Full Coverage: West Africa

24.05.2004 Secondo Intervita in Mali il 70% della popolazione infantile è colpito da una malattia, bilharziosis, che si contrae al contatto con acque dolci. La bilharziosis è, dopo della malaria, la seconda parassitosi mondiale, perché colpisce più di 250 milioni di persone nel mondo, di cui 213 milioni vivono nell'Africa sub-sahariana. Le rive del Niger sono una delle zone dove la malattia è più presente. In Mali, Dogon è uno dei posti più colpiti, qui il 77% degli adolescenti e il 50% dei bambini in età scolare soffrono gli effetti della bilharziosis, mentre a Sègou il 70% dei bambini tra i 7 e i 14 anni è infettato dalla malattia.

24.05.2004 Refugees based in various locales of West Africa can now communicate with one another, thanks to a phone service set up by the UN Refugee agency.

21.05.2004 Maailman kauppajärjestö WTO on päättänyt kieltää puuvillalle maksetut tukiaiset. Päätöksen myötä suurin osa Yhdysvaltojen puuvillantuottajilleen maksamista 1,5 miljardin tuista ovat nyt laittomia. Päätös otettiin ilolla vastaan Malissa, jonka kolme miljoonaa puuvillantuottajaa ovat ajautuneet taloudellisiin vaikeuksiin kun puuvillan hinta on laskenut USA:ssa tukiaisten vuoksi.

19.05.2004 Amnesty International has called on Nigerian authorities to ensure adequate protection from further attacks, and to carry out thorough, independent and impartial investigations into the killings that followed the recent outbreak of violence between Fulani cattle herders and Tarok farmers in Yelwa, Shendam local government area in Plateau State.

19.05.2004 Amnesty International has welcomed the recent decision by the Upper Sharia Court of Bauchi State in northern Nigeria to quash Jubrin Babaji's sentence of death by stoning for "sodomy".

14.05.2004 Suurin haaste rauhan rakentamisessa Liberiaan neljäntoista sotavuoden jälkeen on tarjota nuorille työtä ja toimeentulon edellytyksiä, sanoo Luterilaisen maailmanliiton Liberian ohjelmajohtaja Charles Pitchford. Hän uskoo, että entiset sotilaat ovat sitoutuneita käynnissä olevaan aseistariisunta- ja sotajoukkojen kotiuttamisprosessiin. Aseistariisunta on myös ehtona 520 miljoonan dollarin apupaketille kansainvälisiltä avunantajilta.

13.05.2004 Up to 1000 protestors coursed through the streets of Dakar in April to protest against a plan aimed at privatising the Senegalese national lottery, LONASE. The protest took place on the same day that the World Bank announced the cancellation of $850m dollars of Senegal's debt.

13.05.2004 Protestors take to the streets of Dakar to appeal against a government plan to privatise the Senegalese national lottery, LONASE, which the government says is inefficiently managed. Protestors view the proposal as part of a wider programme of privatisation imposed by the World Bank.

12.05.2004 Women trafficked from Ukraine and Morocco are being rescued from Liberian bars and nightclubs by the United Nations. But the women are in danger of being returned to those same places because there is no accommodation, medical or social service support for them.

12.05.2004 Sex tourism from Britain and Northern Europe and "sugar daddy" relationships with Gambian adults have resulted in an increase in sexual abuse and exploitation of children in the West African country, a joint report from UNICEF and the Gambian government reveals.

07.05.2004 Dans le cadre de la relance des négociations commerciales multilatérales post-Cancun, une réunion des ministres du Commerce des pays les moins avancés (Pma) se tient depuis hier à Dakar. Cette rencontre informelle de pays membres de l'Omc et les représentants desdits pays vise à permettre à ces derniers de faire des propositions concrètes sur un certain nombre de questions, notamment sur les sujets liés à l'agriculture qui sont particulièrement épineux pour les pays pauvres.

06.05.2004 Local fishermen on the coast of Mauritania handed over their fishing nets to be destroyed as part of a landmark agreement to halt the fishing of sharks and rays in Banc d’Arguin, Africa’s largest marine park.

04.05.2004 Sierra Leonen oppositio pelkää, että kyläpäälliköt sotkeentuvat liiaksi toukokuun 22. päivänä pidettäviin kunnallisvaaleihin. Vain osa maan puolueista aikoo osallistua vaaleihin, jotka ovat ensimmäiset paikallisvaalit 30 vuoteen. Sisällissodasta toipuvan maan vaalirauhaa vartioivat 11 000 hengen vahvuiset YK-joukot.

03.05.2004 Join Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) on May 7th in Washington, D.C. for a briefing on women's rights by Malian Human Rights Award Winner Fatoumata Traoré, Executive Director of Association for the Development of Population Activities in Mali.