Cholera beds (file photo): At least 50 cases of cholera have been registered in the northwestern region of Rwanda

KIGALI, 30 September 2009 (IRIN) - At least 50 cases of cholera have been registered in the northwestern region of Rwanda, the Health Ministry said on 29 September. No deaths were reported in the affected region, which had been free of the disease for a decade.

“Basic hygiene and lack of adequate sanitation in the region are described as the biggest issue, but medical experts and humanitarian staff have been deployed to outbreak areas," Gamariel Binamungu, director-general of the National Reference Laboratory, said. "All necessary medication is being provided to try to prevent the spread of the disease," he told IRIN.

"The humanitarian relief provided by the government and volunteers, including water purification chemicals and hygiene promotion material, means all outbreaks are under control," the mayor of Rusizi district (southwest), Fabien Sindayiheba, told IRIN.

"Poor hygiene is the main factor for the cholera outbreak, because local rivers are the main sources of water for most of families in the region," he said. "We have adopted measures to provide medical help to those infected people so they do not spread the disease to neighbouring villages," Sindayiheba noted.

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Without a family environment, children's cognitive, emotional and social development is hampered

NAIROBI, 30 September 2009 (IRIN) - Africa's orphans will experience a richer, more wholesome childhood if they are raised within a family rather than in a childcare institution, according to speakers at a conference on family-based care for children in Nairobi.

"We need to heed the cry of a child's heart for an adult who will care for them and be crazy about them," said Monica Woodhouse, who runs the South African NGO, Give a Child a Family.

According to the UN, there are more than 34 million orphans in sub-Saharan Africa today, 11 million of whom lost parents to the AIDS pandemic.

Traditionally, orphans in Africa are raised by the extended family, and while many families continue to take in orphaned relatives, conventional family structures are buckling under the pressure of caring for additional children; a 2006 study in Korogocho, a Nairobi slum, found that more than half the 436 people surveyed were caring for at least one child orphaned through HIV/AIDS.

Too poor to cope, many families now reject these children, leading to a proliferation of institutional childcare facilities across the continent; in Uganda, for example, government statistics show that the number of children in orphanages nearly doubled between 1998 and 2001.

Separation is hard

"There are plenty of studies which show that raising children in institutions as opposed to families affects their cognitive, social, emotional and even intellectual development," Philista Onyango, regional director of the African Network for the Prevention and Protection against Child Abuse and Neglect (ANPPCAN), told IRIN.

"In Africa, people are not trained to work with these children and often don't know what they are doing, so orphaned children in institutions can wind up being physically or sexually abused," she added. "Many are not even registered and those that are, are not properly regulated."

According to the National Council for Children Services in Kenya, there are 417 charitable children's institutions registered, while another 800 are estimated to be operating unregistered.

"Separation from the family is harmful to children; it doesn't matter if I have grey hair on my head, my mother is still my mother, my family is still my family - children need that sense of belonging," said George Nyakora, regional training director for the SOS Children's Villages, which places children who cannot be connected to their biological families in family environments.

Cost issues

Speakers also said the cost of supporting families to raise orphans was significantly lower than keeping a child in an orphanage; a study from South Africa showed the cost of residential care can be as much as six times that of providing care to children living in poor families.

"All the money donors are pouring into institutions should instead be invested in enabling families to raise these children," Onyango said.

Even HIV-positive children on life-prolonging anti-retroviral medication do better growing up with family, according to Protus Lumiti, chief manager of the Nyumbani Children's Home in Nairobi.

"We run a home with about 110 HIV-positive children, but even we realise this is a last resort," he told IRIN. "We have another facility in Nairobi caring for 3,500 children who are based with their families but come to a centre for drugs and nutritional support - community-based care has worked very well in our experience."

"There are some extreme situations, for instance, where a child's disability is so difficult that it can only be properly managed by professionals in an institution, but there is certainly no need for as many childcare centres as we are seeing on the continent," ANPPCAN's Onyango added.

Protection factors

However, steps - including legislation, screening of families, training of child welfare professionals and setting up monitoring and evaluation mechanisms - are necessary to ensure children are successfully placed with relatives.

"We tend to focus on the moral issue of homeless, orphaned children, but we need to look at the economics of it, and to create minimum standards that families must meet in order to care for children," said Nyakora.

Onyango noted that it was not unheard of for children to be abused within their own families, so mechanisms needed to be in place to ensure families were assessed for suitability and monitored to ensure they were giving children the best possible upbringing.

"Sometimes the relatives are only interested in the deceased's property, and not the child's welfare, when they offer to take in orphans," she said. "Setting up child welfare committees at the community level who can monitor a child's progress would be an excellent idea.

"The people left to care for the children - often their grandparents - also need support beyond ensuring the children are fed, clothed and educated," Onyango said. "They need community support in parenting these children, and structures that will ensure the young children will not wind up looking after their old grandparents instead of living a child's life."

"As long as they have the financial capacity and social support to raise children, a family is the best place for a child," Nyakora said.

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International aid group Oxfam says 23 million people are threatened with severe hunger in East Africa due to climate change.

“This is the worst humanitarian crisis Oxfam has seen in East Africa for over ten years,” Paul Smith Lomas, Oxfam's East Africa Director said in a statement on Tuesday.

Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia and Uganda are the worst-hit nations by severe drought, whereas Sudan, Djibouti and Tanzania are also suffering ill effects.

