Full Coverage: West Africa

30.09.2004 Three more states - - Burundi, Guyana and Liberia - - ratified the Rome Statute in support of the International Criminal Court (ICC) this week, bringing the number of signatories to 97. Liberia and Burundi join the ranks of countries like East Timor and the Democratic Republic of Congo that joined the ICC after suffering grave, prolonged atrocities.

28.09.2004 Liberian sodan jaloissa sadattuhannet ihmiset ovat jääneet kodittomiksi ja perheenjäsenet joutuneet eroon toisistaan hakeutuessaan pakolaisleireille. Avustusjärjestöt yrittävätkin yhdistää sodan repimiä perheitä ja suojata lapsia hyväksikäytöltä valtavissa pakolaisleireissä, kertoo Pelastakaa Lapset -järjestön Auta Lasta -lehden tuore numero.

28.09.2004 Le Bilan fait lors de la célébration de la troisième édition de la journée internationale contre le travail des enfants révèle en effet que le fléau résiste aux actions menées pour le combattre. Aussi bien au Bénin que dans le monde tout entier, l’enfant continue d’être soumis aux travaux des adultes hypothéquant ainsi son avenir, celui de son pays et de toute l’espèce humaine.

27.09.2004 L'Africa è il solo continente ad aver attuato politiche di disarmo nucleare totale. Già dieci anni fa, il Sudafrica ha completato lo smantellamento del suo arsenale; ora è il turno della Libia. Tuttavia il continente è ancora coinvolto in manovre internazionali: programmi nucleari, forniture di uranio ed esperimenti di armi non convenzionali, dall'Algeria alla Nigeria, passando per il Niger e la Repubblica Democratica del Congo e per... Roma.
di Luca Mainoldi

27.09.2004 Mali’s war against locusts swarming its crop fields is being fought from a suitcase. The Unesco-donated mobile radio transmitter is being used to broadcast messages, which are then being retransmitted on the four radio stations in Timbuktu. With government resources not enough to reach communities, this radio is helping mobilise people.

24.09.2004 Nigeria’s National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) is developing its indigenous satellite “NIGCOMSAT-1” to improve communication services. The agency is mandated to launch the satellite by 2006.

24.09.2004 Two years after the outbreak of civil war, Cote d'Ivoire remains partitioned and unstable. Although there has been no relapse into full-scale fighting, none of the underlying causes of the conflict have been resolved. Diplomats and political analysts worry that the fragile tribal and political divisions could be easily threatened in a presidential election environment. Time after time peace accord deadlines are extended and broken, making the country's prospects for peace very limited.

23.09.2004 In the deep south of Mauritania, swarms of locusts appear on the horizon like dark menacing sand storms and then arrive to swirl around the countryside like blizzards of thick, yellow snowflakes.

20.09.2004 Though FAO estimates that $100 million is required to control locust-infested 4 million hectares of land, the FAO has received only $4 million out of $24 million promised by the donor countries.

16.09.2004 Local people interested in learning computers are turning up at the new community multimedia centre in a neighbourhood in Benin. The UNESCO-supported telecentre does not have its own community radio station yet but has linked up with a nearby FM station for an hour’s broadcasting every day.

14.09.2004 Fantsuam Foundation, an NGO, has provided internet connectivity to the villages of Kaduna state in Nigeria through satellite. Young volunteers tried the technologies and started entrepreneurial activities using the project facilities.

14.09.2004 Vaikka Benin on poliittisesti melko vakaa maa, köyhyys nakertaa hyvinvointia. Lasten lähettäminen sukulaisten luo kaupunkiin kotiapulaiseksi on pitkään ollut tavallinen ja kunniallinen tapa. Viime vuosina järjestely on kuitenkin muuttunut irvikuvakseen ja lasten myyminen orjatyövoimaksi on paisunut ase- ja huumekauppaan verrattavaksi bisnekseksi.

06.09.2004 Keväällä 2004 päättynyt koulujen kaksivuotinen Nepal-kampanja tuotti 1,2 miljoonaa euroa tyttöjen koulutukseen. Unicef-kävelyyn osallistui vuosittain 80 000 oppilasta 400 koulusta ympäri maata. Nyt alkavissa Unicef-kävelyissä kerätään varoja pieneen ranskankieliseen Beniniin. Kahden seuraavan vuoden aikana Suomen koululaiset antavat tuntuvan panoksensa Beninin lapsikaupan ja lapsityön vastaisiin ohjelmiin.

03.09.2004 The oil giant Shell is challenging the authority of the Nigerian Senate by rejecting an order to pay compensation of $1.5 billion to communities in the Niger Delta affected by oil pollution. The petition for compensation was brought by the Ijaw Aborigines of Bayelsa State who say that repeated oil spills have led to widespread disease in their communities.

03.09.2004 The oil giant Shell is challenging the authority of the Nigerian Senate by rejecting an order to pay compensation of $1.5 billion to communities in the Niger Delta affected by oil pollution. In an advertisement published in Nigerian newspapers yesterday and today, the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) claims the Senate failed to follow "due process" in imposing the fine, announced last week.

03.09.2004 As swarms of locusts sweep across the West African states of Mauritania, Senegal, Mali, Niger, and Chad, a U.S.-based group is looking for international aid to boost its locust control efforts with local organizations in the region.

02.09.2004

02.09.2004 Öljyjätti Shell on ilmoittanut, että se ei aio maksaa Nigerian senaatin määräämää 1,5 miljardin dollarin korvausta Niger-joen suistoalueen yhteisöille, joiden terveys ja elinympäristö ovat tuhoutuneet öljyvuotojen seurauksena. Yhtiön mukaan Nigerian senaatin menettely korvauspäätöstä tehtäessä ei ollut asianmukainen.

01.09.2004 Oil giant Shell refuses to pay $1.5 billion fine to communities in the Niger Delta whose health has been damaged by oil spills.