The resource curse – pollution and instability in the DeltaPORT HARCOURT, 9 April 2015 (IRIN) – An early test for Nigerian president-elect Muhammadu Buhari is how his incoming administration will handle the volatile oil revenue-generating Delta, where former militia commanders pledged their support to Goodluck Jonathan, their clansman, who was emphatically beaten in the 28 March presidential election.The former Ijaw militants, all now wealthy businessmen after a government amnesty in 2009, had vowed a return to war should Buhari win. But following Jonathan’s acceptance of electoral defeat, they have rapidly reversed that position – including Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, who had been…
Author: ARIN News
By Crispin Dembassa-Kette Seleka rebel fighters, many are now engaging in reconciliation effortsBAORO, 8 April 2015 (IRIN) – The room was packed. Everyone wanted to speak: unsurprising after years of conflict that has claimed thousands of lives and seen the Central African Republic riven by ethnic and religious cleansing.After a lifetime of being ignored, the ordinary people of CAR are finally having their say, taking advantage of a unique opportunity to speak truth to power. In the town of Baoro, 400 kilometres from the capital Bangui in northeastern Nana Mabéré prefecture, power took the form of Minister of Communications Victor…
Celebrations for Nigeria’s election winner, Muhammadu BuhariKADUNA, 31 March 2015 (IRIN) – Nigeria’s presidential election has been won by Muhammadu Buhari, a former military ruler who becomes the first opposition leader ever to unseat an incumbent. There have been some allegations of fraud, but the fact that Goodluck Jonathan accepted defeat and called his political rival to offer congratulations is being widely applauded as the final act of an extraordinary election. Ibadan Street is in the heart of the old commercial district of the northern city of Kaduna, but on Tuesday shops were shuttered and children were playing football…
By Gabrielle Babbington Air pollution causes thousands of deaths a year in the Afghan capital Kabul, health officials say (archive photo). HONG KONG, 27 March 2015 (IRIN) – A recent public outcry in China, sparked by a damning documentary about air pollution, was based on well-founded fear:Of the 100 million people who viewed the film on the first day of its online release, 172,000 are likely to die this year from air pollution-related diseases, according to regional trends.* Worldwide, pollution kills twice as many people each year as HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined,** but aid policy has consistently neglected it as…
By Zakaria Camara and Jennifer Lazuta An Ebola treatment center run by Doctors Without Borders in Guinea CONAKRY/DAKAR, 23 March 2015 (IRIN) – The Ebola outbreak, which was first declared by Guinea’s Ministry of Health on the evening of 22 March 2014, continues to ravage the country, in large part because information campaigns have failed to bring about comprehensive changes in behavior and beliefs. “Some communities are still convinced that there is no Ebola, that Ebola is a myth,” said Damien Queally, the deputy regional director of Plan International, who is coordinating the organization’s Ebola response activities. “People are still…
Noah, 14, on the day he was discharged from an Ebola treatment centre NAIROBI, 20 March 2015 (IRIN) – There have been no new Ebola infections in Liberia in the past three weeks, but it’s still far too early to say the virus has been defeated – Liberia’s borders are porous and its neighbours have been less successful in taming their outbreaks. [After this article was published an Ebola case was confirmed in Liberia on 20 March] For Liberia to be deemed Ebola-free, there must be no new cases over 42 consecutive days. But even with that goal achieved, the…
By Alexis Adele More than 150,000 Ivorian refugees who fled to Liberia during post-election violence have returned home, but closed borders due to the Ebola outbreak has left the remaining 38,000 unable to go back. ABIDJAN, 18 March 2015 (IRIN) – Nearly 38,000 Ivorian refugees living in Liberia have been unable to return home since July 2014, when Cote d’Ivoire closed its borders with Liberia due to the Ebola outbreak. “The refugees, they themselves, just want to go home,” said Kassim Diagne, a representative of the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Liberia. The majority of the refugees have been…
Follow @{0} 7.6 million people are displaced internally and 3.8 million others are living as refugees as the war in Syria enters is fifth year. LONDON , 13 March 2015 (IRIN) – Welcome to IRIN’s reading list. Every week our global network of specialist correspondents share some of their top picks of recent must-read research, interviews, reports, blogs and in-depth articles to help you keep on top of global crises. We also highlight key upcoming conferences, book releases and policy debates.Five to read:A Crisis of Anxiety Among Aid WorkersAid workers are employed to help people in crisis situations, but who…
Your views are important to us. Are the police taking care of their own? NAIROBI, 12 March 2015 (IRIN) – The Nigerian Police Force is not only failing to pay all the financial benefits owed to the families of their officers killed in action against Boko Haram militants, but in some cases sexual favours and kickbacks have been demanded of the widows in return for the dues they did receive, according to new research in the northern city of Kano’s police command.The study, by the Kano-based Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD), sponsored by the MacArthur Foundation, presents the…
By Alexis Adele Pro-Ouattara demonstrators in the northern Ivoirian city of Odienné hold signs that read ‘Enough is enough’ and ‘Gbagbo, get out. We don’t want to keep counting the dead’. March 2011. (Koffi Samuel/IRIN) ABIDJAN, 11 March 2015 (IRIN) – The sentencing this week of Côte d’Ivoire’s former first lady, Simone Gbagbo, to 20 years in prison, could reignite longstanding tensions in the country, where social, ethnic and religious divides have run deep for more than a decade.Gbagbo was convicted of taking part in human rights violations, including organizing armed gangs, undermining the security of the state and disturbing…