This is while 'failed and unpredictable rains are ever more regular' across the region, Lomas says.

Thousands of animals have already succumbed to the drought, which is mainly blamed on climate change and global warming.

In Kenya alone, some 3.8 million people are in dire need of emergency aid, as deadly conflicts over diminishing water supplies intensify among pastoralists.

In Somalia, which has also been hit by a bloody insurgency, another 3.8 million people - around half the population - are dependent on food aid.

Over 13 million Ethiopians are also facing food shortages, the UK-based agency said.

The charity organization has already appealed for $15 million to help some 750,000 people in need of emergency food aid.

However, aid agencies operating in the region have suffered massive funding shortfalls this year, as developed countries tighten their belts in the face of the global financial crisis.


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The dismantling of terror cells in Mauritania has exposed arms caches and supplies in the hard-to-police Mauritanian Sahara.

Seven armed men suspected of being members of the North African wing of al-Qaeda (AQIM) have been arrested in the Mauritanian desert, security officials say.

The men - described as 'active members of al-Qaeda' - were arrested last week as they were travelling in two sport-utility vehicles to the remote Lemgheity region, near the Mali-Nigeria border, a senior security official told AFP on Monday.

However controversy surrounds the identity of the detained men as a city councilor in the Malian city of Timbuktu claimed that those arrested were members of his family - all civilians, and not terrorists.

"We are sure that they belong to AQIM and we are continuing to question them," the official said.

Lemgheity, a well-known terrorist lair, was the site of a June 2005 attack by the notorious group that left 15 Mauritanian soldiers dead.

AQIM has also claimed responsibility for a suicide bomb attack near the French embassy in the country's capital Nouakchott on August 8 in which the perpetrator was killed and three people injured.

On June 23, an American living in Mauritania was shot dead in broad daylight in the capital, in yet another attack claimed by AQIM.

Mauritanian security forces have recently stepped-up anti-terror operations in the area, apprehending several men accused of spying on troop movements for the al-Qaeda network and dismantling terrorist cells.

According to local paper Tahalil Hebdo, this has led to the discovery of arms caches and supplies in the vast and hard-to-police Mauritanian Sahara.

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Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi has cancelled a private visit to southern Spain, reportedly because of the absence of top Spanish officials.

Gadhafi 'who had expressed the desire to come to Spain has decided to cancel his visit,' a Spanish foreign ministry source told AFP, without giving an official reason for the decision.

But according to the ABC newspaper, Gadhafi changed his mind because he could not meet with King Juan Carlos and Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.

The two senior Spanish officials are currently in Copenhagen to support Madrid's bid to host the 2016 Olympics.

Gadhafi was to visit the southern Andalucia region on his way back from a joint summit of the African Union and the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) held in Venezuela at the weekend.

The two-day summit brought together nine South American presidents and some 20 African leaders.

Gadhafi's trip to Venezuela was his first to a Latin American state since he came to power 40 years ago.


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Captain Moussa Dadis Camara gestures at the military camp in Conakry.

Deadly clashes between security forces and opposition demonstrators in Guinea's capital, Conakry, have reportedly left over 87 people killed.

The troops crushed some 50,000 people gathered in the September 20 stadium to protest against the junta leader Captain Moussa Dadis Camara who seized power in a bloodless coup last year.

"There are 87 bodies that were collected in and around the stadium after the military came through," a police source told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Medical sources said the death toll could rise further as some of the injured were said to be in critical condition.

The protests were triggered to oppose any bid by Camara or the other junta leaders to run for president in the elections due next January.

Captain Camara had promised that no one in his ruling Junta would run for public office after he took power in a coup last December.

Camara lead a coup within the West African nation hours after the death of Guinea's strongman leader Lansana Conte, who had been in power since 1984.

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Guinean police arrest a protester in the capital Conakry during a protest banned by the country's ruling junta.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has denounced the 'excessive use of force' by security forces in Guinea, who opened fire on opposition protesters, killing at least 87 people.

In a statement released on Tuesday, the UN chief slammed the lethal incident and said he was 'shocked by the loss of life, the high number of people injured and the destruction of property'.

Ban urged Guinean authorities and security forces 'to exercise maximum restraint and to uphold the rule of law, including respect for basic human rights'.

Deadly clashes between security forces and opposition demonstrators in Guinea's capital Conakry erupted after some 50,000 people gathered in a stadium to protest against the junta leader Captain Moussa Dadis Camara who seized power in a bloodless coup last year.

According to an AFP poll, at least 87 people lost their lives in the attack and the number could rise further as some of the injured were said to be in critical condition.

In his first public comment on the violence, Camara told Senegal's RFM radio station that he 'was really disgusted' about the violence and that he would 'rather die' than see people get killed.

International condemnation also mounted on Tuesday, with former colonial ruler France calling on the junta to 'show responsibility and to listen to the Guinean people's legitimate aspiration to democratically choose their leaders'.

Washington also expressed 'deep concern' about the breakdown in Conakry and urged the Guinean government to ensure the safety of its citizens and foreign nationals 'in accordance with universally accepted standards of human rights'.

The protests were held to oppose any bid by Camara or the other junta leaders to run for president in the elections due next January.

Camara had promised that no one in his ruling Junta would run for public office after he took power in last December's coup.

The coup took place in the West African nation hours after the death of Guinea's strongman leader Lansana Conte, who had been in power since 1984.

