of the UN Commission on Human Rights.

10.04.2005 The committee on Information and Communication (CIC), a standing committee of the World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO), will organize a seminar on knowledge economy, knowledge sharing, knowledge management on June 17th 2005 in Tunis.

08.04.2005 WASHINGTON, D.C., Apr 8 (OneWorld) - Activists invoked this week's anniversary of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda to ratchet up calls for stronger action on what they termed another unfolding genocide neglected by the international community, this time in western Sudan's Darfur region.

07.04.2005

06.04.2005 The Sudanese government has sought to intimidate humanitarian relief agencies in Darfur by arbitrarily arresting or detaining at least 20 aid workers since December, Human Rights Watch has said. In several incidents, the rebel movements in Darfur have also detained or attacked aid workers.

06.04.2005 As nations from around the world scramble to secure lucrative contracts to develop southern Sudan following the signing of a peace deal in January, one of the war-torn country's minority groups is preparing for a fresh battle.

06.04.2005 Relations between the Sudanese government and NGOs working in Darfur show little sign of improvement. Christian Aid reports on the midnight arrest by security forces of a local community leader suspected of "relations with NGOs, foreigners and Christian organisations".

06.04.2005 Arab countries could face political and social upheaval if they don't limit the monopoly on power currently enjoyed by the executive in most countries and ensure an independent judiciary and total free speech, says the UN's Arab Human Development Report released Tuesday. The report dismisses the notion that the problem is one of culture, rooting it in politics.

05.04.2005 Sudan's government has rejected outright last week's UN resolution calling for those suspected of carrying out atrocities against civilians--mass killings and rapes--to be tried at the International Criminal Court, saying that its own courts are qualified and ready to handle any prosecutions.

05.04.2005 Egypti isännöi 20. huhtikuuta huippukokouksen, jossa käsitellään Sudanin Darfurin tilannetta. Sharm el-Sheikhiin odotetaan Libyan, Nigerian, Sudanin ja Tshadin johtajia. Kokous pyrkii vauhdittamaan ratkaisun löytämistä Darfurin alueella vuoden 2003 alkupuolella käynnistyneeseen konfliktiin.

01.04.2005 After the U.S. was assured that none of its soldiers would be indicted, the world's leading political superpower finally agreed Thursday to allow war crimes suspects from the war-ravaged Darfur region of Sudan to be brought before the International Criminal Court in The Hague. More than six months ago, the U.S. called the situation in Darfur "genocide," but little international action has been taken since.

01.04.2005 Eleven years ago the world folded its arms as a genocide unfolded, leaving 800,000 Rwandans dead. Some 400,000 Sudanese are estimated to have died already as a result of what's been described as genocide in Darfur. As Washington, D.C.-based Africa Action prepares for next week's White House vigil--to commemorate Rwanda and call for more intense international action to save Darfur--OneWorld asked the group to explain the past, present, and future for Darfur.