U N I T E D   N A T I O N S
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Integrated Regional Information Network for Central and Eastern Africa

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e-mail: irin@ocha.unon.org


CENTRAL AND EASTERN AFRICA
IRIN-CEA Weekly Round-up 251
30 October - 5 November 2004


CONTENTS:

DRC: Vice-President announces US $27.5 million for North Kivu
DRC: Belgium vows to maintain military cooperation
DRC: UN civilian accused of sexual abuse
BURUNDI: Tutsis finally accept interim constitution
BURUNDI: Ex-rebel group denies harassment claims
UGANDA: Washington gives US $100 million to combat HIV/AIDS
SUDAN: Deteriorating security jeopardizes aid efforts in Darfur
AFRICA: First ladies hold HIV/AIDS conference in Kigali


DRC: Vice-President announces US $27.5 million for
North Kivu Province

A former leader of a major armed group in the Democratic Republic of the
Congo, who is now a vice-president in the country's transitional
government, announced on Monday the clearance of a US $27.5-million
allotment for North Kivu Province.

The money will go to rebuilding Goma's infrastructure, which was damaged
in the 2002 volcanic eruption of Mt Nyiragongo, in the east of the
country. The infrastructure includes Goma's street lighting, water supply,
seven primary and secondary schools and the runway at the international
airport, which is still partly covered with lava.

Full report


DRC: Belgium vows to maintain military cooperation

Belgian Defence Minister Andre Flahaut ended a three-day working visit to
the DRC on Sunday with a promise to continue military cooperation with
Kinshasa despite a recent diplomatic hiatus between the two countries.

The first secretary at the Belgian embassy in Kinshasa, Bernard Quintin,
said in Kinshasa on Monday that Flahaut, who headed a ministerial
delegation to Kinshasa, had presented the government with 264 military
officers who have just finished a three-month training course as
instructors in Belgium.

Full report


DRC: UN civilian accused of sexual abuse

UN authorities in the Congo handed over a French UN civil servant to
French authorities on Sunday following allegations that accused sexually
molested children. The accused, who has not been name, had been working
for MONUC in the eastern town of Goma, Mamadou Bah, the spokesperson for
the UN Mission, said in Kinshasa.

Last week, two Tunisian UN peacekeepers were sent home following a UN
investigation into the sexual abuse of minors. The UN secretary-general's
adviser on the matter, Prince Zeid Al Hussein of Jordan, had travelled to
the Congo on 31 October.

Full report


BURUNDI: Tutsis finally accept interim constitution

Concerns over a constitutional crisis in Burundi abated on Monday when six
Tutsi-dominated parties dropped their long-standing opposition to the
country's current interim constitution.

The interim constitution is necessary to avoid a constitutional void, the
chairman of the main Tusti-dominated Parti de l'unite pour le progres
national, Jean Baptiste Manwangari, told reporters on Monday. However, he
said his parties still wanted changes to be made to the final
constitution.

The interim constitution has been in effect since 20 October when the
country's transitional, two-chamber parliament voted for it to stay in
force for six months.

Officially, the transition period ended on Monday, but the interim
constitution allows the country's institutions to stay in place until
elections are held in 2005. Local elections are scheduled for 9 February,
communal elections for 23 February and legislative elections for 9 March.

Full report
New interim
constitution ushers optimism


BURUNDI: Ex-rebel group denies harassment claims

A former main rebel movement in Burundi, the Conseil national pour la
defense de la democratie-Forces pour la defense de la democratie
(CNDD-FDD), led by Pierre Nkurunziza, has denied claims that its
combatants have been harassing the public in and around the capital,
Bujumbura.

An estimated 5,000 CNDD-FDD combatants, who now work alongside government
forces, have been accused of looting, arbitrary arrests and the illegal
detention of civilians. The claims follow an attack on Tuesday at
Nyabugiga, in Bujumbura's suburb of Kanyosha, where residents lost their
property to aggressors, whom witnesses said were CNDD-FDD combatants.

CNDD-FDD military spokesman Col Jeremie Ngendakuma told IRIN on Thursday
that the movement's combatants could not have been responsible for the
Kanyosha attack because the CNDD-FDD was preparing for elections, due in
April 2005, and could not mistreat the population from whom it would seek
votes.


UGANDA: Washington gives US $100 million to combat HIV/AIDS

The United States has given Uganda an additional US $100 million to fund
HIV/AIDS projects, including programmes to support orphans and other
vulnerable children, the US embassy announced on Monday.

The new funding is in addition to an estimated $100 million already
allocated to Uganda in 2004 to fund new or continuing HIV/AIDS prevention,
care and treatment programmes, the embassy said. The funds will be
disbursed mainly through NGOs that have HIV/AIDS projects in Uganda.

Full report


SUDAN: Deteriorating security jeopardizes aid efforts in Darfur

Some international relief agencies are scaling down their operations, or
pulling out altogether, following increased insecurity and rising tensions
in the west Sudanese region of Darfur, the UN Advance Mission in Sudan
(UNAMIS) said on Tuesday.

"The increased incidence of cattle rustling around the town of Zalingei in
west Darfur has upset the nomadic community," George Somerwill, deputy
spokesperson of UNAMIS, said. "The alleged abduction of 15 to 18 young
nomadic people of Arabic origin on 26 October has turned these tensions
into anger."

Adding to the tension, the Sudanese army has surrounded camps hosting
internally displaced persons (IDPs) near Nyala in southern Darfur,
impeding access by international aid agencies, Reuters news agency
reported today.

Full report
SUDAN:
Government, rebels welcome new AU security proposals


AFRICA: First ladies hold HIV/AIDS conference in Kigali

First ladies from five African countries began a meeting on Friday in the
Rwandan capital, Kigali, to map out strategies for combating the HIV/AIDS
pandemic that has devastated millions on the continent.

Under their association, the Organisation of African First Ladies Against
HIV/AIDS (OAFLA), the group, together with other stakeholders, is meeting
to review achievements over the past year and also come up with priorities
and strategies for the next two years.

Full report


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