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A Guinean protester holds a sign reading: 'No to Dadis' on September 28, 2009, during a rally banned by Guinea's ruling junta, who cracked down on the demonstrators, reportedly killing scores.

Rights groups have raised the death toll in clashes between Guinea's junta and opposition demonstrators to at least 157 people, with another 1,253 said to have been wounded.

The Guinean Human Rights Organization announced the new figure on Tuesday, a day after troops cracked down on about 50,000 opposition supporters gathering in the capital, Conakry, for a demonstration banned by the ruling junta.

The protesters were opposing a potential candidacy by the leader of last year's coup, Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, in the country's 2010 presidential vote.

The opposition Union of Republican Forces had earlier said that 128 corpses were delivered to two Conakry hospitals after Monday's shootings, amid accusations of rape by the troops.

A Red Cross source said military commanders ordered all bodies at the stadium to be taken to the Alpha Yaya Diallo military camp, the junta headquarters, rather than to morgues.

Camara says he has no knowledge of the rapes but rights groups have reported several cases, adding that clashes continued in the capital, with soldiers shooting dead a youth on Tuesday.

Mamadi Kaba, head of the Guinean branch of the African Encounter for the Defense of Human Rights (RADDHO), told AFP that the rapes of women has started from the stadium in Conakry, where the protesters had gathered, and had continued into the army barracks.

The United Nations, African Union and European Union have all expressed concern over the killings.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon denounced "excessive use of force" and said he was "shocked by the loss of life, the high number of people injured and the destruction of property."

Camara seized power in the west African nation following a bloodless coup within hours of the death of Guinea's long-time leader Lansana Conte in December last year. Conte had been in power since 1984.

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NIGER, 29 September 2009 (IRIN) - Despite efforts to accommodate disabled students in Niger's schools, a lack of trained specialists limits the number of children schools can serve, according to the NGO Handicap International.

"Schools for blind and deaf persons do not have qualified teachers to work with this population," Abdourhamane Barké, an outreach worker with Handicap International in the capital Niamey, told IRIN.

Niger has five such schools in the capital Niamey. There are an estimated 4,500 people under 18 with disabilities, according to a 2009 Handicap International survey.

Since 2000 schools in Niger have offered additional instruction to help these children prepare for regular class work. In 2008 72 teachers were working with 272 deaf children in Niamey and in Maradi and Zinder in the southeast. Some 100 blind students are also enrolled.

Students get additional instruction for three years in these "integration classes" in sign language and Braille, alongside regular classroom instruction, according to the special education division in the Ministry of Education.

But most children classified as handicapped never make it to the classroom. Mariam*, a 25-year-old disabled professional who recently completed a master's degree, is an exception. "I owe my success to the support of family who stood by me through my coursework.”

Mariam is an exception because children with physical or mental disabilities are generally destined to a life of begging, said Fatou Sidibé, deputy director of the special education division. "They are pulled out of school to beg by families who see these children as a source of income," she told IRIN.

Education can break the "vicious cycle of poverty" that often entraps children with disabilities, said Niger's Minister of Education Mamadou Ousmane Sambo at a two-day Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) workshop, "Education as a Right for All", which ended on 24 September in Niamey.

For the 2008 academic school year, just over US$250,000 was set aside for schools in Niamey to work with disabled youth.

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South Africa's Petra Diamonds, Ltd. has found diamond the size of a chicken egg at the country's Cullinan mine northeast of Pretoria.

The diamond, discovered Thursday, might be one of the world's top 20 high-quality gems, The New York Times reported.

The company's chief executive, Johan Dippenaar, said in a Tuesday statement that the 507.55-carat gem was of “exceptional color and clarity.”

The diamond weighs over 100 grams and has not been valued yet.

The world's largest diamond was also found at the Cullinan mine. It was 3,106 carats when uncut and its polished version was used in Britain's Imperial Scepter as part of the Crown Jewels.

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HARARE, 29 September 2009 (IRIN) - The increasing incidence of wild fires is eroding food production in Zimbabwe, which remains a food insecure country despite a turnaround in agricultural production.

The Environment Management Agency, a government department, said recently that veld fires were being reported mainly in areas settled by new farmers, the recipients of President Robert Mugabe's fast-track land reform programme, which began in 2000 and has led to more than 4,000 white commercial farms being redistributed to landless blacks.

About 46,000 hectares of arable land has gone up in flames in recent months. Environment Africa (EA), a non-governmental organization promoting environmental management and biodiversity practices, said the capacity to fight wild fires had also been diminished in the past decade as a consequence of the country's economic contraction.

"The ability to put out fires is currently not there, and it will take some time before those charged with safeguarding the environment can respond to fire outbreaks timeously and effectively," EA spokesperson Deliwe Utete told IRIN.

"We are poorly equipped as a country, even though we are aware that there are moves by the meteorological department to source disaster identification and prevention technology." She said the increase in wildfires had been exacerbated by the nature of land redistribution.

"The patterns of ownership that resulted from the fast-track land reform programme make it easy for fires to spread - plots have been carved up to accommodate several farmers on a single plot, and the new occupants no longer prioritize putting up structures that guard against fire outbreaks."

In the first quarter of 2009, nearly seven million Zimbabweans were relying on emergency food aid, but this number is expected to decrease to around 2.8 million by the first quarter of 2010.

The land reform programme that sparked the country's decade of economic shrinkage, as well as dry weather patterns and political instability, are blamed for turning the country from a net food exporter to a donor-dependent state.

