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

Tel: +254 2 622147
Fax: +254 2 622129
e-mail: irin@ocha.unon.org


CENTRAL AND EASTERN AFRICA
IRIN-CEA Weekly Round-Up 386
9 - 15 June 2007


CONTENTS:

CAR: UN movement ban still in place
DRC: Conflict causes state of permanent displacement
CONGO: Ex-rebel leader renounces violence ahead of polls
CONGO-DRC: Human rights groups urge release of detainees
EAST AFRICA: Increased spending pledged for social services and IDPs
TANZANIA: Fistula aggravated by inadequate resources and ignorance
KENYA: Risk of disease as thousands hit by floods

See Also:

BURUNDI: Land tops list of challenges for returnees
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72726


CAR: UN movement ban still in place

Aid operations in northwestern Central African Republic (CAR) have yet
to resume, four days after an international staff member of the charity
Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) was killed, because the situation there
is still worrying, the United Nations said.

"I think the whole aid community was horrified by what happened," Toby
Lanzer, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in CAR said on 15 June. "We are
very concerned about the situation in the northwest." Elsa Serfass, 27,
was struck by a bullet while travelling in the Ngaoundai region on 11
June.

Full report:
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72748


DRC: Conflict causes state of permanent displacement

Intermittent clashes and frequent attacks on civilians by armed groups
in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have created a state of
permanent displacement in the volatile central African country, an
official of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said.

"There are a million internally displaced persons [IDPs], but each time
there is a successful return of IDPs, there are new displacements
because of conflicts elsewhere," said Judy Cheng-Hopkins, UNHCR's
assistant high commissioner for operations. "For us, the great challenge
is to provide protection and assistance to the IDPS, especially
protection against physical and sexual violence, protection of children,
civil protection," Cheng-Hopkins told IRIN in an interview in Kinshasa
on Tuesday.

Full report:
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72700


CONGO: Ex-rebel leader renounces violence ahead of polls

Congo's former rebel leader, Frederic Bintsangou, alias Pastor Ntoumi,
has renounced violence and vowed to work for the strengthening of peace
and democracy two weeks before legislative elections in which his former
armed group will participate.

"I am not a bandit, neither am I a barbarian or a turncoat," said Ntoumi
during a ceremony on 8 June to destroy weapons used by his Ninja militia
during the civil war. The rebels transformed themselves into a political
party this year. "I will keep my word. I will play my part in the
institutions so that we can maintain peace together," he said.

"I am determined to maintain peace and defend democracy," he added
during the ceremony in Kinkala, 75km south of the Congolese capital,
Brazzaville. About 60 small arms and six rifles were burned. Full
report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72656


CONGO-DRC: Human rights groups urge release of detainees

Human rights groups in the Republic of Congo and neighbouring Democratic
Republic of Congo (DRC) have called for the release of detainees in the
custody of security services in the two central African countries.

"We demand the immediate release, without condition, of all those
arrested and detained by security services in the two states," Floribert
Chebeya Bahizire, the president of the human rights NGO, La Voix des
sans voix (Voice of the voiceless), said at a news conference in
Brazzaville, capital of the Republic of Congo. He spoke after a meeting
attended by human rights groups from the two countries.

Full report:
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72657


EAST AFRICA: Increased spending pledged for social services and IDPs

In their budget proposals for 2007-2008, Kenya and Tanzania pledged to
boost spending on education and health, while Uganda set aside funds for
rehabilitating the conflict-ravaged north, where internally displaced
persons (IDPs) are returning to their villages. Finance ministers of the
three countries made the pledges when they simultaneously unveiled their
national budgets on 14 June.

Kenyan Finance Minister Amos Kimunya announced that the education budget
would be increased by 11 percent. Some of the extra money will be used
to hire 11,000 teachers. The country's free primary education scheme,
which is in its fifth year of implementation, would benefit from an
extra 8.1 billion shillings [US$122 million].

Full report:
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72744


TANZANIA: Fistula aggravated by inadequate resources and ignorance

Poverty, inadequate investment in healthcare services, lack of knowledge
about maternal health and pregnancy-related emergencies are some of the
limitations aggravating the problem of obstetric fistula in Tanzania,
according to a new report.

Obstetric fistula is a hole that forms between the bladder and vagina or
between the rectum and vagina during prolonged and obstructed
childbirth. The constant pressure of the foetal skull against the soft
tissue around the vagina and bladder or rectum cuts off the blood supply
to the tissue, causing it to disintegrate. Urine or faeces leak
continuously through the resulting hole and from the vagina. In nearly
all cases of obstetric fistula, the baby dies, according to the report.

The 12 June report, Risk and Resilience: Obstetric Fistula in Tanzania,
by the NGO EngenderHealth and the Tanzanian Women's Dignity Project,
showed that antenatal care services, while widely available in the east
African country, were inconsistent and inadequate.

Full report:
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72732


KENYA: Risk of disease as thousands hit by floods

The number of people affected by flooding caused by heavy rainfall in
Kenya's Indian Ocean Coastal region has risen to 23,000, the Kenya Red
Cross Society (KRCS) said, expressing concern that diseases could break
out in some areas where sanitation facilities have been destroyed.

"People are experiencing vomiting and diarrhoea. These are the first
indicators that diseases such as cholera, dysentery and typhoid are
taking root," said Anthony Mwangi, the KRCS public relations manager.

Full report:
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72660[END]


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