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Friday 29 April 2005


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IRIN-SA Weekly Round-up 227 for 16-22 April 2005

[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

CONTENTS:

COMOROS: Emergency teams on standy as volcano rumbles
ANGOLA: Cultural practices raise risk of Marburg spreading
MADAGASCAR: Calm after student riots rock university campus
NAMIBIA: New challenge to election results
ZIMBABWE: NGO urges unity to counter socioeconomic emergency
SOUTHERN AFRICA: HIV/AIDS, poverty keeping children from schools, says UNICEF
INDIAN OCEAN: Plans for tsunami warning system advancing well, ISDR
SOUTH AFRICA: Land claim could change the destiny of a people
SWAZILAND: Child rights advocates highlight plight of under-fives
MOZAMBIQUE: Small grants programme to promote sustainable development
MALAWI: Loan scheme to assist rural poor

COMOROS: Emergency teams on standy as volcano rumbles

Emergency teams were on standby in the Comoros after the Karthala volcano on the island of Grand Comore began spewing ash and smoke at the weekend.

An estimated 10,000 villagers, fearing the release of toxic gas, fled their homes on Sunday on the eastern part of the island - the largest in the Indian Ocean archipelego.

Full report

Affected villages get water

About 36 villages affected by ash from the Karthala volcano on the main island of Grand Comore began receiving water on Thursday, a senior UN official told IRIN.

"About 90 percent of the cisterns in the villages contain water that is undrinkable now," said Aloys Kamuragiye, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) representative in Comoros.

At least 38,000 people have been affected by the contamination of the water tanks.

Full report

Govt outlines austerity measures to IMF

Comoran authorities are hoping that a series of belt-tightening measures will strengthen the economy and boost investor confidence.

In a letter of intent to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) dated 2 February, the government said it was determined to reform fiscal policy, mainly by reining in state expenditure and overhauling the tax system.

Full report

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ANGOLA: Cultural practices raise risk of Marburg spreading

Traditional funeral rites in Angola are putting the families of Marburg victims at risk of contracting the killer virus.

For most Angolan families, preparing the body, and kissing and embracing the deceased loved one are integral to bidding a final farewell. But the secretions from a body increase after death, making such practices highly dangerous in the case of a Marburg-related death.

Full report

Report highlights gaps in response to IDP needs

A new report on the management of providing assistance and protection to internally displaced persons (IDPs) has highlighted several gaps in current aid programming.

A comprehensive report by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) found that "more than 24 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) lack satisfactory judicial protection" in countries across the globe, as in Angola for instance, where civil war displaced thousands of people.

Full report

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MADAGASCAR: Calm after student riots rock university campus

Malagasy officials called for calm on Thursday after a student protest in the capital, Antananarivo, turned violent.

Close to 500 students from the University of Antananarivo took to the streets on Wednesday to demonstrate against a new government decree cutting university places, defence ministry spokesman Paul Andre confirmed.

Full report

Major US funding to boost agriculture

Madagascar could be on its way to a brighter economic future, after becoming the first recipient of a US aid initiative that rewards developing countries for their commitment to political and economic reforms.

The US $110 million, four-year aid package was officially signed on 18 April in Washington by Madagascar's President Marc Ravalomanana and Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) chief executive officer Paul Applegarth.

Full report

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NAMIBIA: New challenge to election results

Four opposition parties have jointly applied to Namibia's High Court to have the November 2004 elections declared null and void, with the request that the poll be rerun.

"The Republican Party (RP) already filed the court application a few minutes before 17h00 on 15 April, the 30-day deadline to challenge the recount results," said Henk Mudge, president of the RP, "but due to technical reasons we could only make this public now."

Full report

More refugees want to return to Caprivi, UNHCR

The voluntary repatriation of refugees from Botswana to Namibia's Caprivi region has encouraged others to follow suit, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) told IRIN.

UNHCR spokeswoman Melita Sunjic said the repatriation of eight adults and four children last Friday was the first since 2002.

Full report

Govt prepares to tackle illegal arms trafficking

Namibia has launched a National Action Plan (NAP) as part of a regional initiative to tackle trafficking in illegal small arms and light weapons.

The NAP would "effectively and comprehensively deal with and address the proliferation of weapons within our borders and the Southern African Development Community (SADC)," said President Hifikepunye Pohamba at the launch of the plan on Friday.

Full report

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ZIMBABWE: NGO urges unity to counter socioeconomic emergency

As Zimbabwe marked 25 years of independence on Monday, Actionaid International urged the government, opposition and civil society to unite in confronting an economic crisis that has hit the poorest hardest.