The formation of a unity government in February 2009 is gradually turning the country's fortunes around, although analysts believe it will be many years before Zimbabwe recovers.

Utete said the new farmers did not appreciate the importance of firebreaks and the situation was compounded by the absence of environment officers, who used to educate communities about fire management.

Denford Chimbwanda, president of the Grain Cereals Producers Association (GCPA), blamed government and the resettled farmers for not doing enough to prevent the fires.

Government failing to take action

"The government does not seem to be interested in fire prevention any more, and for as long as tough action is not taken against offenders, they will continue to cause veld fires, which are worse this year than in previous years. Even if we receive good rains this year, the amount of food that we should have produced has been reduced before the farming season starts," Chimbwanda told IRIN.

"Our members from across the country have reported losing inputs, food reserves, and draught power [animals used for ploughing] in the fires that have also killed people, while livestock will have nowhere to graze because pastures have been destroyed."

He said it was not possible to quantify the losses, but "Many households will be forced to buy food using scarce resources because of these veld fires."

Vice President Joice Mujuru announced the formation of various committees to combat the rise in veld fires, but told the local media "It [environmental management] is not a priority for most of our people in business, government and society at large."

Innocent Makwiramiti, a former chief executive officer of the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce, now an economist based in the capital, Harare, was not optimistic about any meaningful response to the veld fires.

"The government is currently broke and it would be difficult to deploy these committees effectively. In any case, the damage is already done, and attention should be put on how best to help those farmers whose preparations have been adversely affected by the veld fires."

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Administration building of Swaziland's main prison in Matsapha

JOHANNESBURG, 29 September 2009 (IRIN) - Global rights group Amnesty International has denounced the use of excessive force by Swaziland's correctional services officers against journalists and political activists after a demonstration at one of the main country's prisons turned violent.

The attack on 21 September by prison security guards at Matsapha Central Prison, a maximum security facility 25km east of the capital, Mbabane, occurred shortly after Mario Masuku, head of the banned opposition People's United Democratic Movement, was acquitted of terrorism charges.

"The security officers reacted aggressively to the presence at the prison gate of some 50 noisy but peaceful, unarmed supporters awaiting Mario Masuku's release from the prison ... Without any official warning to disperse, security officers charged into the group at the gate," said a statement by Amnesty.

A number of leading political activists were allegedly assaulted, and the officers "demanded that the journalists stop filming and photographing - the actions were violations of the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and information," the statement noted.

The international rights group has urged the government of Swaziland to institute a judicially led public inquiry into the attack.


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Members of the Al-shabab: Tension is rising in Kismayo following fears of impending fighting between the Islamist group and Hisbul-Islam (file photo)

NAIROBI, 29 September 2009 (IRIN) - Tension is rising in Somalia's southern coastal city of Kismayo following fears of impending fighting between Islamist groups Al-Shabab and Hisbul-Islam due to a split within their ranks, local sources told IRIN.

The two groups control Kismayo, 500km south of the capital Mogadishu, and much of the country's southern regions.

The tension follows a decision by Al-Shabab to ignore an earlier agreement between the two that control of the city would rotate between them, a businessman resident in Kismayo, who requested anonymity, said.

"When they [Islamists] captured Kismayo in 2008, they agreed that Al-Shabab will govern for the first six months and then Hisbul-Islam will take over, but Al-Shabab now refuses to honour that agreement," he said.

He said both sides had brought troop reinforcements into the city. Al-Shabab was reported to be digging in on the southern side of the city while Hisbul-Islam had set up defensive positions in the north.

Some residents have started fleeing their homes to safe areas because of the tension.

Contacted by IRIN Radio, Sheikh Ahmed Sheikh Mohamed of Hisbul-Islam admitted there was a problem between the two groups but said talks were ongoing to resolve the differences.

"Elders and professionals are mediating and I am hopeful we will find a solution."

However, he said people's fears were justified given the current situation, "but the opposing sides should resolve their differences by peaceful means and not through violence. A solution is to form a unified administration that brings all on board."

Attempts by IRIN to contact Al-Shabab were unsuccessful.

Mahamud Abaysane, an internally displaced person (IDP) in Kismayo, said: "Many people have already moved to the outskirts of the city to avoid being caught in the middle."

Among those leaving the city were many displaced families. "Hundreds of families have left the camps since Sunday," he said.

The families are said to be going to the north of the city and towards Mogadishu. "They really don’t know where they are going but they want to be out before fighting starts here," Abaysane added.

He said many IDPs had very little to begin with "and now they are on the run again".

Cut off from aid

Abaysane said since the Islamists had taken control of the city, there had been little help from aid agencies. "We are cut off from all assistance," he added.

Another business source told IRIN that people in Kismayo expected fighting to start at any time.

"There are no serious mediations going on and both sides are sticking to their positions," he said. "Unless by some miracle there is a breakthrough, I really don’t see how they can avoid war."

He said a meeting between the two sides had been held but "nothing was achieved".

Business in the city was at a standstill, "with many merchants removing their wares quietly", while the business community was "hoping and praying that the two sides will find a common ground to avoid violence", he added.

At the heart of the matter is a power struggle between the two Islamist groups that have been fighting the government, said another source. "As a partner, Hisbul-Islam feels they have been marginalized by Al-Shabab and I think they have now decided that enough is enough."

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Pro-government troops patrol the streets in southern Mogadishu, as violence intensifies in Somalia.

