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 409
24 - 30 November 2007


CONTENTS:

UGANDA: Ebola outbreak kills 16
KENYA-SUDAN: UN agency to repatriate 3,000 Sudanese by December
KENYA: More deaths, displacement reported in Mt Elgon
DRC: Campaign against sexual violence in South Kivu
DRC: Curfew imposed in Equateur to stem worsening insecurity
CONGO: Human rights groups urge legal protection for indigenous
   communities


See Also:

UGANDA-SUDAN: Worries over Otti's whereabouts cast shadow on talks
http://www.irinnews.org/PrintReport.aspx?ReportId=75550 ]

UGANDA-SUDAN: "We believe LRA deputy still alive" - South Sudan government
http://www.irinnews.org/PrintReport.aspx?ReportId=75480 ]

DRC: "The blood keeps flowing"
http://www.irinnews.org/PrintReport.aspx?ReportId=75524 ]


UGANDA: Ebola outbreak kills 16

An outbreak of Ebola haemorrhagic fever in the western Uganda district 
of Bundibugyo has killed 16 of 51 people infected over the past three 
weeks, a senior health official said.

"We have been on the ground and we are deploying more people to manage 
the situation," Sam Zaramba, director of health services at the ministry 
of health, told IRIN on 30 November. "This morning, more experts were 
sent to the region to further study the situation," he added.

Blood samples analysed for the highly contagious Ebola virus at the 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, United 
States, had tested positive, Zaramba said.

[Full report 
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75606]


KENYA-SUDAN: UN agency to repatriate 3,000 Sudanese by December

The UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, will repatriate at least 3,000 Sudanese 
from the Kakuma camp in northwestern Kenya by end-December, an official 
told IRIN.

"Two flights are scheduled to leave Kakuma today [29 November]; in fact, 
one has already left with 39 passengers for Rumbek [Southern Sudan]; the 
second one will leave later in the day with 42 passengers, also for 
Rumbek," Emmanuel Nyabera, the UNHCR spokesman, said.

He added that two other flights would leave Kakuma for Rumbek on 30 
November, each with 40 passengers. The latest repatriation, which began 
on 21 November, brings the number of refugees assisted by UNHCR to 
return to Southern Sudan this year to 4,577, Nyabera said.

[Full report: 
http://www.irinnews.org/PrintReport.aspx?ReportId=75575]


KENYA: More deaths, displacement reported in Mt Elgon

A conflict over by land ownership rights in the Mt Elgon district of 
western Kenya has claimed the lives of another four people and forced 
more people to flee their homes in an area where an estimated 45,000 
people have been displaced since the feud erupted a year ago.

"The situation is deteriorating," said James Kisia, deputy 
secretary-general and head of operations at the Kenya Red Cross Society. 
"Four people were killed on Monday and 70 heads of cattle stolen in 
Chepkoya on Monday," he said.

The incidents forced dozens of people to flee to the towns of Kitale, 
Chepkitale and Kimilili, where the Kenya Red Cross Soceity and its 
partner agencies have been distributing food, shelter material and 
providing health services to people who have sought refuge there. [Full 
report: http://www.irinnews.org/PrintReport.aspx?ReportId=75526 ]

DRC: Campaign against sexual violence in South Kivu

A campaign to combat gender violence is under way in South Kivu, in the 
eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, a province that has become 
notorious for the high incidence of rape and other sexual violations.

Activities ranging from conferences to marches have been taking place 
since 23 November to educate victims and the rest of the population 
under the theme: Stop the rape of our most precious resource: Power to 
women and girls in the DRC. The campaign is part of a global drive 
running from the UN's International Day for the Elimination of Violence 
against Women on 25 November to Human Rights Day on 10 December. [Full 
report: http://www.irinnews.org/PrintReport.aspx?ReportId=75580 ] [See 
also: Rising food prices add to misery in the east 
http://www.irinnews.org/PrintReport.aspx?ReportId=75502 ]


DRC: Curfew imposed in Equateur to stem worsening insecurity

Authorities in the northwestern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) 
province of Equateur have imposed a nighttime curfew in the area until 
further notice in a bid to curb insecurity, including murder and 
extortion by armed men.

"We want to stop rising incidents of insecurity," the governor of the 
province, Jose Makila, who announced the curfew on 27 November, told 
IRIN.

The curfew between 11pm and 5am will apply mostly in Equateur's capital, 
Mbadaka, and other areas of the province where cases of murder and 
extortion have been on the rise, he said.

[Full report: 
http://www.irinnews.org/PrintReport.aspx?ReportId=75551]


CONGO: Human rights groups urge legal protection for indigenous 
communities

NGOs in the Republic of Congo have urged the country's president to 
adopt a draft law aimed at protecting indigenous people, who, they say, 
are often discriminated against and whose rights are violated.

The appeal was made at news conference on 27 November by the Congolese 
human rights watchdog Observatoire Congolais des Droits de l'Homme 
(OCDH) and its partners, a few days after the launch of an international 
petition to the president to initiate a process of adopting legislation 
on the rights of indigenous people.

[Full report: 
http://www.irinnews.org/PrintReport.aspx?ReportId=75553]


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