Follow @{0}The devastation of the 2012 floods lingers onIBAJI, 14 February 2014 (IRIN) – Residents displaced by the 2012 deluge in Nigeria’s Kogi State have by now returned to their villages, where the lingering destruction and scarcity of food have increased hardship. But the struggle to recover has also inspired agricultural transformation.The floods were the country’s worst in four decades. Some seven million people across Nigeria were affected in 2012. Kogi State, where the River Niger and the River Benue merge, was the most devastated, with around 1.3 million people affected, roads cut off and homes, farms and food stocks…
Author: ARIN News
Follow @{0}Houses along the coast of BakassiDAKAR, 12 February 2014 (IRIN) – Twelve years after an International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling demarcated the Cameroon-Nigeria border, the UN and the governments of Cameroon and Nigeria are making headway in physically laying down the border and helping develop the long-marginalized oil-rich Bakassi region. But while many positive lessons can be drawn from the Nigeria-Cameroon demarcation process, when it comes to development, there remains much work to do, say Bakassi residents.The Cameroon and Nigeria government have overcome tense periods of negotiation over control of Bakassi, in the Gulf of Guinea, and the…
By Chris Simpson The war in the desert – old rivalries must end TIMBUKTU, 12 February 2014 (IRIN) – The ‘Flamme de la Paix’ monument lies on the northwestern outskirts of Timbukutu, mali. There, on 27 March 1996, hundreds of weapons were symbolically destroyed, and representatives from the Malian government and Tuareg rebel movements promised to promote peace and reconciliation in a region wracked by bitter conflict.But 16 years later, the country descended into its worst crisis ever. Mali’s north, including Timbuktu, was overrun by both Tuareg separatists and Jihadists; the south witnessed a coup and the temporary collapse of…
Follow @{0}Young unemployed men play cards in a warehouse in Guinean capital ConakryDAKAR, 10 February 2014 (IRIN) – Youth unemployment and underemployment are among the main barriers to development in West Africa, say experts. Not only does the exclusion of young people from the labour force perpetuate generational cycles of poverty, it also breaks down social cohesion and can be associated with higher levels of crime and violence among idle youth.”A decent and productive job [not only] contributes to attaining fundamental individual and family well-being, but also spills over, contributing to society’s broader objectives, such as poverty reduction, economy-wide productivity…
Follow @{0}Routine immunizations are hampered by Boko Haram insurgencyKANO, 5 February 2014 (IRIN) – Persistent attacks by Boko Haram (BH) militants in Nigeria’s Borno State have forced dozens of clinics to shut down and hundreds of doctors to flee, leaving many residents to seek medical attention across the border in Cameroon, health professionals and residents told IRIN.Musa Babakura, a surgeon at University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH) in Maiduguri, told IRIN: “There is a growing health crisis in northern Borno, where most doctors and medical personnel have left the area due to security threat[s] from Boko Haram, forcing thousands to…
Follow @{0}A four-by-four exits Freetown’s Kroo Bay slumFREETOWN, 4 February 2014 (IRIN) – Since the late 1990s, as the aid sector has matured, agencies around the world have grappled with the challenge of becoming more accountable to their intended beneficiaries. IRIN spoke with aid watchdogs and NGO staff to assess the fruitfulness of these efforts in Sierra Leone, where a weak government has left NGOs with a central role.Accountability has come to the fore as governments and disaster survivors increasingly demand greater answerability from aid agencies, using new technologies to communicate their views. Aid agencies have also recognized the perils…
Follow @{0}There is need to consider the poor in re-planning African cities NAIROBI, 4 February 2014 (IRIN) – Plans to reshape and modernize African cities, in part driven by investment, architecture and construction companies seeking new markets, could deepen existing social inequalities, according to recent research. But these development plans could also benefit the poor if governments are responsive to the needs of their citizens, argue analysts.The implementation of these development plans within existing cities is having major exclusionary effects on vulnerable low-income groups through evictions and relocations, states the journal article “African urban fantasies: dreams or nightmares?”. This is because…
It’s hard to grow vegetables in Mauritania’s drought-ridden Gorgol region.DAKAR, 3 February 2014 (IRIN) – Over 20 million people in the Sahel will need humanitarian assistance in 2014, up 8.7 million over the number of people in need in 2013, estimates the UN, which launched an ambitious three-year Sahel strategy today. Driving the surge in the numbers of people going hungry is a severe deterioration in people’s access to affordable food in northern Nigeria, northern Cameroon and Senegal. Together, these countries represent over 40 percent of the overall food insecurity caseload, says the UN. At five million, the number of…
Displaced and host families in Gasseré village wait for UNHCR to distribute blankets and kitchen kitsGASSERE/BOSSO/DIFFA, 30 January 2014 (IRIN) – Up to 37,000 people – both Nigerians and Nigeriens – have fled Boko Haram violence in northeastern Nigeria since early 2012, and most are sheltering with families in neighbouring Niger, but the aid response thus far has been patchy. Government efforts to register the displaced have been slow, and the refugees among them have yet to be given refugee status. In the latest attacks on 26 January, suspected Boko Haram militants killed over 100 people in the villages of…
Battling chronic diseases will be the major Arab health care challenge for the next generationLONDON, 30 January 2014 (IRIN) – Healthcare needs are changing in the Arab world, and chronic diseases linked to rising prosperity and aging populations are forcing health services to retool, even as the region grapples with political turmoil and uncertainty. Health in the Arab World: a view from within, a new series of papers put together at the American University in Beirut and published by the medical journal The Lancet, examines these changes and challenges. The series looks at the situation across the Arab League, including,…