Somalia's most powerful militant group, al-Shabaab, has reportedly executed two alleged CIA agents in the country's restive capital, Mogadishu.

The group, which has publicly announced its loyalty to al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, issued the execution order after finding the two men guilty of spying for the United States.

According to witnesses, however, the two men were shot dead early on Monday in al-Shabaab's Maslah camp in northern Mogadishu.

The development comes as government troops recaptured the strategic central town of Beledweyne, some 332 kilometers (206 miles) north of the capital.

Heavy Fighting erupted early on Monday after Somali soldiers carried out a pre-dawn attack on the town's western wing, forcing rebels loyal to another influential militant group called Hizbul Islam to evacuate their bases.

The number of casualties remain unclear, with some sources saying as many as 15 people, most of them militants, were killed in the attack.

Meanwhile, the beleaguered capital was the scene of more fighting, where at least 10 people were killed and 18 others injured, following fierce clashes between African Union troops and rebel forces.

Several artillery shells fired from both sides also slammed into residential areas, claiming an unknown number of civilian lives.

Rebel groups are fighting to overthrow a fragile western-backed transitional government in the Horn of Africa nation.

Violence has intensified in Somalia since an inland US operation angered the rebels, who have ever since vowed to retaliate with more attacks.

The US claims that the air strike had killed an alleged operative working for al-Qaeda.

Somalia has been marred by two decades of civil strife following the ouster of former dictator Mohammad Siad Bare in 1991.

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NAIROBI, 29 September 2009 (IRIN) - The continued degradation of the Mau complex - Kenya's largest water catchment area - threatening everything from the spectacular annual migration of the wildebeest to pastoralism, agriculture and hydro-power generation, has dominated public debate for the better part of 2009. The government’s plan to evict the illegal settlers has added to the controversy.

The threat posed by the continued depletion of the Mau complex ties in with the increasing concerns, on a global level, over loss of bio-diversity, increased carbon dioxide emissions as a result of forest cover loss, and poor soil and water resources.

However, while climate change could be a major contributor to the current crisis in the Mau complex, the destruction of the forests has reduced the ability of the Mau eco-system to absorb or reduce the impact of climate change, increasing the vulnerability of the people to changing weather patterns.

We look at some of the issues surrounding the country's largest closed-canopy forest eco-system:

Where is the Mau Complex?

Mainly in the Rift Valley Province, the Mau is one of the country's five major water towers; it forms the upper catchment of the main rivers west of the province. The rivers are: Njoro and Makalia (these drain into Lake Nakuru), Sondu, Yala, Nzoia and Nyando (draining into Lake Victoria) and the Ewaso Nyiro, Kerio and Mara rivers.

The complex supplies water to many lakes in the Rift Valley, from Lake Turkana in the northwest to Lake Natron in neighbouring Tanzania - the only regular breeding site for millions of flamingos.

Historically, it is home to a minority group of indigenous forest dwellers, the Ogiek.

What is the size of the Mau complex?

It covers at least 400,000ha - as large as the forests of the Aberdares and Mt Kenya combined.

Over the past two decades, the complex has lost at least 107,000ha of forest cover due to irregular and unplanned settlements, logging and charcoal burning, as well as increased agriculture.

What is at stake if degradation of the complex continues?

The importance of the complex lies in the eco-system service it provides to the country and East Africa as a whole, including river flow regulation, flood mitigation, water storage, reduced soil erosion, bio-diversity, carbon sequestration, carbon reservoir and micro-climate regulation.

The area contributes to the water supply to urban areas and supports the livelihood of millions of people in rural areas but the widespread irregular and poorly planned settlement and illegal forest resource extraction have affected the ecosystem, from water supply for commercial and domestic use to hydro-electric power generation, tourism and agriculture.

Moreover, experts have warned that continued destruction of the complex will lead to a water crisis that could extend beyond the country's borders.

According to a September 2009 report by the government's Interim Coordinating Secretariat for the Mau Forest Complex on the rehabilitation of the Mau Forest Ecosystem, if encroachment and unsustainable exploitation of the eco-system continue, damage could be irreversible, with serious ecological consequences and ramifications for internal security.

When did degradation of the complex begin?

Originally divided into 22 blocks, the real devastation of the complex began in 1997 when the government allocated large plots of land to individuals in what was seen as a political bid to win votes during the general elections that year. The present government has said all land allocations in the late 1990s are illegal and wants to evict the occupants.

What is controversial about the Mau?

The government and conservationists agree that quick action needs to be taken to stop the continued destruction of the complex but Rift Valley politicians are divided over the eviction of those deemed to be illegally settled in the complex. Sections of government want the Mau settlers evicted without compensation while most MPs from the province insist they must be fully compensated.

Already, cases of intimidation have been reported in areas surrounding the forest while conflict over water points, pasture and land has been on the rise in recent months.

How many people would be affected by the government's planned evictions?

An estimated 50,000 people are expected to be moved out of the forest once the government begins to execute its plan to save the area. Humanitarian agencies estimate up to 500,000 people could be displaced should violence follow.

Already, there are reports of communities living in the Mau arming them

What is being done to save the complex?

On 9 September 2009, the UN Environment Programme and Kenyan government launched a US$400 million appeal to save the complex, aimed at raising funds for its rehabilitation.

