Full Coverage: West Africa

30.05.2005 Kehitysyhteistyöjärjestö Planin For the price of a bike -raportin mukaan arviolta 12 prosenttia togolaisista lapsista on joutunut lapsikaupan uhriksi. Lapsikauppa ja siihen liittyvä lasten salakuljetus ovat räikeimpiä rikkomuksia YK:n Lapsen oikeuksien sopimusta vastaan. Erityisesti Togon maaseudulla asuvia köyhien perheiden lapsia houkutellaan lähtemään kodeistaan lupaamalla koulutusta tai työtä.

30.05.2005 The World Summit Award (WSA) is a global initiative to select and promote the world’s best in e-Content and Creativity, held in the framework of and in cooperation with the United Nations’ World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS).

26.05.2005 The eradication of polio in Africa is the potential success story for health and development agencies which always seems to lie just around the corner. Problems in Nigeria led to a serious reversal of progress last year but now a major campaign is under way to vaccinate 77 million children.

24.05.2005 YK:n humanitaaristen asioiden toimisto OCHA varoittaa, että jopa kuuden miljoonaan ihmisen ruokaturva on vaarassa Sahelin alueella. Eniten läntisen Afrikan yli pyyhkineet heinäsirkkalaumat ja normaalia pienemmiksi jääneet sateet ovat koetelleet Burkina Fasoa, Malia, Mauritaniaa, Nigeria, Tshadia ja Senegalin pohjoisosia. Kuivuus on häirinnyt muun muassa Saharan eteläreunalla eläviä paimentolaisia, joiden karjan laidunmaat ovat käyneet entistä niukemmiksi.

24.05.2005 Last week's talks between Togolese President Gnassingbe and opposition leaders ended without agreement. Although after April's disputed election, party leaders pledged to form a power-sharing government, an alliance of Togo's six main opposition parties have demanded that before discussions are held, an independent probe into allegations of election fraud be conducted.

19.05.2005 As the second poorest nation in the world, Niger has enough problems without the terrible misfortune of losing almost all its crops last year to an invasion of locusts. The serious consequences for food security and malnutrition are only now becoming apparent.

18.05.2005 Efforts to abolish slavery in Niger must contend with deep-rooted traditions of local culture. Now the government has created new obstacles by imprisoning leaders of Timidria, Niger's leading anti-slavery organisation.

16.05.2005 A new report published to coincide with Christian Aid Week offers only grudging approval of the government's change in policy on aid conditionality. Too many developing country programmes are already committed to the doctrine of liberalisation and the UK itself is too committed to the values of the IMF and World Bank.

13.05.2005 Former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell has asked U.S. leaders to stop pressuring President Obasanjo of Nigeria to break his commitment to provide asylum to deposed former president of Liberia, Charles Taylor. "Ultimately, Charles Taylor will face justice," but for the moment, the agreement that was made must be respected, Powell said.

11.05.2005 A girls’ soccer tournament in Upper Guinea last month capitalized on the local soccer craze to spread messages about preventing HIV/AIDS, STDs, and unwanted pregnancy. The program proved so successful that the Ministry of Health will soon replicate it among young adults in other parts of the country.

09.05.2005 Just weeks after the country's Truth and Reconciliation Commission recommended the complete abolition of the death penalty and days after neighboring Senegal did away with the practice, Sierra Leone's High Court sentenced ten to death for treason Monday.

09.05.2005 Malissa sovelletaan perinteistä afrikkalaista kylän vanhimpien kommunikointiverkostoa demokratian ja paikallishallinnon vahvistamisessa. Vallan hajauttamisen tuloksena syntyneitä uusia alueita hallinnoivat vaalein valitut neuvostot. Maassa on nykyisin 703 kuntaa aikaisemman 13:n sijasta. Malin malli on saanut runsaasti huomiota ja sen kehittäjälle Ousamane Sylle myönnettiin kansainvälinen King Baudouin kehityspalkinto.

05.05.2005 As the campaign for presidential elections entered its final week, this report examines the tensions surrounding the hasty voting arrangements, culminating in deaths at an opposition rally celebrating the brief return of the exiled Gilchrist Olympio.

05.05.2005 With less than a month to go before the election, voters are complaining that registration is impossible. The European Union has declined to send observers, possibly concerned at the shortage of time available to arrange adequate monitoring.

05.05.2005 The decision of the Indian parliament to regulate patents on medicines could have devastating implications for fighting HIV/AIDS in Togo. The country and its people cannot possibly afford anything other than the cheapest generic antiretroviral drugs (ARV) currently available from India.

05.05.2005 The World Bank has pledged $30 million to the Senegalese government in order to strengthen its capacity to implement poverty reduction projects through administrative reform and decentralisation. It is hoped that the credit will assist Senegal in reaching its targets for the MDGs.

05.05.2005 With the help of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, Senegal is hoping to introduce more expensive but more effective drugs nationwide in a bid to improve the country's success in fighting malaria. An earlier 2003 programme was discontinued due to poor implementation.

05.05.2005 Faure Gnassingbe was officially sworn in as president of Togo on Wednesday, though opposition leaders continued to reiterate their belief that the election was rigged and refused to concede defeat or build a power-sharing government with Gnassingbe. As the political machinations play out, thousands of Togolese fearing further violence seek refuge in neighboring Ghana and Benin.

05.05.2005 Ousamane Sy, a Malian development specialist, has used the traditional African communication network of village elders to bolster democratic and locally based governing systems across his home country, forming a model for good governance that has drawn praise from far and wide. He is the recipient of this year’s King Baudouin International Development Prize.

04.05.2005 Circa 17.000 persone in fuga dal Togo, verso il Benin e il Ghana, dopo le contestate elezioni presidenziali e il clima di violenza e di scontri in cui è precipitato il Paese. La Caritas Benin si è subito attivata e sta distribuendo cibo. I gruppi parrocchiali della Caritas della diocesi di Lokossa stanno portando il loro aiuto alle famiglie di rifugiati e le altre parrocchie sono pronte a distribuire viveri e generi di prima necessità. Molti rifugiati sono stati accolti nella parrocchia di Hillacondji e i feriti sono stati trasportati all’ospedale di Comé e nei centri sanitari circostanti.