Cameroon military on the lookout for Boko Haram militants in the Far North’s Kolofata community, along the border with Nigeria. FAR NORTH, CAMEROON, 5 March 2015 (IRIN) – Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of young people in northern Cameroon, who lack access to school and employment, are increasingly fighting alongside Boko Haram, local authorities say. “We know Boko Haram is recruiting [youth] in Cameroon,” said Colonel Joseph Nouma of the Maroua Defense Regiment, speaking from the capital city of the Far North. “When you go to border villages, all you see are women and children and old people. Young [men], between the…
By Prince Collins and Jennifer Lazuta Following the reopening of the land border with neighboring Sierra Leone, Krubo Kollie returns to Bo-Waterside Market, in Liberia, to sell fruit for the first time since the Ebola outbreak began.BO-WATERSIDE, LIBERIA, 4 March 2015 (IRIN) – Liberia has lifted nationwide curfews and reopened its land borders with key trading partners Sierra Leone and Guinea, but a full recovery from the economic impact of the Ebola outbreak will take time, experts say. “The reopening of the border is going to have an impact immediately, both in terms of livelihoods and the availability of food,…
Follow @{0}Half of Sierra Leone’s current Ebola cases are from one regionFREETOWN, 19 December 2014 (IRIN) – Sierra Leone is scrambling more health personnel and deploy more equipment to curb the rampant spread of Ebola in Western Area region which currently accounts for half the infections in the country. Authorities blame dangerous funeral practices, denial, and failure to report cases as some of the factors behind the surge. In the week ending 14 December, Sierra Leone reported 327 new cases, Guinea had 76 in the same period, while Liberia had eight (but only over two days), according to World Health…
Follow @{0}Refugee influx into Diffa has sparked humanitarian crisis warnings DAKAR, 12 December 2014 (IRIN) – Nigerian Islamist Boko Haram militias have driven nearly 90,000 people into neighbouring Niger’s impoverished Diffa Region this year, sparking food security and protection worries. The September-November harvest season has been favourable across Niger except in Diffa, where food insecurity is a concern especially for displaced and poor families. “The real problem in the long-run is food insecurity,” said Karl Steinacker, UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) Niger representative. “This [Diffa] is a food-deficient region even during normal times. The arrival of this population is going to…
Follow @{0}Sierra Leone is seeing higher infection rates than its neighboursFREETOWN, 8 December 2014 (IRIN) – In the week ending 30 November, Sierra Leone reported 537 confirmed Ebola cases, 152 more than the previous week and over four times the combined number of cases in Guinea and Liberia during the same period, according to World Health Organization’s (WHO) latest updates. For more than a month, the outbreak has been slowing in Liberia, which reported 43 cases from 24-28 November. In Guinea, where the virus was first reported in March, there has been a slight increase in cases since October. Seventy-seven…
Follow @{0}Some of the issues IRIN has reported on this week: HIV, Ebola in prisons, Ethiopian M-farming, Cash Transfers, Afghanistan corruption.DUBAI, 4 December 2014 (IRIN) – Want to stay on top of the current debate around humanitarian and development issues without having to spend hours surfing the web?Welcome to IRIN’s reading list.Every week our global network of specialist correspondents will share some of their top picks of recent must-read research, reports, blogs and in-depth articles while also highlighting key upcoming conferences and policy debates.Five to read:ISIS at the borderTwo years ago, few people would have heard of the southern Turkish…
Follow @{0}IDPs from Damboa village in Borno State take refuge at the home of a relativeDAKAR, 28 November 2014 (IRIN) – More than 400,000 people in northeastern Nigeria, who have been forced to flee their homes due to ongoing violence by militant Islamist group Boko Haram, are in “urgent need” of assistance, humanitarian agencies say. This number is likely to increase as attacks against civilians escalate.”There’s a major crisis going on in the northeast, and it’s not being recognized for the crisis it is,” said Sarah Ndikumana, country director for the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in Nigeria. “Since late August,…
Follow @{0}Biram Dah Abeid, the Mauritanian anti-slavery activist, a few days before his arrestNOUAKCHOTT, 21 November 2014 (IRIN) – The latest arrest of a group of prominent anti-slavery activists in Mauritania has once again brought to the fore the country’s struggle with slavery and discrimination based on colour. The Global Slavery Index classifies Mauritania as the most egregious offender when it comes to modern slavery, with 155,600 people still living in enslavement or about 4 percent of the population. The index defines slavery as the status of a person who is owned by another, which could also include practices similar…
Your views are important to us. IRIN is currently reviewing its work and we need to understand your views and priorities. Follow @{0}NAIROBI, 13 November 2014 (IRIN) – IRIN has been covering the West African Ebola outbreak since March 2014, producing dozens of articles on many aspects of the crisis, including frontline reportage, critical analysis of the international response, and explanations of the disease’s ramifications for the region’s economy and food security. Now we are proud to present a multimedia production, Inside the Ebola Hot Zone. Here you will find short films portraying the work of two veritable local heroes…
Follow @{0}Aid agencies say they are being forced to think outside the box when it comes to Ebola prevention and containmentDAKAR/FREETOWN, 4 November 2014 (IRIN) – From using Bitcoins to fundraise, to adopting new strategies to prevent malaria victims appearing to be Ebola cases, to working with new partners – aid agencies in West Africa are learning to adapt fast.”The response to every humanitarian crisis has to be context specific,” said Nigel Clarke, the director of programme development and quality for Save the Children’s operations in Liberia. “That’s the key standard that humanitarian agencies utilize in all crises. But this…