Separatist rebel fighters on patrol after seizing territory 1.9 million people need food assistance Inter-rebel clashes cause displacement Insecurity hampers distribution of supplies GAO, 10 July 2014 (IRIN) – Only just recovering from a brutal Islamist occupation, residents of northern mali are facing further devastation following recent clashes between separatist rebel forces and government troops. The violence has heightened insecurity, throttled an already difficult aid operation and driven up hunger. Parts of Mali’s north have fallen back into the hands of three separatist rebel groups since the clashes in May in northern Kidal Region. More than 18,000 people were forced…
Author: ARIN News
Your views are important to us. IRIN is currently reviewing its work and we need to understand your views and priorities. Follow @{0} [embedded content] A health worker checks a blood sample for Ebola at Kenema government hospital, Sierra Leone KENEMA, 9 July 2014 (IRIN) – Hasan Kamara patiently labels blood samples at the government hospital in Kenema, eastern Sierra Leone. The country, alongside neighbouring Guinea and Liberia, is currently experiencing the worst outbreak of Ebola on record, with 481 people having died from the incurable disease in the three countries as of 2 July.Seven health workers infected with Ebola…
Women at Doro refugee camp in South sudan collect their monthly food rationsJOHANNESBURG, 7 July 2014 (IRIN) – The World Food Programme (WFP) and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) have launched an urgent appeal to address a funding shortfall that has already resulted in food ration cuts for a third of all African refugees. As of mid-June, nearly 800,000 refugees in 22 African countries have seen their monthly food allocations reduced, most of them by more than half. WFP is appealing for US$186 million to maintain its food assistance to refugees in Africa through the end of the year, while UNHCR…
Follow @{0}Exposing poor preparation. The raging waters killed 23 peopleABIDJAN, 4 July 2014 (IRIN) – Recent heavy downpours and flooding in Côte d’Ivoire have killed dozens of people, washed away houses and once again highlighted poor disaster preparedness in the country’s largest city.Landslides triggered by torrential rain in early June killed 23 people in the commercial capital Abidjan, according to the National Civil Defence Office (ONPC). “Every year, at the same time, it is the same thing that we witness. Rains kill people and the authorities still don’t have any solution to save us,” lamented Karim Konaté, a resident of…
Follow @{0}The Hague-based court. Its action on Côte d’Ivoire has revived criticism of biasABIDJAN, 27 June 2014 (IRIN) – The recent confirmation by the International Criminal Court (ICC) that charges against Lauren Gbagbo still stand has reignited criticism about the court’s approach to Côte d’Ivoire and its alleged failure to deal even-handedly with a highly complex post-conflict situation.The former Ivoirian president will go to trial facing four counts of crimes against humanity: murder, rape and other sexual violence, persecution and other inhuman acts. The charges relate to the post-electoral crisis of 2010-2011 following Côte d’Ivoire’s bitter divisions over who won…
Follow @{0}The Ebola virus. Hopes to curb its spread in West Africa have been dashedCONAKRY, 26 June 2014 (IRIN) – A months-long battle to bring West Africa’s Ebola outbreak under control has stretched medical teams to the limit, while mistrust in some communities has impaired prevention work and raised questions about the delivery of health warnings.The outbreak, which was first declared in March in southeast Guinea, should have been winding down now, with cases reducing as controls take effect, said Armand Sprecher, a public health specialist with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in Guinea.Sprecher, who has worked on haemorrhagic fever outbreaks…
Follow @{0}Squeezed out by large-scale land buyersSAINT LOUIS, 24 June 2014 (IRIN) – Senegalese smallholder Doudou Sow is furious. Over the last 10 years, he says, farmers have been squeezed out by an influx of private investors acquiring fertile arable land in the Senegal River Valley where he has worked as a farmer for the last two decades.“I do not understand why hundreds of hectares are being given to outsiders when the priority should be to make land available to our own farmers,” protests Sow, a native of Saint Louis Region in the north of Senegal.A liberal land regime in…
Follow @{0}Ramping up security as migrants sneak into towns BERTOUA, 19 June 2014 (IRIN) – Frustrated by their living conditions, refugees and other migrants are streaming into towns in eastern Cameroon in search of jobs and a fresh start. But there are concerns in the region about the impact of the new arrivals in urban areas and emerging tensions between the newcomers and existing town-dwellers.Some 226,000 people have fled Car to neighbouring Cameroon, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of Congo since December 2013. Of the four host countries, Cameroon has the largest number of refugees. Moving…
Follow @{0}Starting afresh after a post-coup ballot BISSAU, 16 June 2014 (IRIN) – The recent successful holding of legislative and presidential elections has raised hopes that Guinea-Bissau can move closer to the end of a two-year political crisis marked by international isolation and a devastating economic decline.A post-elections rapprochementThe results were accepted by the population, international opinion and political rivals. There were concerns that the military, with a history of meddling in politics, would create problems if its preferred candidate, Nuno Gomes Nabiam, lost. But in a surprising move, António Indjai, the army chief and leader of the April 2012…
Your views are important to us. IRIN is currently reviewing its work and we need to understand your views and priorities. Follow @{0} [embedded content] NAIROBI, 12 June 2014 (IRIN) – Twelve years after Sierra Leone’s long civil war came to an end, its broken institutions and weak development indicators continue to impact on the lives of its people. And as ever it’s women who bear the brunt. Aside from the usual grim data, one statistic stands out: the number of female prisoners has doubled over the past three years. IRIN’s latest film, Women Behind Bars, tries to understand why…