With the 31 March election over, the advocacy group called for national attention to be focused on the rights of the vulnerable, especially women, bruised by the ever-rising cost of living, food shortages and an HIV/AIDS epidemic that has infected one in four Zimbabweans.

Full report

"Solution to crisis lies within" says analyst

While South Africa is well-placed to resolve Zimbabwe's political troubles, the solution to the country woes lies in the hands of its leaders, according to analysts.

Chris Maroleng, a researcher at the Pretoria-based Institute for Security Studies, described as "unfortunate" the decision this week by Zimbabwean opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) not to participate in any South Africa-led initiative to end the political imbroglio.

Full report

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SOUTHERN AFRICA: HIV/AIDS, poverty keeping children from schools, says UNICEF

HIV/AIDS and poverty are the stumbling blocks to achieving the target of gender parity in most Southern African classrooms by 2015, according to the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF).

The latest UNICEF report, released on Monday, indicated that school enrolment statistics in five Southern African countries - three of them with extremely high HIV/AIDS prevalence rates - were not on course for achieving gender parity.

Full report

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INDIAN OCEAN: Plans for tsunami warning system advancing well, ISDR

Plans for a tsunami early warning system in the Indian Ocean are at an advanced stage, UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR) Director Salvano Briceno told IRIN on Monday.

Following a meeting of experts in Mauritius, Briceno said efforts to establish a tsunami early warning system were "going well", and although the pace of developments around the issue was "not yet ideal, there was a recognition by donors [attending the conference] that this was an important effort that they needed to support".

Full report

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SOUTH AFRICA: Land claim could change the destiny of a people

Gert Domroch has lived in the Nama village of Kuboes in a remote corner of South Africa's Northern Cape Province for all of his 75 years. From his backyard, the old man gestures with his pipe to the surrounding expanse of windswept desert against a backdrop of jagged volcanic mountains: "This is the land of our forefathers and we've been dispossessed."

The land he is referring to is known as the Richtersveld and extends about 100 km to the south to include the villages of Eksteenfontein and Lekkersing, as well as encompassing Richtersveld National Park to the north and the coastal towns of Port Nolloth and Alexander Bay.

Full report

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SWAZILAND: Child rights advocates highlight plight of under-fives

Child rights advocates have banded together in a bid to cope with ongoing concerns about the welfare of Southern Africa's children.

At a recent meeting organised by the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Swaziland, delegates from Lesotho, Malawi and South Africa highlighted the need to bolster care programmes targeting children under five years.

Full report

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MOZAMBIQUE: Small grants programme to promote sustainable development

The Global Environment Facility (GEF) has launched a small grants programme in Mozambique, aimed at encouraging NGOs and community-based groups to engage in environmentally friendly activities that promote sustainable livelihoods.

Programme director Augusto Correia said the Mozambique project totalled US $50,000.

"We can reduce our vulnerability to natural disasters by promoting environmentally friendly activities. For example, we need to promote activities that use biogas and hydropower, and reduce the use of charcoal and firewood," Correia said.

Full report

WFP extends food aid as vulnerability rises

The World Food Programme (WFP) in Mozambique is extending its aid programme until June, as preliminary reports point to rising food needs in the south and central regions.

WFP information officer Kerstin Reisdorf said on Friday that the UN food agency was assisting around 150,000 people in the most affected districts in the south and centre of the country as an initial response to the food shortages expected from April to June.

Full report

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MALAWI: Loan scheme to assist rural poor

Malawi's rural poor have cautiously welcomed a government-sponsored loan scheme, saying similar aid packages in the past have tended to favour supporters of the ruling party.

The scheme, introduced three months ago, is worth around Kwacha 5 billion (US $44 million) and is expected to provide small loans to impoverished rural households, in a bid to assist thousands of families struggling to make ends meet.

Full report

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[ENDS]

Other recent SOUTHERN AFRICA reports:

Large cross-border informal food trade recorded, 26/Apr/05

HIV/AIDS, poverty keeping children from schools, says UNICEF, 18/Apr/05

Recurrent dry spells "cause for concern", 15/Apr/05

IRIN-SA Weekly Round-up 226 for 9-15 April 2005, 15/Apr/05

Marburg toll rises as neighbours go on high alert, 11/Apr/05

Other recent reports:

ETHIOPIA: Final piece of obelisk returned, 26/Apr/05

IRAQ: Government works to support newlyweds, 25/Apr/05

NEPAL: Humanitarian re-orientation needed, says UN official, 25/Apr/05

ZIMBABWE: Call to boycott elections, 25/Apr/05

CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap, 22/Apr/05

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