"The Mau complex is of critical importance for sustaining current and future ecological, social and economic development in Kenya. The rehabilitation of the eco-system will require substantial resources and political goodwill. UNEP is privileged to work in partnership with the Government of Kenya towards the implementation of this vital project," Achim Steiner, the UN Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director, said during the launch.

What will it take to reverse the destruction of the complex?

The restoration of the Mau is a strategic priority that requires substantial resources and political will.

On 4 September, Prime Minister Raila Odinga launched an interim secretariat to co-ordinate the implementation of a multi-stakeholder taskforce’s recommendations on the rehabilitation of the complex.

The recommendations include fencing off the area, as well as relocating individuals living in the forest.

A 10-point intervention plan was identified by the 11-member secretariat to implement the recommendations of the Mau Forest Task Force for immediate and medium-term action.

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NAIROBI , 29 September 2009 (IRIN) - Patients at an advanced stage of Human African Trypanosomiasis, or sleeping sickness, can now access more convenient, safer and cheaper treatment after the introduction of Nifurtimox-Eflornithine Combination Therapy (NECT).

Developed by the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi) and partners, NECT comprises the administration of oral nifurtimox, and eflornithine injections for 10 days.

Past treatment has either been the widely-used arsenic-based melarsoprol injections, which kill an estimated five percent of patients, or eflornithine monotherapy, which requires 56 one-hour infusions in 14 days.

The diagnosis of sleeping sickness, which is spread by the bite of an infected tsetse fly, involves puncturing the lower back (lumbar) for a spinal fluid sample to determine whether parasites have invaded the brain.

Brain invasion in advanced stages leads to problems such as confusion, personality changes, slurred speech, seizures, and difficulty walking and talking - left untreated, the disease is fatal. At the initial stages, symptoms include fever and aching muscles and joints.

Sleeping sickness is endemic in 36 African countries and affects an estimated 50,000 to 70,000 people at any one time.

DNDi estimates that NECT will cost about 223 Euros (about 232 $US), half the cost of eflornithine monotherapy.


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Guinean police arrest a protester on September 28, 2009, amid reports that at least 10 people were killed in clashes between the troops and demonstrators.

Security forces have opened fire on opposition protestors in Guinea, killing at least 10 people at the city stadium in the capital, Conakry.

Reports on Monday cited journalists and witnesses as saying at least 10 people had been shot dead after presidential guard troops, backed by riot police, used teargas and live ammunition to evacuate several thousand people gathered in the September 20 stadium for a rally against junta leader Captain Moussa Dadis Camara.

The demonstrators were throwing stones at the forces during the clashes.

The demonstration sought to signify opposition to plans by Camara, who seized power in December 2008, to re-run for president in elections due in about six months.

Local journalists have been raising fears that the death toll was likely to rise, noting that they had counted at least 27 bodies.

Meanwhile, a doctor, working at Conakry's largest hospital, told AFP, on the condition of anonymity, that dozens of corpses have arrived at the morgue there.

"It's butchery! There are dozens of dead," said the unnamed doctor.

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A Somali refugee in Aden, Yemen (file photo): Thousands of Somalis and Ethiopians are in Bosasso, the commercial capital of Somalia's self-declared autonomous region of Puntland, attempting to cross the Gulf of Aden into Yemen

NAIROBI, 28 September 2009 (IRIN) - The authorities of Somalia's self-declared autonomous region of Puntland have begun cracking down on would-be migrants and people smugglers, who have been using its ports to reach the Gulf States, a senior police officer told IRIN.

He said thousands of Somalis and Ethiopians had gathered in Bosasso, the commercial capital, with the aim of attempting to cross the Gulf of Aden into Yemen.

"We estimate there are between 3,000 and 5,000 migrants currently in and around Bosasso," said Col Osman Hassan Awke, the Bari regional police chief.

He said security units had taken over some of the beach ports used by smugglers to pick up migrants.

"Marere beach [10km south of Bosasso], which was one of the main ports used by smugglers, is now a police post," Awke said, adding that despite the police effort in Puntland to stem the flow of migrants, "they still continue. We shut down one or two known ports and then they find another one."

He said the police would continue to set up posts on "most of the important beaches". However, he said the police did not have the means to stop the smuggling completely, without help from the international community.

According to the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, a total of 924 boats and more than 46,700 people have made the journey to Yemen from the Horn of Africa since January.

"So far this year, 322 are known to have drowned or went missing at sea and are presumed dead," Roberta Russo, spokeswoman for UNHCR Somalia, told IRIN on 28 September.

A local journalist, who requested anonymity, told IRIN the region's authorities had in the past tried to stem the migrant flow without success.

"They even tried to repatriate them to their homes in Ethiopia or southern Somalia but it did not work," the journalist said.

He said many migrants simply returned: "These are desperate people and no matter what, they will get on the boats if they want to."

Awke said the police had stopped repatriating migrants because "as soon as we send them they are back, and we don’t have the resources to keep sending them back".

He claimed aid agencies were not doing enough to help with the situation, adding that there was not even an official camp to host the migrants. "They are all over the place, which makes policing them that much more difficult."

However, Russo said: “In 2006 there was an attempt to create a camp for the migrants, but the initiative failed as, instead of protecting its inhabitants, the camp became a breeding ground for all kinds of violations.”

In 2009, the agencies and authorities reconsidered the option of opening a camp but abandoned the idea.

Russo added that UNHCR and its partners were distributing information on the dangers of crossing the Gulf of Aden and the options for migrants and asylum seekers.

