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 387
16 - 22 June 2007


CONTENTS:

AFRICA: Integration of ex-combatants 'still a challenge'
BURUNDI: Government, rebels to revive stalled peace accord
TANZANIA: Rift Valley Fever under control, says government
UGANDA: Government to seek review of ICC indictments against LRA
   leaders
EAST AFRICA: Human trafficking 'on the rise'

See Also:

BURUNDI: Demobilisation under way, despite hitches
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72776


AFRICA: Integration of ex-combatants 'still a challenge'

The reintegration of former fighters into civilian life remains a key
challenge to stability in Africa, according to regional leaders.

A conference in Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo
(DRC) on demobilisation, disarmament and reintegration (DDR) and
stability in Africa, was attended by representatives from 23 countries.

"One of the important lessons that we recommend to the authorities in
each country is not to let a national programme operate without local
support," said Daniel Kawata, the coordinator of the DRC's national DDR
commission.

Full report
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72779


BURUNDI: Government, rebels to revive stalled peace accord

The Burundian government and the rebel Forces nationales de liberation
(FNL) have agreed to reactivate a ceasefire agreement signed nine months
ago, Tanzania's Foreign Affairs Minister Bernard Membe said.

The agreement came during a 17 June meeting between President Pierre
Nkurunziza and Agathon Rwasa, leader of the FNL, in the Tanzanian
commercial capital of Dar es Salaam. The meeting was called because the
implementation of the 17 September 2006 ceasefire agreement had stalled.

The aim, Membe added, was to bring the ceasefire agreement back on
track, with the most crucial element being a general amnesty that will
begin with the release of alleged political prisoners.

Full report
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72784


TANZANIA: Rift Valley Fever under control, says government

An outbreak of Rift Valley Fever (RVF) earlier this year has been
brought under control, the country's livestock ministry said.

"There are no more cases of the viral disease in livestock. The viral
disease is now under control," Charles Mlingwa, deputy minister for
livestock development, told parliament in Dodoma on 18 June.

RVF is a highly contagious viral disease that infects livestock and
humans. The disease spread to 10 administrative regions in Tanzania
between January and May, killing 134 of the 306 people infected,
according to Mlingwa. The central region of Dodoma, where 85 people
died, was the worst affected, the health minister, David Mwakyusa, said.

Full report
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72808


UGANDA: Government to seek review of ICC indictments against LRA leaders

Uganda will "engage" the International Criminal Court (ICC) to seek a
review of the indictments for war crime charges against leaders of the
Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), internal affairs minister Ruhakana Rugunda
said.

"The government will engage the ICC and present to it concrete evidence
of agreed solutions to peace, impunity and reconciliation because we
also don't want to condone impunity," Rugunda, the head of the
government's delegation to peace talks with the LRA in Juba, Southern
Sudan, told IRIN on 21 June.

The request to the ICC will be made only after the government and LRA
reach a comprehensive agreement on how to end two decades of conflict
that killed thousands and displaced hundreds of thousands more in
northern Uganda, Rugunda said.

Full report
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72861


EAST AFRICA: Human trafficking 'on the rise'

Human trafficking is on the rise in eastern Africa and officials
attending a meeting aimed at raising awareness of the problem called for
concerted efforts by governments to curb it.

"In the east African region, the statistical information is being
gathered, but the crime is on the increase," Jeffrey Avina, director for
operations at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, told the
first regional anti-human trafficking conference in eastern Africa,
under way in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, until 22 June.

"It is our intention to take action and enforce the laws but we need
alliances. There is a need for greater coordination, cooperation and
awareness in the region," Avina added.

Full report
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72856


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