This article is the third in a series on the intersection between Islamic law, jihadists and humanitarian normsSearching for common ground between humanitarian principle and Islamic preceptsAre we speaking the same language? The ethical/strategic concerns Know your interlocutor Not all militants read the Koran DUBAI, 24 April 2014 (IRIN) – Humanitarian action today is largely taking place in Muslim-majority countries where some combatants turn to Islamic law, among other sources, to guide their military behaviour. As a result, in the last decade, aid and advocacy agencies have increasingly tried to understand Islamic law in order to use its humanitarian provisions as tools of negotiation…
Author: ARIN News
This article is the fourth in a series on the intersection between Islamic law, jihadists and humanitarian normsFollow @{0}DUBAI, 24 April 2014 (IRIN) – There is a renewed interest in translating classical texts about Islamic rules of war into English, adding to the increasing body of work on the intersections between Islam, international humanitarian law (IHL) and the protection of civilians. IRIN provides this study guide to get you started.Majid Khadduri’s translation (with explanation) of the Islamic Law of Nations, the first codification of Islamic rules of war by jurist Mohammad Ibn al-Hassan al-Shaybani, is a good place to start. Sahih Muslim is…
Follow @{0}Influx of returnees from Nigeria has overwhelmed Nigerien host familiesDAKAR, 23 April 2014 (IRIN) – There are now more returnees and refugees in Niger’s southeastern region of Diffa near the border with Nigeria than there are Malian refugees in western Niger, straining host populations who are already some of the poorest people in the world, and the local authorities. According to UNHCR, some 40,000 people have taken refuge in Diffa Region following an upsurge in Boko Haram violence in Nigeria. Others have fled to Cameroon and Chad. “The number of refugees who arrive here goes up nearly every day,”…
Follow @{0}Bissau-Guineans will go to the polls once more to end yet another coup regimeBISSAU, 11 April 2014 (IRIN) – Guinea-Bissau observers doubt that the long-delayed post-coup presidential election set for 13 April will be sufficient to jolt the country back to stability. But there are hopes that the polls will restore constitutional order, revive donor support and stabilize the economy.Years of political upheaval have debilitated governance, wrecked the economy and impoverished most of the country’s 1.6 million people. The impact of the political crisis following the April 2012 coup and a global cashew nut (Guinea-Bissau’s top export earner) price…
Follow @{0}Chronic malnutrition has persisted in Côte d’Ivoire’s north due to climatic, health and political reasonsABIDJAN, 9 April 2014 (IRIN) – Forty percent of Ivoirian children in the northern region are chronically malnourished, the country’s highest rate, which has not fallen for the past six years. The effects of a drawn-out conflict, desertion by aid groups and inadequate medical staff have contributed to the situation. Food scarcity here is often due to harsh weather and high food costs.The average rate of chronic malnutrition nationally is not much lower though, at 30 percent. Côte d’Ivoire’s northern region is mostly arid and…
Follow @{0}Curbing Ebola in Uganda. In Guinea, where the disease erupted for the first time last month, authorities are racing to limit infectionsDAKAR, 3 April 2014 (IRIN) – The Ebola outbreak in Guinea’s southern region which has spread to the capital, Conakry, and to neighbouring countries, has been propagated mainly through person-to-person contact, a gap that health experts and state authorities are struggling to close.“It does not spread indiscriminately. It follows people and peoples’ movement and you have to be in contact with body fluids, sweat and diarrhoea. What we see is very sad because when people get ill then…
Follow @{0} Malians returning from displacement face deep financial difficultiesBAMAKO, 28 March 2014 (IRIN) – Displaced Malians who have recently returned to their homes in the north of the country say they are facing economic difficulty as their businesses, livestock and other forms of livelihood have been wiped out, while those still displaced also say financial assistance is their main need. The conflict in northern mali following the 2012 overthrow of the government in Bamako and an Islamist occupation forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee for safety in the south or in neighbouring countries. More than a year…
Follow @{0}West Africa’s first ever Ebola outbreak has erupted in GuineaDAKAR, 26 March 2014 (IRIN) – As health authorities and aid groups work to contain the spread of Ebola in Guinea which has killed 59 people and infected scores of others since January, suspected cases have emerged in neighbouring Liberia, prompting calls for a regional response.Haemorrhagic fever symptoms first appeared in Guinea’s southern forested region. Eighty-six people have so far been infected. Authorities are urging restriction of movement and observance of hygiene to prevent further infections.The cases have mainly been reported in the four southern districts of Guéckédou, Macenta, Nzérékoré…
Follow @{0}A child receives the oral polio vaccine as part of emergency response measuresYAOUNDÉ, 26 March 2014 (IRIN) – Three new polio cases have been confirmed in Cameroon over the past two weeks, making it the country’s first outbreak since 2011 and causing alarm among health officials who link the virus’s spread to weak vaccine campaign coverage and displacement following violence in neighbouring northeastern Nigeria and the Central African Republic (CAR).Cameroon has confirmed seven polio cases since 2013. Just one case is enough to instigate emergency country-wide vaccination measures under the national health policy. It last experienced a polio outbreak…
Follow @{0}Better contraceptive provision can help cut Burkina’s unwanted pregnanciesOUAGADOUGOU, 24 March 2014 (IRIN) – One-third of all pregnancies in Burkina Faso are unintended and a third of them end in abortion, according to a study published this month by the University of Ouagadougou and the reproductive health think tank Guttmacher Institute, which also found that more than 100,000 abortions were carried out in the country in 2012, most of them performed in unsafe conditions or by untrained health workers.Abortion is illegal in most circumstances, but the practice continues in secrecy. In 2008, 25 out of 1,000 women between 15…