The journalist said Puntland had a long coastline and would be hard-pressed to police it. "They [the authorities] don’t have the resources to effectively patrol it."

Smugglers were reportedly charging each migrant US$150 to $200 for the trip to Yemen, said the journalist. "Many migrants will have to work for over a year to make that kind of money."

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91-year-old Maphoka Tsolo now takes care of her two orphaned grandchildren

MATHEBE, 28 September 2009 (IRIN) - Despite her twisted spine and cataracts, Maphoka Tsolo, 91, still managed to lead the way down the steep narrow path behind her stone house in Mathebe, a small village in Mafeteng district, eastern Lesotho, determined to show why her orphaned great-grandchildren deserved the money from the government's cash grants scheme.

"With nothing growing here it is very difficult to take care of myself and the children," she said, pointing to her tiny plot of fallow land with a home made walking stick cut from a tree branch. She lost her husband and her three children "a very long time ago", and old age had brought nothing but hunger, physical pain and financial misery.

Her grandson disappeared eight years ago, so there was no one to work the rain-starved land. "He said he was going to look for work but he never came back." She had to stretch her 300 Maloti (US$39) monthly pension to support herself and the two children her grandson left behind.

Her situation is not uncommon: according to the Department of Social Welfare (DSW) Lesotho has more than 180,000 orphaned children, of which 55 percent have lost one or both parents to HIV/AIDS-related illnesses. About 23.2 percent of the nearly two million population of this tiny landlocked country are HIV positive - one of the highest HIV prevalence rates worldwide.

Rescue in cash

At the beginning of 2009, Tsolo and her great-grandchildren were thrown a lifeline when the local Village Verification Committee (VVC) - consisting of the chief, a community councillor, two volunteers from caregiver groups, and a DSW representative - identified her household as one of the poorest and most vulnerable with children.

Being in the bottom 10 percent meant she would be eligible for a quarterly amount of $47 from the Lesotho Child Grants Programme (CGP), which would ease the poverty that prevented the children from having enough to eat, staying healthy and going to school.

Mantoa Sejake, a Senior Child Welfare Officer at the DSW, commented: "That might seem like a small amount, but for those that are targeted this is very meaningful." The money would help cover the cost of school fees, uniforms, health care and other needs.

The CGP has targeted some 5,000 orphaned and vulnerable children living in 1,250 child-headed households, low-income households caring for AIDS orphans, and other vulnerable children in three communities - Matelile in Mafeteng District, Semonkong in Maseru District, and Lebakeng in Qacha's Nek district - in the pilot phase of the programme.

The European Commission donated $7.3 million to the project, and the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) provided technical assistance. The government eventually hopes to extend the programme throughout the country.

How poor is poor enough?

Mohemmad Farooq, a UNICEF social policy specialist who helped design the programme, said around 60 percent of the population were living below the poverty line and the country's resources were limited, so prioritization of the most destitute households was crucial, yet extremely challenging.

"Giving people money is very sensitive. Who is the most deserving? If we look at the indicators, we have divided the 'poor' category into three - poor, very poor and destitute - and we were focusing on destitute only." He recognized the danger of creating a dependency on cash handouts, but also noted that the programme came at a time of rising desperation.

Years of chronic food insecurity due to erratic weather and soil erosion, the impact of HIV/AIDS, persistently high rates of unemployment - aggravated by retrenchments in Lesotho's textile industry and the mines in neighbouring South Africa, on which many people depended for survival - meant deepening poverty across the country.

"And with the financial crisis the cost of living has gone up; this hits the poorest of the poor the hardest," Farooq said. "Many people live just above the poverty line - it only takes a small shock to bring them down into poverty." Lesotho now imports 70 percent of its food, mostly from South Africa, making it particularly vulnerable to food and fuel price hikes in that country.

"At this stage social protection is not a choice. If you don't provide this type of coping mechanism people will go into negative coping mechanisms, like taking children out of school so that they can work, selling off assets - if they have any - or taking loans with high interest rates, for which they could end up in bonded labour, so the situation will get worse," Farooq said.

The grants are to be spent mainly at the discretion of the household, but the programme includes a social mobilization and sensitization campaign. "We have a community-based targeting mechanism [through the VVCs]; people are sensitized to learn that the money should benefit the children."

Attaching conditions like mandatory school attendance were not always feasible. "There is a problem with the supply side here - you can't say you will only give the grant if the child goes to school, when often there are no schools to go to in the first place," Farooq commented.

Primary education is free in Lesotho, but poverty keeps thousands of children out of school "because of the indirect costs like books, uniforms and transportation", he said.

Tsolo picked up her first payment in April and a second in July, and said she looked forward to the next one in October. The money had gone on food, a school uniform for the 12-year-old girl, shoes for the eight-year-old boy, and school fees; and, she shyly admitted, "I also bought shoes for myself."

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Protesters in Guinea during a nationwide strike in 2006, carrying a sign calling for change (file photo)

DAKAR, 28 September 2009 (IRIN) - Recently a commercial billboard near Guinea’s presidential palace featured three towering question marks on a white background. That image matches the way many Guineans describe their country’s current condition, eight months after Moussa Dadis Camara came to power in a bloodless coup: utter uncertainty.

When Camara took power citizens poured into the streets cheering; Guineans say they were celebrating a rupture with the 24-year regime of Lansana Conté.

“We hate that the military has taken power again,” a Guinean told IRIN the day of the coup. “But we hate it less than we hated the Conté regime.”

