U N I T E D   N A T I O N S
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Integrated Regional Information Network for Central and Eastern Africa

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CENTRAL AND EASTERN AFRICA
IRIN-CEA Weekly Round-Up 368
27 January - 2 February 2007


CONTENTS:

AFRICA: New maize seed to boost food security
AFRICA: Streamlining ARV provision for refugees
DRC: Ban says security key to solving humanitarian issues
DRC: Opinion split in Ituri over rebel's indictment
CONGO: Cholera kills 41 in Pointe-Noire
CONGO: Govt, agencies welcome decision to make rebel group political
   party
BURUNDI: Appeal for $132m humanitarian aid
TANZANIA: UN agency plans to shut camps as refugee numbers drop
GLOBAL: WEF considers new approach to private sector humanitarian
   response

ALSO SEE:
CAR: Refugees stranded in Sudanese town


AFRICA: New maize seed to boost food security

A new drought-tolerant maize seed has been launched in a bid to boost food
security in African countries.

"Giving more African farmers good seeds that can tolerate erratic weather
patterns and yield [greater] crops will foster development on the African
continent," said Wilfred Mwangi, project leader with the International
Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, during the launch in the Kenyan
capital, Nairobi, on Monday.

The project, which in Africa is based at the International Center for
Research in Agroforestry in Nairobi, is partnering with other actors in
the agricultural sector to supply the new seeds to as many maize farmers
as possible in Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Benin, Nigeria, South
Africa, Angola, Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, according to Mwangi. The
first drought-tolerant, open-pollinated hybrid varieties of maize and
wheat were introduced into eastern and southern African in 1999.


AFRICA: Streamlining ARV provision for refugees

The UNHCR has launched a new policy to ensure that HIV-positive refugees
and other displaced people around the world have access to life-prolonging
antiretroviral (ARV) medication in the earliest possible stages of an
emergency response.

The policy aims to integrate ARV provision as part of a comprehensive
HIV/AIDS programme that would include prevention, care and support. It
also outlines interventions for refugees who were on ARVs in their
countries of origin; for those who had not yet started a regimen before
their displacement; and for those participating in voluntary repatriation
to their home countries. UNHCR estimates that refugees make up between
25,000 and 35,000 of the approximately 6.5 million people around the world
who need ARVs.


DRC: Ban says security key to solving humanitarian issues

War-related humanitarian problems in the Democratic Republic of Congo
(DRC) can only be solved when security is guaranteed on the political,
economic and social levels, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
said during a two-day visit to the country. The visit ended on Sunday.

Although the UN Mission in the country, MONUC, had played a major role in
the stabilisation of the DRC, Ban said it was important that the Congolese
army and police take over. He reiterated that the UN and the international
community had not abandoned DRC and said the world body would help the
government in its efforts to reform the Congolese society.

He also said special attention needed to be paid to the problem of sexual
abuse and called for greater representation of women in parliament.


DRC: Opinion split in Ituri over rebel's indictment

Residents in Congo's volatile northeastern district of Ituri have largely
welcomed the International Criminal Court's indictment on Monday of rebel
leader Thomas Dyilo Lubanga for war crimes, specifically the conscription
of children.

Lubanga, 46, was arrested on 17 March 2006 in Ituri, and is expected to
become the first defendant to stand trial at the court two years after the
tribunal's prosecutor launched investigations into his activities. He
remains the Court's only detainee.

"This is a strong message from the international community fighting
against impunity and for those who use or might want to use children in
armies," Monoodge Munubay, spokesman for MONUC in Ituri, said.


CONGO: Cholera kills 41 in Pointe-Noire

An outbreak of diarrhoea, caused by cholera, has affected 1,236 people, 41
of whom have died in the port city of Pointe-Noire in the Republic of
Congo since the beginning of January, Health Minister Alphonse Gando said
on Monday.

Gando said the government had made arrangements with the UN World Health
Organization, the UN Children's Fund and international and local agencies
to stem the spread of the disease. "The situation is already under
control," the minister added.

There are an estimated 800,000 people in Pointe-Noire, ROC's
second-largest city.


CONGO: Govt, agencies welcome decision to make rebel group political party

The government and humanitarian agencies in the Republic of Congo have
welcomed a decision by a former rebel leader, Frederic Bintsangou, to
transform his armed group into a political party, saying they hoped it
would help restore peace to the administration of the Pool.

In an announcement, Frederic Bintsangou's said his movement, the Comite
national pour le resistance, would form a political party called the
National Council of the Republicans that would take part in legislative
elections in 2007. The Pool has been the scene of several civil wars
between 1998 and 2002.

"It will be a very good thing when Bintsangou's movement becomes a
political party," President Denis Sassou-Nguesso said on Wednesday. "One
cannot want peace, democracy, freedom of movement of the people, property
and elections while supporting violence at the same time."


BURUNDI: Appeal for $132m humanitarian aid

UN agencies and other humanitarian organisations in Burundi have appealed
for US$132 million in humanitarian aid to assist vulnerable people this
year, Mahmoud Youssef, the special Representative of the UN
Secretary-General in Burundi said on Wednesday.

Launching the UN-led Consolidated Appeals Process in Burundi's
northwestern province of Cibitoke, Youssef said the focus for the year
would be solely on humanitarian concerns, unlike previous appeals that
also included recovery from war and peace-building.

"There are three priorities in 2007: surveillance of the humanitarian
situation and early warning, with particular attention to the needs of
internally displaced persons and returnees; rapid response to humanitarian
emergencies; and the reduction of vulnerability resulting from the lack of
access to basic services," he added.

Youssef also said these priorities were consistent with the government's
priorities.


TANZANIA: UN agency plans to shut camps as refugee numbers drop

The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, plans to close down three camps in
Tanzania's Kibondo, Muyovosi and Kasulu districts in 2007 due to a
significant drop in the number of refugees, the agency's representative
there, Yacoub el Hillo, said on Tuesday.

El Hillo said refugee numbers in the northwestern part of the country had
decreased from 500,000 in 2003 to 278,061 in January 2007 as a result of a
voluntary repatriation scheme. Most of the refugees arrived from Burundi
and the Democratic Republic of Congo. He said UNHCR's plan was to help
75,000 Burundian and 48,000 Congolese refugees to return home in 2007.


GLOBAL: WEF considers new approach to private sector humanitarian response

Leading companies involved in humanitarian relief should commit themselves
to "a long list of extremely high standards", the acting UN Emergency
Relief Coordinator, Margareta Wahlstrom, said on Wednesday.

The 2,400 participants attending the session on private sector involvement
in emergency relief during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting
in Davos, Switzerland, discussed the draft "Guiding Principles" developed
by the WEF and humanitarian agencies.

She said the guiding principles had been developed to ensure that
corporations involved in humanitarian relief coordinate with mainstream
humanitarian actors, distinguish commercial from philanthropic operations,
be accurate and truthful in public relations activities, train standby
staff in humanitarian principles and be clear about the real value of
their contributions. Corporations are also being urged to consider cash
donations to humanitarian relief, including through the Central Emergency
Revolving Fund, even though big business generally contributes in-kind
goods and services in emergencies.


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