UN Integrated Regional Information Networks (Nairobi)

Updates on conflicts and news from throughout sub-Saharan Africa.

November 14

Guinea Bissau: Cholera On the Rise

As cholera case rates decline in Guinea and Sierra Leone, they are on the rise in Guinea-Bissau, with 1,500 cases reported and nine deaths as of 11 November, according to the... Read more »
Zimbabwe: Succumbing to the Debt Trap

When Davis Moyo* was retrenched from his job at a financial institution in the Zimbabwean capital Harare last year, he counted himself lucky when he found another job almost... Read more »
Sierra Leone: Elections - Sampling Opinions in the Diamond-Rich East

On 17 November Sierra Leone will head to the polls as President Ernest Bai Koroma of the All People's Congress (APC) and his main rival Julius Maada Bio of the Sierra Leone... Read more »
Cameroon: New Cassava Species Could Boost Food Security

Scientists and farmers' associations have high hopes that a variety of cassava could help build their resilience to droughts and food insecurity. Read more »

Africa: Accountability - Holding Armed Groups to Their Word

A new database by the Swiss-based NGO Geneva Call collating current and past armed groups' attitudes towards international humanitarian law (IHL) and human rights law (HRL), could... Read more »
Somalia: Ethiopia-Somalia - the Cost of Being a Good Neighbour

Ethiopians would like to continue to be good Samaritans to the hundreds of thousands seeking refuge from drought and conflict in neighbouring Somalia, but massive camps in fragile... Read more »

Central African Republic: Diagnosis Difficulties Behind Pneumonia Spread

In a bid to increase the low level of awareness of pneumonia in the Central African Republic (CAR), where the disease is the biggest killer of children under five, a wide-ranging... Read more »

Guinea Bissau: Fear Amid Human Rights Abuses [analysis]

A 21 October attack in Guinea-Bissau - when soldiers stormed barracks near Bissau's main airport, targeting military figures and leaving six people dead - has provoked more fear... Read more »
Somalia: Thousands of Children Run Risk of Polio

An estimated 135,000 children are at risk of polio in Somalia's port city of Kismayo, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Read more »
Swaziland: IMF Recommends Land Reforms [opinion]

Land reform has been recommended by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as part of the solution to deepening economic decline in Swaziland, a country where more than two-thirds... Read more »

Nigeria: Floodwaters Recede but Millions Remain Displaced

Efforts to repair infrastructure and restore livelihoods destroyed by Nigeria's recent flooding - the worst in five decades - require urgent funding and will take six months or... Read more »

Africa: Fungi Offer Non-GM Way to Enhance Food Crops [analysis]

As temperatures soar and droughts increase in frequency, scientists around the world are working to create food crops tolerant of extreme temperatures - often an expensive and... Read more »

Ethiopia: Cooperatives Championed Amid NGO Restrictions

As Ethiopia imposes increasing restrictions on foreign-backed NGOs, cooperatives - which have boosted the country's coffee industry - are being championed as a preferred model for... Read more »
Cote d'Ivoire: Cocoa Farmers Welcome State-Imposed Prices

Cocoa farmers in Côte d'Ivoire, the world's largest producer, began the 2012-2013 season in October with a minimum price guaranteed by the state. This measure, part of the... Read more »
Somalia: A Snapshot of Humanitarian Challenges

After two decades of civil war, Somalia is finally seeing hope for lasting peace. After the August departure of Al-Shabab insurgents, thousands of people have returned to the... Read more »
Madagascar: Domestic Violence Rises As Incomes Fall

Incomes have slipped to their lowest level in a decade since Madagascar's 2009 coup d'etat, and, in parallel, domestic violence has sharply risen. Read more »
Congo-Brazzaville: Torture Commonplace in Prisons - Report

Torture has become routine in prisons and police stations in the Republic of Congo, according to a 2 November report by the Congolese Observatory for Human Rights (OCDH). Read more »
Kenya: Experts Rally for Agroforestry, Commercial Tree Farming

In 2010 and 2009, Kenya lost a whopping 5.8 billion Kenya shillings (US$68 million) and 6.6 billion shillings ($77 million), respectively, to deforestation, a new report released... Read more »

West Africa: Militant Kidnappings Grow in Burkina Faso, Niger

Aid agencies have stepped up security measures in Burkina Faso and Niger as the threat of kidnappings by Islamist groups mounts. Read more »
South Africa: Dealing With Sexual Abuse in Prison

"Here is the mess," the warder said when he shoved Michael Adams* into an overcrowded cell in Allandale Prison, near South Africa's Cape Town, 10 years ago. That first night, Adams... Read more »
Chad: Analysis - Is U.S. Action Against Use of Child Soldiers On the Backburner? [analysis]

The Child Soldier Prevention Act (CSPA) was a prime example of US bipartisan human rights legislation: sponsored by Democratic and Republican senators and signed into law in 2008... Read more »
South Sudan: Rights Group Calls for End to Death Penalty

Rights groups are calling for an end to the death penalty in South Sudan and for improvements to the squalid prison conditions where people languish for years, often without due... Read more »
South Sudan: Mary Sezerina, 'I Am Condemned to Death, but They Didn't Say When'

More than 100 prisoners are languishing on death row in South Sudan's Juba Central Prison, one of three facilities where people sentenced for murder await their fate at the... Read more »

Sierra Leone: Youth Unemployment - a Threat to Sierra Leone's Security?

Sierra Leone has come a long way since the brutal 1991-2002 civil war, which left thousands dead, countless numbers displaced, and the country's economy and institutions in... Read more »
Somalia: Floods Cause Displacement in Somaliland*

Heavy rains have displaced many residents in the mid-eastern regions of the self-declared republic of Somaliland. Read more »

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