Now many Guineans are wondering where the Camara government - which calls itself the National Council for Democracy and Development - is taking the country. Here is a timeline of some events since independence from France in 1958.

28 September 2009 - Guineans take to the streets protesting the candidacy junta leader Moussa Dadis Camara, defying a ban by authorities on a planned rally. Residents say scores killed and injured as military cracked down on demonstrators

22 September 2009 - International contact group on Guinea welcomes a decision by the African Union expressing concern about whether junta members keeping to a commitment not to run in presidential elections; contact group expresses "grave concerns" about delays in the electoral process and the deterioration of the political, human rights and security situation in Guinea

22 September 2009 - Supporters of Moussa Dadis Camara demonstrate in the capital Conakry

19 September 2009 - Leaders of political parties and civil society call for a 28 September rally to protest Camara's candidacy

17 September 2009 - Peace and Security Council of the African Union threatens sanctions against junta leader Moussa Dadis Camara "and all other individuals, both civilian and military" whose activities run counter to a commitment that no members of the ruling National Council for Development and Democracy would be a presidential candidate. AU expresses "deep concern over the deteriorating situation in Guinea" and "strongly condems the repudiation" of this commitment by Camara

23 August 2009 - Coalition of civil society organizations, unions, political parties, religious groups call on Guineans not to allow junta “to confiscate power”

19 August 2009 - Junta leader Moussa Dadis Camara tells journalists whether he runs for president "is up to God”

17 August 2009 - Ruling National Council for Democracy and Development (CNDD) accepts recommendation by civil society organizations, political parties, unions and religious groups to hold presidential election in January 2010, legislative election in March 2010

13 August 2009 - Junta leader Moussa Dadis Camara announces the formation of a national transitional council, called for by national and international groups in March

June 2009 - Following debate over the feasibility of holding elections in 2009, civil society organizations, political parties, religious groups and unions form a committee to evaluate election timetable

March 2009 - International community calls on CNDD to work with political parties, civil society organizations, unions to form a transitional council

March 2009 - Ruling CNDD says it will hold presidential election by end of 2009

February 2009 - Junta arrests son of deceased president Lansana Conté, Ousmane Conté, as part of a crackdown on suspected drug traffickers

January 2009 - The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) rejects a military-led transition in Guinea and bars junta members from attending meetings of any decision-making bodies

January 2009 - An international contact group on Guinea is formed, including representatives of ECOWAS, the African Union Commission, the European Union, the Mano River Union, the Organization of the Islamic Conference and the UN Security Council

25 December 2008 - Prime Minister Ahmed Tidiane Souaré and other government officials turn themselves in at Alpha Yaya Diallo army barracks, CNDD headquarters

25 December 2008 - Moussa Dadis Camara announces presidential elections would be held after a two-year transition and he would not be a candidate

24 December 2008 - Moussa Dadis Camara proclaims himself president and head of the new National Council for Democracy and Development

23 December 2008 - In the early morning hours government officials announce that President Lansana Conté died the previous evening; confusion reigns as soldiers announce on state media they have dissolved government and taken over, while Prime Minister Ahmed Tidiane Souaré insists the government is intact

June 2008 - Police launch protests over salary arrears, provoking deadly clashes with military

May 2008 - Soldiers mutiny over pay, with several soldiers and civilians killed or injured in the unrest; Lansana Conté eventually dismisses defence minister

May 2008 – Lansana Conté sacks Prime Minister Lansana Kouyaté and names political ally Ahmed Tidiane Souaré , in a move Human Rights Watch said dealt “a serious blow to hopes that mass protest and ‘people power’ could bring reform”

May 2007 - Soldiers stage protests over salary arrears and living conditions

February 2007 - Following strike and unrest Lansana Conté names Lansana Kouyaté as “consensus” prime minister

January 2007 - In January Guineans massively heed another union call for a national strike; hundreds are killed in crackdown by military

2006 - Union-led national strikes paralyse country; several students are killed by security forces in protests over cancelled exams

2005 - Presidential motorcade of Lansana Conté fired upon in the capital Conakry

2003 - Lansana Conté re-elected in an opposition-boycotted poll

2001 - A referendum changes the constitution to allow president to run for a third term and increase the term from five to seven years; opposition rejects the vote as rigged, calls for boycott

2000-01 - Guinean army fights off incursions by rebels at borders with Liberia and Sierra Leone

1998 - Lansana Conté wins presidential election, which opposition denounces as rigged

1996 - Army mutiny. Loyalist troops eventually repulse attacks on the presidential palace

1993 - Lansana Conté wins Guinea’s first multi-party election, which is boycotted by opposition groups and marred by demonstrations

1990 - Guineans vote for new constitution, with a call to end one-party military rule

1989 - Conflict in neighbouring Liberia forces thousands to flee into Guinea; between 1989 and 2002 Guinea would receive some 750,000 refugees from the wars in Liberia and Sierra Leone, thousands more from Côte d’Ivoire after that country’s 2002 rebellion

1984 - President Ahmed Sékou Touré dies in March; Lansana Conté takes power in a coup in April

1970 - Dissidents attack Guinea in an unsuccessful attempt to bring down President Ahmed Sékou Touré; the incident is seen as intensifying Touré’s repression of opponents

1965 - President Ahmed Sékou Touré cuts relations with colonial power France, until 1975

1958 - Independence, with Ahmed Sékou Touré as president

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